Saturday, January 30, 2016

Another Portion of My Generation's Music Concludes

Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner dies at 74

I just saw him with the latest incarnation of his band on some execrable PBS fundraiser on Saturday night.  I remember saying, "Is that Paul Kantner?  Why did I think he was dead?"

Turns out I was right about his mortality, just a few days ahead of schedule.

I saw Airplane/Starship in concert several times during the 1970's, back when Grace Slick was still the vocalist and Marty Balin had returned as a singer/songwriter.  Kantner was not much of musician, but he was smart enough to use Balin's style, Slick's voice, Paul Casady's bass, and particularly Jorma Kaukonen's guitar work to create what became known as the "San Francisco sound".

If you're not quite sure of what that is, listen to Kaukonen's intro in the video below, as it is quintessential.  Feed your head: