Wow, What a tribute to a singer. See, to me, I had never met anyone
who was really into Grace Slick, so I assume wrongly that she never amounted
to much in the overall scheme of things. But She has a lengthy list of work
that proves otherwise. it is ashame that the only tracks one hears on the
radio are the few popular tracks from Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson
Starship, and the insipid "We built this City".
I just may have to go out and buy something of hers, but I am
not sure what. Thank you and everyone for a great look into an overlooked
artist.
Blair
NP: "Young Gifted and black" Nina Simone
>
>I'm not sure what to say that would make anybody 'get' Grace. To me when
>she was in her prime she had one of the most amazing voices in rock music.
>That was what first drew me to her. I had never heard anybody sing like
>that before. Often compared to a laser beam, which is a pretty apt
>description, this was a voice with a sharp edge & a lot of power behind it.
>If you're at all familiar with Jefferson Airplane's first album, you know
>that Signe Anderson was also a decent singer. But then listen to 'Somebody
>To Love' from 'Surrealistic Pillow' and you know immediately that something
>new & vital has been added to the lineup of that band and that it's a force
>to be reckoned with. In her heyday, Grace was like a force of nature, imo.
>Her backup vocals were also very distinctive. Listen to 'Martha' and hear
>her vocal embellishments. Her voice is unmistakable and yet it does not
>stick out like a sore thumb. It enhances the song and makes it that much
>more interesting. Then again, she & Marty Balin could blend their voices
>beautifully at times as on the ballad 'Today'. Grace sings harmony here
>and
>perfectly matches Marty's singing note for note with no showing off. Just
>a
>perfect blend. At other times the two of them engaged in vocal acrobatics,
>seeming to do battle with one another for the upper hand. Listen to '3/5s
>of a Mile in 10 Seconds' on the live 'Bless It's Pointed Little Head' or
>'Caroline' from Jefferson Starship's 'Dragonfly'. Grace seems to be trying
>to steal Marty's thunder. He was not amused by this and seems to have been
>very resentful of the attention that was lavished on Ms. Slick during the
>years they performed together.
>
>Personality-wise, you're dealing with somebody who is pretty complex. A
>striking brunette with piercing blue eyes, Grace has said in her
>autobiography & elsewhere that she has always had self-image issues. She
>always felt inferior in the looks department because she wasn't the
>blonde-with-big-boobs-and-shapely-legs type. Her problems with drugs &
>alcohol have pretty much become the stuff of legend. Chemicals also helped
>fuel the outrageous antics she has become famous for over the years. I was
>just thinking the other day about the incident when she & Abby Hoffman
>showed up at a White House tea during the Nixon years. Tricia Nixon had
>invited Grace to this function because she & Grace had both attended Smith
>College at one time. Grace claims that she had a healthy dose of LSD under
>one of her fingernails and was hoping Tricky Dicky himself would show up at
>the party so she could drop it into his tea. Security wouldn't let them
>through the gate so that particular page of counter-culture history was
>truncated. Grace also has a very warped sense of humor that often shows up
>in her song writing and is another reason why I love her so much. Listen
>to
>her paean to cannibalism, 'Silver Spoon' on the Paul Kantner/Grace Slick
>album 'Sunfighter' for a prime example of her black humor. She is also
>extremely intelligent and apparently well-read. The song 'rejoyce' is
>based
>on James Joyce's 'Ulysses', a book that I own but have never gotten up the
>courage to attempt reading. Her song writing, although often sarcastic and
>sometimes obtuse, does reflect a unique and, imo, fascinating perspective.
>She has opened my mind to many things over the years with her lyrics.
>
>Nowadays Grace seems to be pretty much retired. Like Joni, she paints but
>in Grace's case it seems to be more of a hobby than a second vocation. She
>appeared with Kantner's band a few months ago and caused a bit of a stir by
>draping an American flag over herself with a sign on it that read 'F**k
>Fear' as a response to the 9/11 attacks. Pretty spunky for a 62 year old.
>I saw her on Roseanne's talk show a few years ago promoting her book. She
>was close to 60 then & still looked remarkably good. She was full of
>stories about her heyday and Roseanne seemed to get a big charge out of
>having her on the show. I thought her songs were the best thing about the
>Jefferson Airplane reunion album. She was in a very mellow mood
>apparently,
>contributing songs that reflected the sensibilities of a mature woman and
>one called 'Panda' that is a very moving song about the plight of the
>endangered panda bear. JMDLer Bill Dollinger (Bill, are you out there?)
>has, I believe, met her in connection with his work for animal rights.
>Grace is a strong advocate for that particular cause.
>
>I suppose Grace and the Airplane were very much products of the late 60s.
>Haight Ashbury, psychedelia, concerts at the Filmore - all of this is the
>stuff of legend now and actually had already come & gone by the time I
>started listening to Grace in the 70s. I was attending college then in
>Iowa
>and had a very romantic view of that era, wishing that I could have been a
>part of it. Grace Slick was like an emblem of that time to me and while
>she
>was still performing there was still a trace of it left. I saw her with
>Jefferson Starship twice in those years. The first time I didn't know much
>about Grace or the music and I was pretty wrecked on MDA. But I do
>remember
>that concert & vaguely remember her voice. The second time I had become a
>fan & yelled 'All right, Grace, all right!' as she was leaving the venue,
>almost directly below where I was sitting. She turned around and waved
>before she disappeared and I yelled 'love you!' I will never forget it.
>
>Mark E in Seattle
>
>
>
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