Happy Birthday Jack Casady: Performing Live With Hot Tuna In 1969

One of the prominent musicians in the late-1960s Bay Area psychedelic music scene, bassist Jack Casady celebrates his 76th birthday today. Born in Washington D.C. in 1944, the low end provider for Jefferson Airplane was tapped for recordings by David Crosby, Jimi Hendrix and others including Roky Erickson, Warren Zevon and his Airplane band mates Paul Kantner and Grace Slick.

Casady established the blues outfit Hot Tuna in 1969 with Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. The pair of veteran musicians continue to perform together, having kept an active touring schedule for decades. In honor of Jack’s birthday, here’s a look back at a television appearance taped by an at-the-time just-formed Hot Tuna.

The footage below features the longtime friends and D.C. natives Casady and Kaukonen performing for the Folk Guitar television program that aired on San Francisco’s public station KQED. The duo can be seen performing their original “Mann’s Fate” and the traditional “Hesitation Blues.”

[Originally Published: April 13, 2017]