Marty Balin & Jorma Kaukonen Share Memories Of Paul Kantner

Yesterday the rock world lost another great when Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship vocalist/guitarist Paul Kantner died of multiple organ failure. Vocalist Marty Balin – who recruited Kantner to help form Jefferson Airplane in 1965 – issued a Facebook post about his old friend and band mate:

Balin and Kantner were part of the classic Jefferson Airplane late ’60s lineup that also featured Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden which recorded such hits as “White Rabbit,” “Somebody To Love” and “Volunteers.” Though Balin left the Airplane in 1971, he would re-team with Kantner in 1975 by joining Jefferson Starship and later formed the KBC Band with Paul and Jack Casady. Both Kantner and Balin were part of a 1989 Jefferson Airplane reunion and the pair shared the stage in recent iterations of Jefferson Starship. Watch the duo’s 1994 appearance on the Vicki Lawrence Show:

Kaukonen took to his blog to post an essay about Paul Kantner. Paul brought Jorma aboard to Jefferson Airplane in 1965. “The Airplane was an amazing aggregate of personalities and talent. That we could all coexist in the same room was amazing. That we could function together and make the lasting art that we did was nothing short of a miracle. In my opinion Paul was the catalyst that made the alchemy happen. He held our feet to the flame. He could be argumentative and contentious… he could be loving and kind… his dedication to the Airplane’s destiny as he saw it was undeniable. Over the years he and I occasionally butted heads over things that seem trivial today. I was so pleased last year when he accepted my dinner invitation when I was in San Francisco and indeed we rediscovered our friendship,” Kaukonen wrote about Kantner. Head to JormaKaukonen.com to read Kaukonen’s heart-felt post about his old friend.