The month of January has been a sad one for folks like me, who treasure the music of the ’60s and ’70s and had some of my best times in life with the great artist’s creations in the background as a soundtrack.
David Bowie, Glenn Fry. Dale Griffin, and now Paul Kantner.
Bowie and Kantner leaving are real sad notes. I have great memories of both my teen years and my first years of real freedom in Japan listening to those guys.
I was a Jefferson Airplane fan because my sisters were Jefferson Airplane fans. And as they morphed into Jefferson Starship, I remained an active fan. The band in the ’70s was awesome. I even loved them when they went on divergent paths in the ’80s and ’90s. “In June 1984, Paul Kantner, the last remaining founding member of Jefferson Airplane, left Jefferson Starship, and then took legal action over the Jefferson Starship name against his former bandmates. Kantner settled out of court and signed an agreement that neither party would use the names “Jefferson” or “Airplane” unless all members of Jefferson Airplane, Inc. (Bill Thompson, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady) agreed. ” Thus Mickey Thomas formed “Starship” and later went on to do “the worst song ever made. ( Which I love by the way).
Fortunately, Kantner reestablished Jefferson Starship in 1992, and so allowed me to enjoy them immensely my first wonderful year in Japan.
I played the CD for Deep Space / Virgin Sky till it was worn out. My favorite song on the album is this one: