Jorma Kaukonen on the Jefferson Airplane and Psychedelic 1960s

In this 1996 interview, Jorma Kaukonen discusses his guitar playing with Jefferson Airplane and the emergence of San Francisco's psychedelic scene in the 1960s. At the time of this conversation, Jorma was performing with Hot Tuna and setting up his Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp in southern Ohio.
Portions of this interview were used for my 1997 "Psychedelia" cover story for Guitar Player magazine. A complete transcription is available in my online Talking Guitar magazine: jasobrecht.substack.com/p/jor...
To help us continue producing podcasts like this one, kindly hit that donate button: paypal.me/TalkingGuitar. Every bit helps!
Thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for filming the intro and enhancing the sound of the 28-year-old master tape. For more than 150 other guitar-intensive podcasts, interview transcripts, and articles, visit jasobrecht.substack.com/. #jormakaukonen #jeffersonairplane #hottuna #psychedelic #jasobrecht #talkingguitar #nikhunt #guitarplayermagazine
This podcast is copyright 2024 by Jas Obrecht. All rights reserved.

[@superfuzzymomma]

Jorma is woven into the fabric of American music. And my musical DNA. Double Dose made high-school bearable and Quah got me through college. Too much debt to mention other than to say thank you Jas. God bless you Jorma for being an inspiring performer and Class Act!

[@TalkingGuitarJasObrecht]

"Quah" = Astoundingly good acoustic guitar album. For me, "I Am the Light of This World" is right up there with "Embryonic Journey." Classics.

[@BrianKlobyGuitar]

Cool interview,. Awesome to hear Jorma talikng about the early San Fran scene. Thank you 🎸☕

[@elginphelps5291]

Surrealistic Pillow. My big brother bought it for me. I remember hearing Embryonic Journey that day. I was 11. Now I'm 68.

[@TheNaturalust]

I loved the cigar box record!

[@TheNaturalust]

Jorma is a great player and a big influence. Him and Jack play very well together still.

[@philrossner3250]

Thanks Jas, this is really interesting! As a fledgling guitarist back in the late 60's, Jorma's lead at the end of 'Somebody to Love' blew me away and I tried anything and everything in my playing at the time to catch that vibe! As for the psychedelic music of those times, the other highlights for me were most definitely Big Brother & Janis doing 'Piece of my Heart'... a tune I ended up playing for a number of years in my band The Voyce (pre-KZbin phenomenon). Ended up in email chats with both Barry Melton and Sam Andrew for a time which was fun as I really loved and respected both of them and their bands. I know that The Doors (who I saw in '67) weren't from San Fran, but are/were they considered part of the Psychedelic rock movement of the time? Coming from Canada, the band that really blew me away at the time and that I got to see numerous times was The Collectors, which later morphed into one of Canada's most successful bands, Chilliwack. Guitarist Bill Henderson from both, as well as lead vocals in Chilliwack, has been a long-time friend of mine and I also had the privilege in 2017 of recording with the brilliant Claire Lawrence - sax, keys and flute player extraordinaire - originally from The Collectors and later The Home Town Band. What a thrill to actually perform with one of my original music idols!

[@TalkingGuitarJasObrecht]

You're right about "Somebody to Love." It was so unusual in that era to have the main solo be the song's end. The Doors were based in Los Angeles, and their first two albums -- "The Doors" and especially "Strange Days" -- are psychedelic masterworks. Both LPs stand the test of time.

[@philrossner3250]

@@TalkingGuitarJasObrecht Yep... I learned all Robbie's guitar parts in both The Doors and Strange Days... they were my 'bliss' guitar albums of the time! And then came... Are You Experienced!! Yikes!!

[@johnschulman1565]

Great interview. Thank you.

[@miketracy6024]

I think he's wrong about Signe at Monterey in 1967. Wasn't Grace Slick there by then?

[@TheNaturalust]

Of course LSD made a big impact on the music. And changed the direction and outcome of many musicians.

[@TheReubenKincaid]

I think Jefferson Airplane Takes Off is a great record . Pre Psych

[@jamessullivan9468]

Thy should be helping there friends living under the bridge