Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane was in on the very beginnings of psychedelic rock, helping to establish its template alongside other ’60s Bay Area icons like the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service. The band formed in San Francisco in 1965, blending folk rock (itself a revolutionary amalgam at the time) with an open-ended, improvisatory streak. The classic Airplane lineup was completed on 1967’s milestone Surrealistic Pillow, as tandem lead vocalists Grace Slick and Marty Balin bounced off the fluid fretwork of bassist Jack Casady and guitar hero Jorma Kaukonen while guitarist/songwriter Paul Kantner was the glue holding everything together. They could craft heart-stoppingly tender acoustic ballads like “Comin’ Back to Me,” howling rockers like “Somebody to Love,” or heady, LSD-soaked journeys like “White Rabbit.” And in concert, their jamming added a trippy X factor. The Airplane was one of the era’s most influential bands, but in 1974 Kantner, Slick, and Balin shifted with the times, adopting a more polished approach and a revamped lineup as Jefferson Starship.