Jane's Addiction

Jane's Addiction, Charlotte Verizon Amphitheater, June 12th, 2009

Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell (vocals), Dave Navarro (guitar), Eric Avery (bass) and Stephen Perkins (drums).

Dave Navarro and Perry Farrell  CC BY 2.0, Link

Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands to emerge from the early 1990s alternative rock movement and get some mainstream media attention, airplay, and commercial success. 

Their initial "farewell" tour was at the first Lollapalooza festival which was a showcase for alternative rock. Farrell claimed that the band became what he called the leaders of the "Alternative Nation".

The "Jane" in Jane's Addiction was an allusion to Farrell's housemate, Jane Bainter. In the book Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction, it is said that Jane was a college graduate with a good job but that she had a heroin addiction. The "whore" in the book's title comes from a girlfriend of Eric Avery who worked as a prostitute and supported the band financially in the early days. It is said that Navarro had considered calling the band "Jane's Heroin Experience" with the "experience" being an allusion to the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The real Jane wasn't happy with her name being used at first. The band's song "Jane Says" addresses that. 

The band broke up in 1991, briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001 without Avery who declined to be involved. Then, in 2008, the band's "classic" line-up (with Avery) embarked on a world tour. Avery left again in early 2010 as the group began work on new material. The remaining members continued working and the band released its fourth studio album The Great Escape Artist in 2011. 

In 2016, Jane's Addiction was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Official Website
Jane's Addiction
Nothing's Shocking
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Strays
Kettle Whistle

Up From the Catacombs: Best of Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction- Live Voodoo DVD

Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction

 

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 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 [for 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.

Jefferson Airplane is the eighth and final studio album by the band. It was released on Epic Records in 1989. Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady all returned for the album and supporting tour, though Spencer Dryden did not participate. 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. 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 topping the Billboard 200 chart. 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."

MAIN ALBUMS of the Original Band Lineup

Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966)

Surrealistic Pillow (1967)

After Bathing at Baxter's (1967)

Crown of Creation (1968)

Volunteers (1969)

Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969)

      

Jiffy

"I'll be back in a jiffy"

Jiffy is an informal term we use for a short unspecified period of time. But it has taken on more precise applications for short, very short, and extremely short periods of time.

Though the word goes back to 1785, the word's origin is unclear. One possibility is that it was a "thieves' cant" for "lightning." Thieves' cant (AKA Rogues' cant and peddler's French) was a secret language (a cant or cryptolect) which was used by thieves, beggars and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English-speaking countries. It is now mostly obsolete, though still used in literature and fantasy role-playing.

One technical usage for jiffy was defined by Gilbert Newton Lewis (1875–1946) who proposed a unit of time called the "jiffy" which was equal to the time it takes light to travel one centimeter (approximately 33.3564 picoseconds).

In electronics, a jiffy is the time between alternating current power cycles - 1/60 or 1/50 of a second in most mains power supplies.

In physics, (particularly in quantum physics) and often in chemistry, a jiffy is defined as the time taken for light to travel some specified distance.

In computing, a jiffy was originally the time between two ticks of the system timer interrupt - which is not an absolute time interval unit, since its duration depends on the clock interrupt frequency of the particular hardware platform. The term "jiffy" is sometimes used in computer animation as a method of defining playback rate, with the delay interval between individual frames specified in 1/100th-of-a-second (10 ms) jiffies.

Wikipedia.org

Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967 that is known for its lyrics, and the vocals and flute playing of Ian Anderson who has led the band since its founding.

The early incarnation of the band was blues-rock, but throughout they have experimented with elements of classical music, folk music, jazz and art rock into their music.

They are one of world's best-selling music artists. They have sold more than 60 million albums worldwide and are still playing into their fifth decade.

Ian Anderson's first band, started in 1962 in Blackpool, was known as The Blades, and featured Anderson on vocals and harmonica, Jeffrey Hammond on bass, John Evans (later shortened to Evan)on drums, and a guitarist, Michael Stephans. Drummer Barrie Barlow became a member in 1963 after Evans had switched from drums to piano. By 1964 the band had developed into a seven-piece Blue-eyed soul band called The John Evan Band (later The John Evan Smash).

In 1967, the band moved to the London area in search of fame, but the plan fizzled and most of the band quit and headed home. Anderson and bassist Glenn Cornick (who had replaced Hammond) connected with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams and his friend, drummer Clive Bunker to give it another try.

Other names the band used included "Navy Blue", "Ian Henderson's Bag o' Nails", and "Candy Coloured Rain." Since they had no permanent name at the time, booking agents sometimes made up a name for them. One of these agents (perhaps a history buff) put them down as "Jethro Tull" after the 18th-century agriculturist. Jethro Tull (1674 – 1741) was an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later a horse-drawn hoe.

The connection of him to their music? None.  But it was the name they were using the first time a club manager liked their show enough to invite them to return, so they took it to be a good omen and stuck with it.

Anderson, frustrated with his guitar playing, made the unusual switch for a rock band of including a flute. They released an unsuccessful single in 1968 called "Sunshine Day." It was mislabeled "Jethro Toe" and copies have become collector's items.

Their first album is This Was from 1968. It includes original tunes by Anderson and Abrahams, "Cat's Squirrel" with Abrahams' blues-rock, and a Rahsaan Roland Kirk-penned jazz piece called "Serenade to a Cuckoo" which features Anderson's still-developing flute stylings.

Abrahams left because the band was moving away from a pure blues-rock style and he formed his own band, the much-underrated Blodwyn Pig.

Jethro Tull's best-known album is the 1971 Aqualung. The album has a lyrical theme about religion and society and though not a "rock opera" (as with The Who's Tommy and other albums of the period), it is considered to be a concept album.

The character of Aqualung is a Dickensian, disreputable homeless tramp, who wanders the streets "eyeing little girls with bad intent". He was inspired by photos of homeless men taken by Anderson's wife, Jennie. That seemy world includes "Cross-Eyed Mary" about a young prostitute. The album has both quieter acoustic tracks such as "Wond'ring Aloud," and rockers such as the title track, "Aqualung," and "Locomotive Breath."

The band has gone through many lineups with Anderson being the consistent factor. Their 2008 tour celebrated 40 years of the band,and included many older songs as well as guest appearances from former band members and others. The band has devoted followers and there are many fan sites online. Their official site is at JethroTull.com.

The Ultimate Set, 25th Anniversary Special Edition

SELECTED WORKS

The Best of Jethro Tull

This Was

Stand Up

Aqualung

Thick As a Brick

Minstrel in the Gallery

Best of Acoustic

A Passion Play

Minstrel in the Gallery

Jethro Tull: Live at Madison Square Garden 1978 (DVD/CD)