Marty Balin Dead at 76

So young

Sexy

Godspeed, Marty. Thanks for your music and for also having the good taste to reject Grace Slick.

Glad Grace Slick outlived him.

I remember thinking 'fuck him' after he said "I wouldn't let her suck my dick" in Creem or Crawdaddy in the late 70s

Sorry to hear this. He had a great voice. Jefferson Starship's "Miracles" is one of the great rock songs of the 1970s.

I got a taste of the real world / When I went down on you girl

Hearts can stop

Sad... Loved the Jefferson Airplane. Thank you for the great music, Marty... RIP.

A little masterpiece:

Is Grace now the only surviving original member of Jefferson Airplane?

No. Jack Casady & Jorma Kaukonen are still breathing.

As I understand it, Marty was the only original male member of the Airplane with whom Grace didn't sleep with at least once.

He had emergency open-heart surgery in 2016 and sued the hospital for malpractice after suffering complications including kidney failure requiring dialysis, losing his left thumb and part of his tongue (?!)

Jefferson Airplane, with all the original members including Jorma and Grace, reunited for a tour when I was in college (I want to say 1989 or 90) and I was thrilled, as a fan of throwback 1960s-70s music to see the show. What a great vocalist Marty Balin was. And when he and Grace hit the harmonies right, they soared together.

Goddamit is right OP.

Another little piece of my youth and my heart just fell to the wayside.

Wasn't he a total asshole though? Or was that someone else in the group?

Marty Balin, artist.

He wrote their best song under the Jefferson Starship name rebrand.

With Your Love

Johnny Depp resembles photo at R13.

Marty Balin was a great musician but Grace Slick was still the star of the show. Her songs "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit" really put Jefferson Airplane on the map.

Marty and Grace together.

Grace Slick, 78 years old now.

I read her memoir and it was a hoot!

Marty looking hot here.

[quote] “That was a hell of a two years,” the Tampa, Florida resident said. “It was a pain in the butt but I’m doing good now.”

Not so much, Marty. Not so much.

Grace wrote in her memoir that Jack Casady was HUNG.

"Miracles" is one of my favorite songs. Marty and Grace had their difficulties, but they were magic together.

Sad. I was a huge Airplane fan back in the day. I wore the grooves off of that SURREALISTIC PILLOW album back in college.

JA / JS in 2017

BTW, The Canyon club is a total shit hole fire hazard. It's going to happen one day in their clubs.

But what about ME?

R26 She also wrote about Jim Morrison. They were touring together and she found Jim in his room in a drug haze. He had been having sex with a lot of people so she decided it was her turn. She undressed him, got him going, and said that he had a nice engorged love muscle. She remarked that he probably didn't even remember it the next day.

R12, I was going to post the exact same thing. And from what I understand, they didn't like each other.

There was some embarrassing scandal for him back in the 80s I think? His dad put an ad in Variety saying that Marty was available for hire

“Miracles” is a beautiful song. Balin and Slick make the vocals come alive with a sense of pleading and ecstasy. A wonderful, though contentious, duo.

"I remember thinking 'fuck him' after he said "I wouldn't let her suck my dick" in Creem or Crawdaddy in the late 70s."

I admire him for saying that. She was a druggie slut. And stupid. After Janis Joplin died she said "if somebody dies in a car accident that doesn't make me stop driving."

It's a miracle Grace is still alive, with all the booze, drugs and drunk driving. She quit drinking some years ago.

R23 Grace has always been a hot shit. I love that her car once caught fire and when the police showed up asked her what was the problem and she responded what the fuck does it look like. Love her.

There are several Grace interviews from recent years on Youtube and she's still a fucking pistol. Always loved her and her no bullshit attitude.

Didn't Grace get caught with possessing a gun?

I'm not much interested in "Miracles" and but I will go listen to "Today" in his honor.

" . . . I might have to move heaven and earth to prove it to you, baby . . . "

Another Grace Slick story. Years ago when Star Wars was all the rage she saw Mark Hamill, went up to him, shook his hand and said, "Hi. I'm Darth Vader's wife".

I loved this one.

R43 I have that hit single - my favorite song by him.

Comin' back to me.

I wore my first copy out, too, r27.

Go ask Marty -- when he's six feet dowwwwn.

Runaway

Count On Me

Saw the Airplane live several times and Marty Balin always made me sigh. He knew he was beautiful.

RIP. Thanks for the fantastic tunes. Lucky to have heard them, and I listen to them, still.

He and Grace really did soar together in the Airplane, even if they disliked each other.

Up against the wall, motherfucker! On network television, The Dick Cavett Show, 1969.

His first wife died in 2010 and he got married again to an age-appropriate woman, so I kinda like him for that alone. But also the whole musical genius thing.

He built this city! #RIP #Starship

The great old hippies! They're disappearing....

r54 he wasn't part of Starship. That was just Grace, from the original lineup.

I had nothing to do with that shit song!

R54 should be tarred and feathered...

Miracles for me is the perfect pop song. I’ll never tire of it.

Coming Back to Me is beautiful and haunting in a way that seems so far from the sex-and-drugs craziness it was recorded amidst.

I love the original and I love what Rickie Lee Jones did with the song.

He was a fine talent.

Coming Back To Me... the winter setting is perfect for that song. I can imagine watching the snow fall, the grey atmosphere.. sort of otherworldly, dreamy and quiet, with the snowfall. It's a soft song, taking you into fantasy. Beautiful.

Balin at (one of) his best - Hearts

They sound a little ragged in the Cavett clip. Love the light show.

At Altamont he attempted to help someone who was getting beaten up by the Hell's Angels and they turned on him and knocked him unconscious. What a brave thing to do. They could have killed him.

That Altamont show was a total disaster. It's a miracle it didn't get even worse than it did.

R64, it's been a long time since I saw the (great) Altamont documentary "Gimme Shelter," but if I remember right, Kantner called out the Angels for their thuggish behavior, on Marty Balin's in particular.

Grace also made the classic remark, (paraphrasing) "People, we must keep our bodies off one another unless it is for LOVING!"

"Grace also made the classic remark, (paraphrasing) "People, we must keep our bodies off one another unless it is for LOVING!"

Actually, she was pretty stupid. She defended the Hell's Angels, saying they were there to keep order and that both they and the drug-addled audience both needed to calm. down. The Hell's Angels were a group of criminal thugs. And they were there to POLICE the event? The Rolling Stones were always blamed for the Hell's Angels being there, but I think it was the Grateful Dead who were the ones primarily responsible for using the Hell's Angels as security. I think the Grateful Dead were supposed to play at Altamont, but when they heard what was going on they chickened out and didn't perform. I always hated the Grateful Dead.

I tried to listen to some Jefferson Spacecraft but the crank on my granddad's Victrola is rusty and I can't find any whale oil on Amazon.

Sad news. This is some intense footage of them playing live on a rooftop in NYC in 1968, that I found a couple of years ago. Watch to the end when the cops turn up.

Grace was not an original member of JA. She, her husband, and brother in law had a band called The Great Society. "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" were both originally performed by Grace with TGS and appeared on a low budget live album.

The original female singer for JA was Signe Anderson. She appeared on the first album, "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off," performed with the band for about a year, then decided she would rather raise a family. In certain registers, her voice and Grace's sound a lot alike. As Signe was preparing to leave, both she and Grace performed with the band a few times until Grace officially took her place. Grace brought the two songs from TGS with her and they appeared on Surrealistic Pillow, the second JA studio album. BTW, Jerry Slick wrote the music and most of the lyrics for "Somebody to Love." Grace wrote music and lyrics for "White Rabbit."

Darby Slick wrote “Somebody to Love.”

r66 the Hell's Angels had done security for the San Francisco bands at numerous shows, and there were never any incidents. Altamont was the exception.

I love Grace's famous quote "old people don't belong on a rock and roll stage." Grace retired in the late 80s because she said she felt ridiculous singing the 60s stuff when she was pushing 50. She retired and never looked back.

He and Steve Perry were the best male vocalists of the 80's. I always thought he was sexy back then as well. Godspeed Mr. Balin.

They sounded a little ragged on the Cavett show because they had just come from Woodstock. The Cavett clip is pretty classic with Joni acting sort of like a co-host. David Crosby shows up at some point on tambourine. And Jorma sports a man bun!

And let's not forget Spencer Dryden smoking a cig and banging the drums.