A
few weeks ago I was working on an interview with San Francisco indie-pop/rock outfit
Annie Girl & The Flight and it got me all nostalgic for the Bay Area bands
I found via my mother as kid. Grateful Dead, Santana, Sly & The Family
Stone, Jefferson Airplane and on and on. That nearly 50 sq. mile area is rich
in sonic history. Journey included…
But
what got me the most was why I hadn't heard anything from Jefferson Airplane’s
pioneering woman of rock, Grace Slick, since her retirement in the late 80’s. I even composed
an email to send off to the now 74 year old to see if she would chat with me. I didn't send it.
Well,
guess who did send off an email or whatever he did to get to chat with Grace
Slick, that’s right Rolling Stone’s David Browne, that's who. They mainly discuss Slicks
memories of the beginnings of the big rock festivals. There is also some great
tidbits about going to meet Mick Jagger, the smell of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar,
Woodstock, the weirdness of The Band and her thoughts on current festivals.
On
meeting Mick Jagger for the first time Slick says, “"Oh, God, there's
going to be some kind of orgy there and I don't do orgies and they're going to
think I'm a big prude and it's going to be a party with heroin and all this
weird shit I don't do.”
Grace
describes what she and her band-mates thought after seeing the Who on stage, “We
didn't know the Who were going to smash things up. The guitar players in our
group were cringing, since we didn't have that kind of money [to replace the
instruments]. But I thought it was wonderful.”
All
and all great insights from a living legend into when music festival were about
the music and nothing to do with VIP packages, selfies and the seen to be seen schmooze
fests they've become. I don’t think things are going to get any better…
One
last bit about if she's checked out any current festivals, "Like Danny
Glover says in Lethal Weapon, "I'm too old for this shit!" I'm too
old for any shit." Grace Slick is and has always been one of the very best.
Psychedelic Smiles...
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