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When a group of young, idealistic hippies came together in mid-Sixties San Francisco to form Jefferson Airplane, they couldn’t have possibly imagined they were kickstarting a saga that would continue for more than a half-century and mutate into more bizarre permutations than basically any other rock band in history. The full story would require a dense PowerPoint presentation and about eight hours to explain, but the shorthand is that the psychedelic Sixties band that created “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” splintered into two factions at the end of...

I couldn’t let the passing of Marty Balin go by without playing all my Jefferson Airplane LPs. They were one of the first great live bands that I ever saw. I bought all their LPs on the day that they hit the stores.

Working at the Fillmore East, I got to know him a little bit. He was a really sweet gent. His love songs were at the very heart of what made that band so special.

Drummer Spencer Dryden died in 2005, guitarist and co-founder Paul Kantner passed in 2016 on the same day as the band’s first vocalist, Signe Anderson. Marty, wherever you are, I know that for you and the band, it’s always The Summer of Love.

The post Tribute to Marty Balin appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Another death has occurred in the Jefferson Airplane family. Signe Anderson, the original female singer for the group, died January 28 — the same day that founding member Paul Kantner died, Rolling Stone reports. Anderson was 74. Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2016 (Photos) “One sweet Lady has passed on. I imagine that she and Paul woke up in heaven and said ‘Hey what are you doing here? Let’s start a band’ and no sooner then said Spencer was there joining in!” Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin wrote on Facebook, referring to the group’s drummer Spencer Dryden, who died in 2005. “Heartfelt.

Paul Kantner, co-founder of Jefferson Airplane and pioneer of the psychedelic rock scene in mid-1960s San Francisco, died earlier today of multiple organ failure. His publicist confirmed the news to the San Francisco Chronicle. Kantner had suffered a heart attack earlier this week and had dealt with a series of health problems throughout the past year. He was 74.Kantner founded Jefferson Airplane in 1965 at a bar in San Francisco with Marty Balin. The group featured vocals and guitar from Balin and Kantner, lead vocals from Grace Slick, a blues-rock sound from guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady, and drums from Spencer Dryden. It was one of the first of its kind to achieve mainstream success with singles such as “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.” Five of the band’s first seven albums went gold, including Surrealistic Pillow (1967) and Crown of Creation (1968). Jefferson Airplane also performed at Woodstock and Altamont,...

Former Jefferson Airplane drummer Joey Covington has died in a Palm Springs car crash. A Riverside County coroner's report says the 67-year-old Palm Springs resident wasn't wearing a seat belt when his car hit a retaining wall at about 5 p.m. Tuesday. He died at the scene. The Palm Springs Desert Sun reports that police don't believe alcohol or drugs were involved. A friend, Keith McCormick, tells the paper that Covington's wife, Lauren, suspects he had a stroke or heart attack before the accident. Covington replaced Spencer Dryden as the Airplane's drummer from 1970-72. Before that, he was with the...

Joey Covington, the drummer who played with Jefferson Airplane from 1970 to 1972, passed away Tuesday. The 67-year-old musician was killed in a car accident in Palm Springs, Calif., per a local CBS station. Covington, the only passenger in the vehicle, was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene of the crash. Covington first helped found the rock group Hot Tuna in 1969 alongside Jefferson Airplane Members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen. By 1970 he replaced Jefferson Airplanes drummer Spencer Dryden as a member of the group. According to a local station, Covington continued to perform locally in Palm Springs, often agreeing to do free gigs. His last reported performance was at a Marilyn Monroe...

If you're a fan of director Zack Snyder ("Watchmen," "300"), you know that subtlety isn't exactly his strong suit. Going by the soundtrack to his new action/fantasy/teenage boy fantasy  "Sucker Punch," this extends to every aspect of the process.

The film's soundtrack is comprised exclusively of covers of classic songs, including Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," The Smiths'' "Where Is My Mind" and The Stooges' "Search and Destroy." While no song matches the intensity of the original, Snyder reworked many of the selections to avoid the original sin of copying the source material wholesale.

So we get Eurhythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" turned into a jazzy noir number sung by "Sucker Punch" star herself Emily Browning. The cold, detached singing of Annie Lennox have transformed into the chanteuse vocals favored by singers like Julee Cruise in all those David Lynch films. Browning also appears on a cover...