ABSTRACT
American rock group formed in 1965, originally consisting of Marty Balin, Signe Anderson (replaced by Grace Slick), Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Bob Harvey (replaced by Jack Casady), and Jerry Pelequin (replaced by Spencer Dryden). The group became successful when vocalist Grace Slick joined it in 1966 and they became one of the leaders in the San Francisco/psychedelic scene. They initially had major hits with “Somebody to Love” (#5 pop; RCA 9140), and “White Rabbit” (#8 pop; RCA 9248), both from their gold album, Surrealistic Pillow (RCA 3766; 1967). Their follow-up album, After Bathing at Baxters (RCA 1511; 1967), did not match its success, but they came back with Crown of Creation in 1968 (RCA 3797), which reached number six on the album charts. The band began to fall apart as Balin and Slick feuded; by 1970, Dryden had left, Slick was pregnant, and Kaukonen and Casady had formed their own sideband, the blues-jam band Hot Tuna, to keep themselves busy. In 1970, Kantner and Slick released the science-fiction themed Blows Against the Empire (RCA 4448), crediting it to Jefferson Starship (the first use of this name), which featured numerous musicians from the San Francisco scene, including Jerry Garcia and David Crosby. Meanwhile, the Airplane itself released the album Volunteers (RCA 4238), a socialprotest work that had some FM play.
