Jefferson Airplane was one of the leading rock bands of the 1960’s. It became one of the most popular of the many rock groups that worked in the flourishing San Francisco music scene of the 1960’s. The music of Jefferson Airplane blended rock, blues, and folk. Some of its songs dealt with drug themes and radical political ideas.
Jefferson Airplane was formed in 1965 by singer Marty Balin. The original personnel consisted of Balin, Paul Kantner and Jorma Kaukonen playing guitars, and singer Signe Anderson. They were soon joined by Jack Casady on bass and Skip Spence on drums. In 1966, Anderson was replaced by Grace Slick and Spence by Spencer Dryden.
Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow established the group as one of the top San Francisco rock bands, partly through Grace Slick’s powerful singing. The most popular songs in the album were “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.”
Jefferson Airplane went into a decline in the early 1970’s, largely due to numerous changes in personnel. Various members of the group went on to form their own rock bands or join other bands. For example, Kaukonen and Casady formed Hot Tuna. Kantner and some of the band members reformed in 1974 as Jefferson Starship. Jefferson Starship was successful and recorded such hits as “Miracles” (1975), “With Your Love” (1976), “Runaway” and “Count on Me” (both 1978), and “Jane” (1979). In the mid-1980’s, the band became known as Starship, performing with several changes in personnel. Starship recorded the hits “Sara” and “We Built This City” (both 1985) and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” (1987). Starship disbanded in 1990. In 1992, Kantner organized a new band and revived the Jefferson Starship name. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
