Darby Slick | |
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 Darby Slick in Hanapepe, Kauai in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dabney Roger Slick |
| Born | February 26, 1944 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1965–present |
Dabney Roger "Darby" Slick (born February 26, 1944) [1] is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known as a former member of the Great Society and the writer of the Jefferson Airplane song "Somebody to Love."
Slick was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Hawaii before his family settled in Palo Alto, California. [1] [2]
In 1965, Slick co-founded the Great Society with his brother Jerry Slick, sister-in-law Grace Slick, and Jenn Piersol (David Miner and Bard DuPont joined shortly afterward). Darby played lead guitar and occasionally sang backup vocals. Slick wrote "Someone to Love"—originally titled "Mind Full of Bread" [3] —in the process of writing a novel, which he started in 1962. Slick's literary aspirations tapered off as he concentrated more on guitar, and he finished the song in 1965 after a breakup. He intended the song to address giving love instead of the cliché of wanting it. [4] [5]
"Someone to Love" was issued as a Great Society single by North Beach Records with "Free Advice" as its B-side. The single saw limited distribution and made little impact at the time. The Great Society dissolved when Grace Slick joined Jefferson Airplane, who recorded the song—retitled "Somebody to Love"—and scored a top 10 hit on the national charts in 1967.
Slick composed other Great Society songs such as "Darkly Smiling," and "Free Advice," which displayed his budding interest in Indian music. [6] [7]
After Slick's time in the Great Society, he took an interest in Indian music. [8] He took several trips to India to learn more about the genre. He published an autobiography in 1991 titled Don't You Want Somebody to Love: Reflections on the San Francisco Sound detailing his time with the band and lessons while on trips to India. [6]
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They headlined the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Their 1967 breakout album Surrealistic Pillow was one of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love. Two songs from that album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albums, and one gold-selling compilation. The album Red Octopus went double-platinum, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1975. The band went through several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the Jefferson Starship name. The band name was retired in 1984, but it was picked up again in 1992 by a revival of the group led by Paul Kantner, which has continued since his death in 2016.
Surrealistic Pillow is the second studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, released by RCA Victor on February 1, 1967. It is the first album by the band with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is considered to be one of the most influential and quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock era and the 1960s counterculture.
"Somebody to Love" is a rock song that was written by Darby Slick. It was originally recorded by The Great Society, and later by Jefferson Airplane. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Jefferson Airplane's version No. 274 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Grace Slick is an American retired musician and artist whose musical career spanned four decades. She was a prominent figure in San Francisco's psychedelic music scene during the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.
After Bathing at Baxter's is the third studio album by the San Francisco psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in 1967 as RCA Victor LSO-1511 (stereo) and LOP-1511 (mono). The cover art is by artist Ron Cobb.
"White Rabbit" is a song written by Grace Slick and recorded by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane for their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It draws on imagery from Lewis Carroll's 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass.
Jefferson Airplane Takes Off is the debut studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, released on 15 August 1966 by RCA Victor. The personnel differs from the later "classic" lineup: Signe Toly Anderson was the female vocalist and Skip Spence played drums. Both soon left the group—Spence in May 1966, Anderson in October—and were replaced by Spencer Dryden and Grace Slick, respectively.
The Great Society was a 1960s San Francisco rock band that existed from 1965 to 1966, and was closely associated with the burgeoning Bay Area acid rock scene. Best known as the original group of model-turned-singer Grace Slick, the initial lineup of the band also featured her then-husband Jerry Slick on drums, his brother Darby Slick on guitar, David Miner on vocals and guitar, Bard DuPont on bass, and Peter van Gelder on flute, bass, and saxophone. Miner and DuPont did not remain with the band for the duration of its existence.
Jefferson Airplane is the eighth and final studio album by San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane, released on Epic Records in 1989. Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady all returned for the album and supporting tour, though Spencer Dryden did not participate. The album and accompanying tour would mark the last time Jefferson Airplane would perform together until their 1996 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Autumn Records was a 1960s San Francisco–based pop record label. Among the notable acts on its roster was The Beau Brummels, a band who released a pair of top 20 singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little".
"Today" is a folk rock ballad written by Marty Balin and Paul Kantner from the band Jefferson Airplane. It first appeared on their album Surrealistic Pillow with a live version later appearing on the expanded rerelease of Bless Its Pointed Little Head. Marty Balin said, "I wrote it to try to meet Tony Bennett. He was recording in the next studio. I admired him, so I thought I'd write him a song. I never got to meet him, but the Airplane ended up doing it." Jerry Garcia plays the simple, repetitive but poignant lead guitar riff on the song.
Last Flight is an authorized recording released in the United Kingdom, taken from the last live performance of the San Francisco rock group Jefferson Airplane prior to the band's dissolution in 1972. The concert was held at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco, and selected tracks were released on the 1973 album Thirty Seconds Over Winterland. Last Flight consists of the entire concert with the exception of the encore, Marty Balin's "You Wear Your Dresses Too Short", previously released on the Jefferson Airplane Loves You box-set. Balin sings lead vocals on "Volunteers" much to the surprise of the audience since he left the band in late 1970.
Jefferson Airplane Loves You is a three-CD boxed set of recordings by the San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane with extensive liner notes by will arnett, author of the Jefferson Airplane history Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.
At Golden Gate Park is an authorized release in the United Kingdom of a recording of the concert given on May 7, 1969, by the San Francisco, psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
At the Family Dog Ballroom is a recording of a 1969 performance by the San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane at the Family Dog Ballroom in San Francisco. Released on CD in the United Kingdom, the album is a digipak offering of material only recently rediscovered. A poster is included.
Born to Be Burned is a compilation album by the San Francisco garage rock and psychedelic rock band the Great Society. The album is made up of material recorded during the band's short-lived association with Autumn Records in 1965, with the majority of it previously unreleased. The exceptions to this are the songs "Someone to Love" and "Free Advice", which had both been issued as a single on Northbeach Records, a subsidiary of Autumn Records, in February 1966.
Deep Space/Virgin Sky is a 1995 album by Jefferson Starship recorded live at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip. The concert was performed as a benefit memorial for violinist Papa John Creach, who had died in 1994, with proceeds going to his family.
Live at the Monterey Festival is a live album by the San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane, which was released in the United Kingdom and Europe by Thunderbolt Records in 1991. The album was authorized by the band and features the entire set from the group's June 17, 1967, performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The album marked the first time that Jefferson Airplane's entire Monterey Pop Festival performance had been given a release by a legitimate record company.
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