Why Name It That?: Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane photographed by Herb Greene at the Matrix club, San Francisco, in 1966.

Top row from left: Jack Casady, Grace Slick, Marty Balin;

bottom row from left: Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Spencer Dryden.

A cropped version of this photo was used for the front cover of Surrealistic Pillow. Link

Paul Kantner put together the original Jefferson Airplane and one member he recruited was his college friend, blues guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. Kaukonen is given credit for the band's name because he has said that, "I had this friend [Steve Talbot] in Berkeley who came up with funny names for people. His name for me was Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane [kind of a reference to blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson]. When the guys were looking for band names and nobody could come up with something, I remember saying, 'You want a silly band name? I got a silly band name for you!'"

So the name has no real meaning. But it survived the reincarnation of the band as Jefferson Starship, but not the final version that was simply Starship.

Something that used the band's name as a direct reference is the practice of making a quick roach clip for a marijuana joint by splitting a matchstick into a “V” formation allowing the user to smoke the very end of a joint without burning their fingers. That makeshift clip became known (at least on the West Coast) as a Jefferson Airplane.

The group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They headlined the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England.

Their 1967 breakout album Surrealistic Pillow was one of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love. Two songs from that album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"

Despite several lineup changes, the band continued and in 1989, the classic 1966–70 lineup of Jefferson Airplane reunited (with the exception of drummer Spencer Dryden) for a tour and album. The self-titled album was released by Epic to modest sales but the accompanying tour was considered a success Jefferson Airplane is the eighth and final studio album by the band. Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady all returned for the album and supporting tour, The album and accompanying tour would mark the last time Jefferson Airplane would perform together until their 1996 induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jefferson Airplane evolved into Jefferson Starship in January 1974. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albums and had nine top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1975's Red Octopus marked the official return of Marty Balin as vocalist. The Balin-penned single "Miracles” peaked at #3 on the chart, and along with the single “Play on Love” helped to propel the album to eventual multiple-platinum status and topped the Billboard 200 chart. It might surprise fans to know that it would be the biggest-selling album of the band's career.

Starship was initially a continuation of Jefferson Starship, but because of a different musical direction and loss of personnel, a lawsuit settlement led to a name change that required dropping the "Jefferson" in the name. Their 1985 pop album Knee Deep in the Hoopla had two number-one hits -"We Built This City" and "Sara."