History Music / JeffersonAirplane

* TheRainman: Marty Balin, one of the founding members, has a mild form of autism, but still led (or co-led) both this band and Music/JeffersonStarship prior to taking a solo career in the early 1980s.

** The lyrics of eponymous title track of the album ''Music/CrownOfCreation'' were taken (with permission) entirely from the novel ''Literature/TheChrysalids'' by British SF author Creator/JohnWyndham.

Until it joins with the African sea\

* AnarchyIsChaos: ZigZagged. Paul Kantner was an anarchist, and this showed up in several cases in the band's lyrics, most notably on ''Volunteers'', where America, under the auspices of the Nixon government, is depicted as chaotic. However, anarchy itself isn't depicted as any less chaotic; "We Can Be Together" states: "We are forces of chaos and anarchy/Everything they say we are, we are." (It should be noted that many modern anarchists do not advocate chaos.)

* NonAppearingTitle: "Third Week in the Chelsea"

* AliceAllusion: All over the place in "White Rabbit".

* LyricalColdOpen: "Somebody To Love".

* PrecisionFStrike: "Up against the wall, motherfucker!" and "In order to survive, we steal/Cheat, lie, forge, fuck, hide, and deal" in "We Can Be Together". On the same album, "You call it rain/But the human name/Doesn't mean shit to a tree" on "Eskimo Blue Day". The record company objected to the F-bomb until Paul Kantner pointed out that they had already released the soundtrack to ''Theatre/{{Hair}}'', which featured the same word/ A performance of "We Can Be Together" on ''Series/TheDickCavettShow'' also marked the first time the word "fuck" was broadcast on American television.

* PrecisionFStrike: "Up against the wall, motherfucker!" and "In order to survive, we steal/Cheat, lie, forge, fuck, hide, and deal" in "We Can Be Together". On the same album, "You call it rain/But the human name/Doesn't mean shit to a tree" on "Eskimo Blue Day".

* {{Rockumentary}}: Jefferson Airplane was one of the acts at the infamous Altamont Free Concert, documented in the 1970 film ''Film/GimmeShelter''. Lead singer Marty Balin was knocked unconscious by a club-wielding Hell's Angel biker.

* 1967 - ''After Bathing At Baxter's''

* 1991 - ''Live At The Monterey Festival''

* 1998 - ''Live At The Fillmore East''
* 1999 - ''Through The Looking Glass''

* 2007 - ''Sweeping Up The Spotlight: Live At The Fillmore East 1969''
* 2007 - ''At The Family Dog Ballroom''

* 2010 - ''Live At The Fillmore Auditorium 10/15/66: Late Show: Signe's Farewell''
* 2010 - ''Live At The Fillmore Auditorium 10/16/66: Early & Late Shows: Grace's Debut''
* 2010 - ''Live At The Fillmore Auditorium 11/25/66 & 11/27/66: We Have Ignition''
* 2010 - ''Return To The Matrix 2/1/68''

* 1970 - "Mexico" / "Have You Seen The Saucers?"

* GreatestHitsAlbum: Sarcastically titled ''The Worst Of Jefferson Airplane''.

* PrecisionFStrike: "Up against the wall, motherfucker!" in "We Can Be Together". On the same album, "You call it rain/But the human name/Doesn't mean shit to a tree" on "Eskimo Blue Day".

[[caption-width-right:300:The classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane. Clockwise from bottom-left: Jorma Kaukonen, Spencer Dryden, [[Music/JeffersonStarship Jack Casady]], [[Music/JeffersonStarship Marty Balin]], [[Music/JeffersonStarship Paul Kantner]] and [[Music/{{Starship}} Grace Slick]].]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first album, ''Music/JeffersonAirplaneTakesOff'' is basically a straight-ahead folk-rock album with little hint of the tripped-out weirdness that would follow. It's also worth noting that there is quite a bit more straight-ahead folk-rock on ''Music/SurrealisticPillow'' than a lot of people seem to remember there being, though the group's penchant for chemical experimentation definitely affected even the folk-rock songs on that album.

However, in 1989, the classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane reunited for one last album. However, Spencer Dryden was excluded as Kantner still held a grudge against him for his role in firing one of their managers in 1968. The album was not very well-received, but the tour supporting it was a big success. By then at the age of 50, Slick chose to retire from the music industry, saying that 'All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire'. Papa John Creach died from heart failure in 1994, and the Airplane reunited once more in 1996 for the induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This time Dryden participated and Slick was absent. Skip Spence died from lung cancer in 1999, Spencer Dryden died in 2005 from colon cancer, Joey Covington died in a tragic car accident in 2013, Paul Kantner died from multiple organ failure and septic shock following a heart attack in 2016 and Signe Anderson died from COPD - dying on the same day as Kantner.

* '''[[Music/JeffersonStarship Signe Toly Anderson]]''' - backing and lead vocals, percussion (1965-1966, died 2016)
* '''[[Music/JeffersonStarship Marty Balin]]''' - lead vocals, guitar, bass, percussion (1965–1971, 1989, 1996)

* Joey Covington - drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals, congas, tambourine (1970-1972, died 2013)
* [[Music/JeffersonStarship Papa John Creach]] - violin, vocals (1970–1972, died 1994)
* Spencer Dryden - drums, percussion, piano, organ, steel balls, vocals (1966–1970, 1996, died 2005)

* '''[[Music/JeffersonStarship Paul Kantner]]''' - guitar, backing and lead vocals (1965–1972, 1989, 1996, died 2016)

* Alexander "Skip" Spence - drums (1965-1966, died 1999)

'''Jefferson Airplane''' was an American PsychedelicRock and FolkRock band with a sound comparable to Music/TheByrds and the Lovin' Spoonful. According to Jorma Kaukonen, the name came from a friend, Steve Talbot, who jokingly nicknamed him "Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane" as a parody of the sort of nicknames {{Blues}} singers usually adopted (and possibly had Blind Lemon Jefferson in mind), and when nobody else could think of a band name, Kaukonen remembered Talbot's joke and shortened it appropriately. This didn't stop rumours that the original name referred to an impromptu method of holding a too-short marijuana joint.

* ThePeteBest: Bob Harvey (the original bassist), and Jerry Peloquin (the original drummer). Also Signe Toly Anderson, the original female lead vocalist, and Skip Spence, the second drummer, who played on the band's first album, ''Music/JeffersonAirplaneTakesOff'', and left afterwards. Spence went on to be a founding member of Music/MobyGrape.

However, in 1989, the classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane reunited for one last album. However, Spencer Dryden was excluded as Kantner still held a grudge against him for his role in firing one of their managers in 1968. The album was not very well-received, but the tour supporting it was a big success. By then at the age of 50, Slick chose to retire from the music industry, saying that 'All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire'. Papa John Creach died from heart failure in 1994, and the Airplane reunited once more in 1996 for the induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This time Dryden participated and Slick was absent. Skip Spence died from lung cancer in 1999, Spencer Dryden died in 2005 from colon cancer, Joey Covington died in a tragic car accident in 2013, Paul Kantner died from multiple organ failure and septic shock following a heart attack in 2016 and Signe Anderson died following a stay at a hospice - dying on the same day as Kantner.

However, in 1989, the classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane reunited for one last album. However, Spencer Dryden was excluded as Kantner still held a grudge against him for his role in firing one of their managers in 1968. The album was not very well-received, but the tour supporting it was a big success. By then at the age of 50, Slick chose to retire from the music industry, saying that 'All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire'. Papa John Creach died from heart failure in 1994, and the Airplane reunited once more in 1996 for the induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This time Dryden participated and Slick was absent. Skip Spence died from lung cancer in 1999, Spencer Dryden died in 2005 from colon cancer, Joey Covington died in a tragic car accident in 2013 and Paul Kantner died from multiple organ failure and septic shock following a heart attack in 2016.

* '''[[Music/JeffersonStarship Signe Toly Anderson]]''' - backing and lead vocals, percussion (1965-1966)

However, in 1989, the classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane reunited for one last album. However, Spencer Dryden was excluded as Kantner still held a grudge against him for his role in firing one of their managers in 1968. The album was not very well-received, but the tour supporting it was a big success. By then at the age of 50, Slick chose to retire from the music industry, saying that 'All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire'. Papa John Creach died from heart failure in 1994, and the Airplane reunited once more in 1996 for the induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This time Dryden participated and Slick was absent. Skip Spence died from lung cancer in 1999, Spencer Dryden died in 2005 from colon cancer, and Joey Covington died in a tragic car accident in 2013.

* '''[[Music/JeffersonStarship Paul Kantner]]''' - guitar, backing and lead vocals (1965–1972, 1989, 1996)

They were replaced by Spencer Dryden (the nephew of Creator/CharlieChaplin) and iconic frontwoman Grace Slick. Now the classic line-up was set, and with the release of their 1967 album, ''Music/SurrealisticPillow'', they established themselves as a leading PsychedelicRock band. They enjoyed Top 10 hit singles in America with "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit", are the only band that played at the three most famous rock and roll festivals of TheSixties (Woodstock, Monterey and Altamont) and headlined the first Isle of Wight Festival. Unfortunately, the group seemed to run out of steam with the onset of TheSeventies; Dryden was fired in early 1970 (Replaced first by Joey Covington, then by former drummer of Music/TheTurtles, John Barbata), and Balin, disillusioned with the psychedelic scene after the death of his close friend Music/JanisJoplin, and with the gradual decline of his influence and involvement, quit his band. After a series of revolving members (Including violinist Papa John Creach and vocalist David Freiberg), they finally called it a day in 1972. Kaukonen and Casady went on to further success with Hot Tuna, and the remaining members went on to form Music/JeffersonStarship.

* 1968 - ''Crown Of Creation''

* CoverVersion: [[Music/TheByrds David Crosby]]'s polyamory-themed "Triad" is covered on ''Crown Of Creation''. Notably, Crosby brought the song to the band after it was originally rejected by The Byrds, but The Byrds later changed their mind and recorded a version as well.

** The lyrics of eponymous title track of the album ''Crown Of Creation'' were taken (with permission) entirely from the novel ''Literature/TheChrysalids'' by British SF author Creator/JohnWyndham.

* Skip Spence - drums (1965-1966, died 1999)

[[caption-width-right:300:The classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane. Clockwise from bottom-left: Jorma Kaukonen, Spencer Dryden, Jack Casady, [[Music/JeffersonStarship Marty Balin]], [[Music/JeffersonStarship Paul Kantner]] and [[Music/{{Starship}} Grace Slick]].]]

* '''Signe Toly Anderson''' - backing and lead vocals, percussion (1965-1966)
* '''Marty Balin''' - lead vocals, guitar, bass, percussion (1965–1971, 1989, 1996)

* Jack Casady - bass, guitar (1965–1972, 1989, 1996)

* Papa John Creach - violin, vocals (1970–1972, died 1994)

* '''Paul Kantner''' - guitar, backing and lead vocals (1965–1972, 1989, 1996)

* Grace Slick - lead vocals, piano, organ, recorder, keyboard (1966–1972, 1989)

[[caption-width-right:300:The classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane. Clockwise from bottom-left: Jorma Kaukonen, Spencer Dryden, Jack Casady, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick.]]

'''Jefferson Airplane''' was a American PsychedelicRock and FolkRock band with a sound comparable to Music/TheByrds and the Lovin' Spoonful. According to Jorma Kaukonen, the name came from a friend, Steve Talbot, who jokingly nicknamed him "Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane" as a parody of the sort of nicknames {{Blues}} singers usually adopted (and possibly had Blind Lemon Jefferson in mind), and when nobody else could think of a band name, Kaukonen remembered Talbot's joke and shortened it appropriately. This didn't stop rumours that the original name referred to an impromptu method of holding a too-short marijuana joint. When they first formed in 1965, Jefferson Airplane consisted of Marty Balin and Signe Anderson on lead vocals, Jorma Kaukonen and Paul Kantner on guitar, Bob Harvey on bass and Jerry Peloquin on drums. Harvey and Peloquin didn't last long, and were quickly replaced by Jack Casady and Alexander "Skip" Spence on bass and drums respectively. Airplane would release one album (''Music/JeffersonAirplaneTakesOff'', 1966) with that line-up before Spence moved on to form Moby Grape (and subsequently suffered from mental illness, dying in 1999), and Anderson left to raise a family.

* TheRainman: Marty Balin, one of the founding members, has a mild form of autism, but still led the group through its first two incarnations prior to taking a solo career in the early 1980s.

* NightmareFuel: "The House At Pooneil Corners" due to it's menacing intro melody, chaotic sound, lyrics about nuclear war and Jorma Kaukonen's air raid siren like guitar line.

* SpiritualSuccessors: Music/JeffersonStarship, followed by Music/{{Starship}}.