Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California that developed in January 1974 as a successor to Jefferson Airplane. [1]
The group initially featured the five remaining members of Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick (vocals, piano), Paul Kantner (rhythm guitar, vocals), David Freiberg (bass, keyboards, vocals), Papa John Creach (violin), and John Barbata (drums, vocals); in addition to new members Craig Chaquico on lead guitar and Peter Kaukonen (brother of Jorma Kaukonen) on bass. [1] The name "Jefferson Starship" was originally used on the co-billing of the 1970 Paul Kantner album, Blows Against the Empire , and was selected as the name for the revised band. [1] After the band's first tour, Kaukonen was replaced by Pete Sears (bass, keyboards) in June 1974. [1] Former Airplane vocalist Marty Balin joined the band in January 1975, having co-written and performed on the song "Caroline". [2] Creach left in August 1975 to start a solo career. [3] The band's lineup remained stable until June 1978, when Slick left the band after being asked to resign by Kantner, following a show in Germany in which she drank excessively and abused the crowd. [4] Balin also departed the band after the end of the touring cycle for Earth . [1] Additionally, Barbata dropped out after he was seriously injured in a car accident which left him unable to perform. [5]
The remaining members of Jefferson Starship rebuilt the band in early 1979, adding drummer Aynsley Dunbar in January and vocalist Mickey Thomas in April. [1] Slick returned to the band in 1981, after performing guest backing vocals on Modern Times . [1] Dunbar was asked by Kantner to leave in 1982, with Donny Baldwin taking his place in September. [6] Shortly after the band released Nuclear Furniture , Kantner left Jefferson Starship and later sued the remaining members of the band in October 1984 over ownership of the name; the lawsuit was settled in March 1985, with the name Jefferson Starship retired and the remaining band members continuing as simply Starship. [7]
In January 1992, Kantner reformed Jefferson Starship with former KBC Band bandmates Mark "Slick" Aguilar (lead guitar) and Tim Gorman (keyboards, vocals), former Jefferson Airplane bandmate Jack Casady (bass) and Jefferson Starship bandmate Creach, and new members Darby Gould (vocals) and Prairie Prince (drums). [8] Diana Mangano joined the following October and initially shared vocal duties, [9] before becoming an official member of the band when Gould departed in 1995. [10] Balin also rejoined the band in 1993. [11] Creach died on February 22, 1994. [12] Kaukonen returned briefly in 1994, and Gorman left around the same time; he was replaced first by Barry Flast, then by Gary Cambra, and finally by Terry "T" Lavitz. [13] Chris Smith took over on keyboards in 1998. [14] Casady left in 2000 and was replaced until 2004 by Tom Lilly. [15]
Jefferson Starship returned with new studio album Jefferson's Tree of Liberty in 2008, which was the first by the band to feature vocalist Cathy Richardson, who had recently replaced Mangano, and the first since 1984's Nuclear Furniture to feature returning frontman Freiberg, who replaced Balin. [16] Baldwin returned to the band after the album's release, replacing the departing Prince. [17] In September 2012, Jude Gold took over from Aguilar who was forced to cease activity with the band after being diagnosed with hepatitis C. [18] [19] Richardson briefly left in November 2015, with Rachel Rose taking her place, [20] before returning in March the following year. [21] On January 28, 2016, Kantner, the only constant member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, died of multiple organ failure and septic shock following a heart attack a few days earlier. [22] Since 2016, the lineup consists of Freiberg (vocals and acoustic guitar), [23] Donny Baldwin (drums and backing vocals), Chris Smith (keyboards and bass), Cathy Richardson (vocals and rhythm guitar), [23] and Jude Gold (lead guitar and backing vocals). [24]
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
David Freiberg |
|
|
| |
Donny Baldwin |
|
|
| |
Chris Smith | 1998–present |
|
| |
Cathy Richardson |
|
|
| |
Jude Gold | 2012–present |
| Mother of the Sun (2020) |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Paul Kantner |
|
| all Jefferson Starship releases through Jefferson's Tree of Liberty (2008) | |
Craig Chaquico | 1974–1984 |
| all Jefferson Starship releases from Dragon Fly (1974) to Nuclear Furniture (1984) | |
Grace Slick |
|
| all Jefferson Starship releases from Dragon Fly (1974) to Nuclear Furniture (1984), except Freedom at Point Zero (1979) | |
John Barbata | 1974–1979 (died 2024) |
| all Jefferson Starship releases from Dragon Fly (1974) to Earth (1978) | |
Papa John Creach |
| violin |
| |
Peter Kaukonen |
| bass | none | |
Pete Sears | 1974–1984 (touring 2005, guest in 2009 and 2016, session guest 2020) |
| all Jefferson Starship releases from Dragon Fly (1974) to Nuclear Furniture (1984), guest appearance on Mother of the Sun (2020) - three tracks only | |
Marty Balin |
|
| all Jefferson Starship releases from Dragon Fly (1974) to Earth (1978), and from Deep Space/Virgin Sky (1995) to Jefferson's Tree of Liberty (2008) | |
Mickey Thomas | 1979–1984 | lead and backing vocals | all Jefferson Starship releases from Freedom at Point Zero (1979) to Nuclear Furniture (1984) | |
Aynsley Dunbar | 1979–1982 |
|
| |
Mark "Slick" Aguilar | 1992–2012 |
| all Jefferson Starship releases from Deep Space/Virgin Sky (1995) to Jefferson's Tree of Liberty (2008) | |
Prairie Prince | 1992–2008 (guest 2008–16) |
| ||
Jack Casady | 1992–2000 | bass | all Jefferson Starship releases from Deep Space/Virgin Sky (1995) to Jefferson's Tree of Liberty (2008), except Across the Sea of Suns (2001) | |
Darby Gould | 1992–1995 (guest since 2000) | lead and backing vocals |
| |
Tim Gorman | 1992–1994 (guest in 2005) |
| Deep Space/Virgin Sky (1995) | |
Diana Mangano | 1993–2008 (guest 2008–15) | lead and backing vocals | all Jefferson Starship releases from Windows of Heaven (1998) to Jefferson's Tree of Liberty (2008) | |
Barry Flast | 1994–1995 (died 2013) [26] |
| none | |
Gary Cambra | 1995–1996 | |||
Terry "T" Lavitz | 1996–1998 (died 2010) | Windows of Heaven (1998) | ||
Rachel Rose | 2015–2016 (guest since 2016) | lead and backing vocals | none |
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Steve Schuster | 1978–1980 | saxophone | Schuster was a regular member of the Jefferson Starship touring lineup between 1978 and 1980. He also appeared on Freedom at Point Zero (1979) | |
Gabe Katona [27] | 1984 | saxophone, keyboards | Katona toured with the band during the Nuclear Furniture tour, and was retained when the band rebranded to Starship. | |
David Farey | 1978 | horn instruments | Farey toured alongside Schuster with Jefferson Starship after the release of Earth in 1978. | |
Signe Toly Anderson | 1993–1994 (died 2016) | backing and lead vocals | Anderson, a former member of Jefferson Airplane, made occasional guest appearances in the 1990s. [28] | |
Trey Sabatelli |
|
| Sabatelli occasionally substituted for and performed alongside regular drummer Prairie Prince. | |
Bobby Vega | 1998–2000 | bass | Vega and Huff each spent spells substituting for Jack Casady between 1998 and his 2000 departure. | |
Chico Huff | ||||
Tom Lilly |
| After Casady's departure, Lilly regularly appeared on live bass at Jefferson Starship concerts. | ||
John Ferenzik |
|
| Ferenzik occasionally performed keyboards, as well as lead guitar and bass alongside regular member Chris Smith. | |
Michael Eisenstein |
|
| Eisenstein substituted for Paul Kantner regularly between 2002 and 2012, when he was unable to perform. | |
Prof. Louie | 2003 | keyboards | Prof. Louie, Falzarano, Kearney and Alexander Kantner made occasional substitute and guest appearances. | |
Mike Falzarano | rhythm guitar | |||
Kerry Kearney | ||||
Alexander Kantner |
| |||
China Wing Kantner | 1992-present | backing vocals and occasional tambourine | Kantner has made occasional guest appearances. [29] [30] [31] | |
Linda Imperial | 2005–2007 | backing vocals | Imperial, Traylor and Morley each performed with Jefferson Starship at select shows during the 2000s. | |
Jack Traylor | 2005 |
| ||
Tony Morley | 2006–2016 | drums | ||
Anne Harris | 2008–2016 | violin | Harris has made regular live appearances with Jefferson Starship on violin since 2008. [32] |
Source: Fenton 2008 , p. 104
Period | Members | Releases |
---|---|---|
January – June 1974 |
| none – live performances only |
June 1974 – January 1975 |
|
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January – August 1975 |
|
|
August 1975 – June 1978 |
| |
June – October 1978 |
| none – live performances and single "Light the Sky on Fire" only |
October 1978 - January 1979 |
| none |
January – April 1979 |
| none – studio rehearsals only |
April 1979 – early 1981 |
|
|
Early 1981 – September 1982 |
|
|
September 1982 – June 1984 |
|
|
Band inactive June 1984 – January 1992 | ||
January 1992 – 1993 |
| none – live performances only |
1993 – February 1994 |
| |
February 1994 – mid-1995 |
|
|
1995 |
| none – live performances only |
1995–1996 |
| |
1996–1998 |
|
|
1998–2000 |
| |
2000–2005 |
|
|
2005–2008 |
|
|
2008–2012 |
| none – live performances only |
September 2012 – November 2015 |
| |
November 2015 – January 2016 |
| |
January – March 2016 |
| |
March 2016 – present |
|
|
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, 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.
Hot Tuna is an American blues rock band formed in 1969 by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist). Although it has always been a fluid aggregation, with musicians coming and going over the years, the band's center has always been Kaukonen and Casady's ongoing collaboration.
KBC Band was formed in 1985 by former Jefferson Airplane members Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Jack Casady (bass). Other members included Keith Crossan, Tim Gorman, Slick Aguilar and Darrell Verdusco (drums). Their sole LP, KBC Band, featured the singles "America" and "It's Not You, It's Not Me."
Paul Lorin Kantner was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and a secondary vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He continued these roles as a member of Jefferson Starship, Jefferson Airplane's successor band.
Red Octopus is the second album by American rock band Jefferson Starship, released on Grunt Records in 1975. Certified double platinum by RIAA in 1995, it is the best-selling album by any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off groups. The single "Miracles" was the highest-charting single any permutation of the band had until Starship's "We Built This City" a decade later, ultimately peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart; the album itself reached No. 1 for four non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. As was common in the era, stereo and quadraphonic mixes of the album were released concurrently.
Bark is the sixth studio album by American rock band Jefferson Airplane. Released in 1971 as Grunt FTR-1001, the album is one of the Airplane's late-period works, notable for the group's first personnel changes since 1966. The album was the first without band founder Marty Balin and the first with violinist Papa John Creach. Drummer Spencer Dryden had been replaced by Joey Covington in early 1970 after a lengthy transitional period in which both musicians had performed with the band.
Long John Silver is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, and their last album of all new material until 1989. It was recorded and released in 1972 as Grunt FTR-1007.
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.
Spitfire is the third album by American rock band Jefferson Starship. Released in 1976, a year after the chart-topping Red Octopus, it quickly scaled the charts, peaking for six consecutive weeks at No. 3 in Billboard and attaining an RIAA platinum certification. Stereo and quadraphonic mixes of the album were released.
Dragon Fly is the debut album by Jefferson Starship, released on Grunt Records in 1974. It peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified a gold album. Credited to Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, and Jefferson Starship, the band itself was a turning point after a series of four albums centering on the partnership of Kantner and Slick during the disintegration of Jefferson Airplane through the early 1970s.
Flight Log (1966–1976) is a compilation album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane. Released in January 1977 as a double-LP as Grunt CYL2-1255, it is a compilation of Jefferson Airplane and Airplane-related tracks, including tracks by Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna, as well as solo tracks by Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, and Jorma Kaukonen. Although primarily a compilation album, the album includes one previously unreleased song: "Please Come Back" written by Ron Nagle and performed by Jefferson Starship. "Please Come Back" is not available on any other release.
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 Jeff Tamarkin, author of the Jefferson Airplane history Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.
Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun is a collaborative studio album by Jefferson Airplane members Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, and David Freiberg, released in May 1973.
Grunt Records was a vanity label founded in 1971 by Jefferson Airplane and distributed by RCA Records. Initially created to sign local Bay Area acts, the label later was used only for Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna releases. The label ended use in 1987 after Grace Slick left Starship.
Jefferson's Tree of Liberty is the tenth album by Jefferson Starship, released on September 2, 2008. It is the band's first studio album since 1999's Windows of Heaven. The new album includes cover songs from Irish, American, English, and Latin-American traditions. The title is a reference to Thomas Jefferson's quotation, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." The idea began in 2003 as "The Cuba Project", which was to include classic protest and folk songs recorded in Cuba. In 2008 the album was finally recorded but in California. About half of the songs planned for The Cuba Project were used on the final cut, with other songs coming from Jefferson Starship's previous repertoire and another project band member Paul Kantner had planned called "On the Threshold of Fire." The promotional tour for the album began in late June with shows at Larkspur, California followed by tours in the US and Europe before the album's release, and continued through December 2008 with a further tour in the US and a tour in Japan. On February 1, 2009, more tour dates and venues were announced by the band's manager Michael Gaiman, with additional plans to continue the tour through 2010 and bring it to Australia and South America. David Grisman joined the band for the April 2009 tour dates. The band's promotion for the album ended in June 2009 as the band changed their set-list to Jefferson Airplane's Woodstock Festival material and started touring with the "Heroes of Woodstock" through the end of October.
David Freiberg is an American musician best known for contributing vocals, keyboards, electric bass, rhythm guitar, viola and percussion as a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, and Jefferson Starship. Among other tracks, he co-wrote "Jane", a hit for Jefferson Starship.
"Miracles" is a song written by Marty Balin and originally recorded by Jefferson Starship, appearing on its 1975 album Red Octopus.