23 Jan JAM, Inc to Manage Jefferson Airplane
LOS ANGELES (January 23rd, 2017) – Jampol Artist Management (JAM, Inc.), is proud to announce it has completed a worldwide agreement to manage both Jefferson Airplane and its successful offshoot, Jefferson Starship. Jefferson Airplane contributed heavily to the soundtrack of the sixties, and remains one of the most emblematic groups to rise to national prominence from humble beginnings in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district. The band’s subsequent incarnation, Jefferson Starship, built on the success of its progenitor with seminal albums like Red Octopus, Dragonfly and Freedom At Point Zero.
Jefferson Airplane’s hits like “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” from 1967’s Surrealistic Pillow continue to define the sound of the Summer Of Love, and they are the only artist to wear the crown of the all-time festival trifecta: Jefferson Airplane was a headlining act at Monterey Pop, Altamont, and Woodstock. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lists “White Rabbit” as one of the 500 songs that shaped the sound of rock and roll. The title track from Volunteers, the band’s 1969 release, features the lyrics, “Look what’s happening out in the streets/Got a revolution/This generation got no destination to hold/Pick up the cry/Hey now it’s time for you and me/Got a revolution.” It could be the theme song for our political climate today. The Airplane charted eight consecutive Top 20 albums in the United States between 1967 and 1972, paving the way for the San Francisco groups that followed including the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, and more.
“I think it’s fan-fucking-tastic that we’re working with JAM,” declared Jefferson Airplane singer/frontwoman Grace Slick.
“The Airplane still flies!” chimed in Marty Balin, founder and lead vocalist for Jefferson Airplane. “It was one of the greatest experiences I ever had. I am proud of the musical legacy Jefferson Airplane brings and I look forward to working with JAM.”
“It is an honor and a privilege to be a JAM, Inc. client. It’s also nice to be alive so I can enjoy these blessings. I’m looking forward to seeing the Jefferson Airplane legacy made available to and hopefully enjoyed by a whole new generation who were not yet even born when the band was at the height of its creativity!” said Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen.
Jack Casady, Airplane bassist, added, “I am truly excited about the prospects of joining the Jampol Artist Management team to further the development of the Jefferson Airplane legacy! Those early years of musical development and comradeship amongst such a diverse group of talented individuals was an experience I’ll always cherish.”
Jefferson Airplane became the “anointed purveyor of the San Francisco sound” in the spring of 1967. The psychedelic pioneers mixed rock, folk, blues, and extended jams in their original sound that has remained wholly unique in the decades since they first landed on stage with Grace Slick and Marty Balin as co-lead vocalists. The Airplane was one of the first rock bands to feature a female singer.
The band’s power to transform audiences from spectators into participants should not be under-appreciated. The late Paul Kantner, Airplane songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, once recalled two visits to Grinnell College in Iowa. During the first visit, Kantner remembered, “All the kids came in prom gowns and tuxedos.” When the band returned for another show a year later, “they were having nude mud love-ins and everybody had their faces painted.”
Jefferson Airplane demanded self-expression from its audience and made a conscious effort to break down the barriers between the artists and the fans. The communal experience was paramount. One can see echoes of this ethos in the current
popularity of electronic dance music, where the ultimate goal is to have a shared experience with the artist and the other fans in the audience, while also expressing oneself through colorful outfits, statement accessories, and perhaps the consumption of some mind-altering substances. The Airplane’s early albums were paralleled at the time only by albums like The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Doors’ eponymous LP in its combination of psychedelic pop and musical sophistication.
Over the decades, Jefferson Airplane’s music has come to be a marker in a number of unforgettable films and television shows. One of the most pivotal scenes in 1994’s Academy-award winning film Forrest Gump featured the song “Volunteers”. “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” have been featured in dozens of scenes from Apollo 13 to Fringe to Scrubs to Supernatural, The Simpsons, and many, many other moments of pop culture import. The band is, through these references, one of the sounds of the ‘60s.
“For the last 15 years, we have been working to extend the legacies of pop culture institutions. Our job is to protect and promote the art that visionaries like Jefferson Airplane made so that this art carries forward to new generations. We take that responsibility very seriously. Our guiding principles are authenticity, credibility, and pure respect for the art. We are absolutely honored by the opportunity to apply our ‘Jamcraft’ to both Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship’s legacy,” effused Jeff Jampol, President of JAM, Inc.
Jefferson Airplane (and its successive incarnation Jefferson Starship) is another pillar of originality and influence on JAM, Inc.’s roster of cultural icons. They join The Doors, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, the Ramones, and Muddy Waters, among others. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame® in 1996. In 2016, The Grammys® recognized the band’s accomplishments with a Lifetime Achievement Award® and induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame®.