Ticket 2 Ride

Another Friday, five songs from a very successful musical artist. My pick: Jefferson Starship.

The word “Jefferson” has gotten a lot of use through the years courtesy of some musicians from the San Francisco area. First as the Jefferson Airplane (1965-1973, 1989), then as Jefferson Starship (1974-1984), Starship (1984-present) and again as Jefferson Starship (1992-present).

Jefferson Airplane, or JA for short, started out as a folk group but soon embraced psychedelia, hard rock and acid rock. Feed your head. They were politically motivated and used their voice against the politics of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. The band burned intensely and by the early 1970s they had in my mind, exhausted their creative flame, for the moment.

The Jefferson Airplane disbanded in 1973. The group at that point consisted of Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen, John Barbata, David Freiberg and Papa John Creach.

The idea for Jefferson Starship came from Kantner and Slick who had released four albums (Blows Against the Empire, Sunfighter, Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun and Manhole) with Slick, Freiberg and various JA members are Bay Area musicians. These albums continued the experimental nature of the final JA albums and were based on sci-fi and fantasy ideas that Kantner wrote from for the remainder of his life. JA would shift toward a more commercial focus. Kantner and Slick brought along the other members of JA, but Casady and Kaukonen went their own way with Hot Tuna. Teenager Craig Chaquico joined on lead guitar.

“Ride the Tiger” (1974) from Dragon Fly. Written by Byong Yu, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner. The opening track from Dragon Fly, the song has that guitar-riff sound of the Doobie Brothers. The other song I could have chosen is the epic “Caroline” written by Marty Balin and Kantner.

“Play On Love” (1975) from Red Octopus. Written by Slick and Pete Sears. Barely cracked the Billboard top 50 singles, and certainly didn’t match the success of “Miracles.” Red Octopus was a multi platinum seller, the biggest of their career, melodic and breezy, it was definitely a pop album.

“St. Charles” (1976) from Spitfire. Written by Kantner, Balin, Jesse Barish, Chaquico, Thunderhawk. This is a haunting, dreamy song. This song represents how effective these musicians meshed in creating a an intense mood. It has some great instrumental linkages.

“Love Too Good” (1978) from Earth. Written by Gabriel Robles and Chaquico, this song wasn’t released as a single, but that’s no reflection on its quality. Clocking in at 6:03, the song has a steady groove and a great musical performance. The other two strong singles from Earth are “Count on Me” and “Runaway” written by nongroup writers. This lineup was running out of steam and veering into adult contemporary far too often. Slick, Balin and drummer Johnny Barbata would depart after this album.

“Jane” (1979) lead off track from the album Freedom at Point Zero. Written by David Freiberg, Jim McPherson, Craig Chaquico, Paul Kantner. Peaked at number 16 on Billboard Hot 100. Hard rocking song, unfortunately not many JA songs had the power riffs and punch as this song. Mickey Thomas sings lead, one of the few songs of his that I like. Thomas and drummer Aynsley Dunbar joined the band. The other rocker on this album is “Just the Same” which also is driven by Chaquico’s guitar. Interestingly, Chaquico would later go solo and have a very successful career in the New Age/Jazz genre with a series of critically acclaimed albums including Acoustic Highway (1993, Higher Octave).

Following Freedom at Point Zero, JS released three more, although lesser successful albums. Along the way, Slick bowed out, but would return for the next iteration of the band. Kantner would leave and take “Jefferson” from the band’s name. Chaquico stayed, along with Thomas, Pete Sears and Danny Baldwin to form Starship. Slick returned for two of the next three albums. In 1989, the last Starship album landed, Love Among the Cannibals. Thomas would continue on with Starship, while the classic lineup of the Jefferson Airplane reformed and released an album, simply titled Jefferson Airplane, and toured behind it. Sadly, the album performed poorly and the band split.

Meanwhile, Kantner dusted off the name Jefferson Starship and released several albums under the JS name. He was sued by his former manager and Slick (even though she sometimes worked with Kantner’s band. Ironically, in the settlement, Kantner could continue to use the Jefferson Starship name, paying Slick and Thompson to license a name that Kantner created. Balin would periodically perform with JS. Balin, Kantner and former JA bassist Jack Casady formed the short-lived band KBC Band and released one forgettable album in 1985. Casady and Jorma Kaukonen formed Hot Tuna in 1969 and have performed together since, occasionally reconnecting with JA bandmates.

You’ll note that I didn’t pick anything after Freedom at Point Zero, and they certainly had charting hits to pick from, but that’s my least favorite part of the JA/JS/Starship saga. The songs are uninteresting, shallow and only dilute the band’s legacy. “We Built This City on Rock and Roll” is catchy, but it’s embarrassing to associate it to “White Rabbit”, “Volunteers” or “The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil.” In between those distinctly different periods was a softer rocking, charismatic and hip band called Jefferson Starship.