Jefferson Airplane was a psychedelic rock group formed in San Francisco. It was the first of several Bay Area psychedelic groups of the 1960s to become internationally known. The band was founded by singer Marty Balin and guitarist Paul Kantner in 1965. With the addition of Signe Anderson, their male-female singing style showed their folk music roots plus Balin's love of R&B singing styles. ...show more

Jefferson Airplane was a psychedelic rock group formed in San Francisco. It was the first of several Bay Area psychedelic groups of the 1960s to become internationally known. The band was founded by singer Marty Balin and guitarist Paul Kantner in 1965. With the addition of Signe Anderson, their male-female singing style showed their folk music roots plus Balin's love of R&B singing styles.

In fact their dual lead vocals were a hallmark of their sound throughout the Airplane's career, as confirmed (to international acclaim) after Grace Slick replaced Signe Anderson as the female singer. The other members of the band were guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, bassist Jack Casady and drummer Alexander "Skip" Spence. After the release of their first studio album, Takes Off (only released in the USA), Anderson and Spence left the band. They were replaced by Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden, respectively.

Grace Slick brought with her an amazing voice, attitude and two songs from her former band The Great Society. Both songs, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", received much airplay and helped make the band's second album Surrealistic Pillow a big seller, and also to pretty much define San Francisco's "Summer of Love" zeitgeist, just as the psychedelic era was coming into full bloom. Surrealistic Pillow is an interesting mixture of largely folk-rock vocals, acoustic guitar and songs that reflected the changes emerging in youth culture as the world was beginning to become aware of the Haight-Ashbury scene. Influenced by the new sounds of Jimi Hendrix and Cream, their next album After Bathing at Baxter's swung radically toward a heavier electric and much more experimental sound, largely provided by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass guitar player Jack Casady. ...show less