# Marty Balin passes at 76



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Marty Balin, of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship fame, has passed away at 76. He was guitarist, songwriter, and often lead vocalist. His song credits include "It's No Secret," "Today," "Comin' Back To Me," "Plastic Fantastic Lover," "Share a Little Joke" and "Volunteers."

All his work is fused in my somewhat addled memory of those great days. Thanks Marty!

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/obituary/8477489/marty-balin-jefferson-airplane-dies


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

From what I've seen in interviews he came across as a really nice bloke, too - polite, honest and no ego. Among the many highlights I still think the track _Volunteers_ is Marty's (and the Airplane's) defining moment.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

R.I.P. Marty. His voice, linked with Grace's and Paul's, is unalterably etched in my mind in songs like _Wooden Ships_ and _St. Charles_, and with Grace's in _The House at Pooneil Corners_ and so many, many others. Plus a Balin masterpiece, _Caroline_. A dynasty is ending.....


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Jorma Kaukonen on the passing of his friend Marty Balin:

"I was more than saddened yesterday to hear of Marty Balin’s passing. Jack and I were in Northampton, Mass. at the Academy Of Music and we were just getting ready to do our sound check. I knew that Marty had been sick and I knew in a general way that he had grievous issues but I did not really know what they were. Marty always kept a lot of shade on himself. I stood there in the little room in the wings, stage left… struck dumb. What can you say? We always say and hear, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ but what does that really mean? We say it. We have to say it and then in the confines of our hearts we try to process the sorrow and search for the words that really convey what we feel. It is an imperfect process.

Marty and I were young together in a time that defined our lives. Had it not been for him, my life would have taken an alternate path I cannot imagine. He and Paul Kantner came together and like plutonium halves in a reactor started a chain reaction that still affects many of us today. It was a moment of powerful synchronicity. I was part of it to be sure, but I was not a prime mover. Marty always reached for the stars and he took us along with him.

I always felt that he was somewhat guarded… the quiet one. Perhaps that’s because I was one of the noisy ones… I don’t know. It’s probably not for me to say. His commitment to his visions never flagged. He was always relentless in the pursuit of his goals. He wrapped those he loved in sheltering arms. He loved his family. Times come and go but his passion for his music and his art was never diminished. He was the most consummate of artists in a most renaissance way. I always felt that he perceived that each day was a blank canvas waiting to be filled.

It was fortuitous that we were able to stay connected in a loose way over the years. He and his friends graced our stage at the Fur Peace Station in Ohio and he was able to join us at the Beacon Theater in NYC the year we celebrated Jack’s 70th birthday.

Very good stuff!

Coming to grips with reality is a process that starts at birth. I am always stunned when one of my friends passes and yet, it would seem that at some point we will all take that journey. It’s almost like, ‘How can this be? There are things I need to say.’ There were indeed things I needed to say and the fault for that lack lies on me and me alone. I don’t think any of us really think that we will live forever yet often that thought lies dormant in the back of our minds. At my age my world is starting to be surrounded by passing. I will miss my friends who rest on the banks of the River Of Time and I am reminded to make the most of every moment as I am swept downstream! Marty’s passing reaffirms the power of love, the power of family, the power of possibilities.

So many of our brothers and sister from that time are gone. Skip Spence, Spencer Dryden, Joey Covington, Paul Kantner, Signe Anderson and now Marty have all joined the Heavenly Band as Rev. Davis would say.

We were young together. I would like to think we made a difference. As for Grace Slick, Jack Casady and myself…

Now we are three…"


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

I am saddened to hear this news. I liked Marty's songs and his voice had a plaintive edge to it that compelled you to listen. The blending of his voice with Kantner and Slick was unique, different than any other harmony of the time. _Caroline_, _Fantastic Plastic Lover_, _Miracles_ - all really good songs. My favorite has always been _Today_, co-written with Kantner.

It would take a short story to explain what the Airplane meant to me and even if I wrote it I'm not sure I could convey the right meaning. Suffice to say that after 1968, you couldn't, to borry a Howard Zinn title, "be neutral on a moving train."

"To go on from here
I can't use words
They don't say enough"


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Room2201974 said:


> I am saddened to hear this news. I liked Marty's songs and his voice had a plaintive edge to it that compelled you to listen. The blending of his voice with Kantner and Slick was unique, different than any other harmony of the time. _Caroline_, _Fantastic Plastic Lover_, _Miracles_ - all really good songs. My favorite has always been _Today_, co-written with Kantner.
> 
> It would take a short story to explain what the Airplane meant to me and even if I wrote it I'm not sure I could convey the right meaning. Suffice to say that after 1968, you couldn't, to borry a Howard Zinn title, "be neutral on a moving train."
> 
> ...


Suffice it to say that the Airplane was the first band I too called my own special, best, personal, soulmate group. And this appreciation carried over well into the Jefferson Starship era. The voices of the three, the guitar of Jorma (and, to a lesser extent, of Chaquico), the music, the lyrics....


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The first "psychedelic" music I ever heard. I was visiting a friend (and a lot of his friends as well) in a communally-inhabited house on Haight Street in SF in 1966. Owsley acid everywhere. If this doesn't sound special, well, maybe you weren't there!


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

KenOC said:


> The first "psychedelic" music I ever heard. I was visiting a friend (and a lot of his friends as well) in a communally-inhabited house on Haight Street in SF in 1966. Owsley acid everywhere. If this doesn't sound special, well, maybe you weren't there!
> 
> Awesome! Did you ever get to see the Jefferson Airplane live? One of my favourite bands from that era but I was sadly born too late.


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

chill782002 said:


> Awesome! Did you ever get to see the Jefferson Airplane live? One of my favourite bands from that era but I was sadly born too late.


Yes, I saw them live in 1970, the classic lineup, Slick, Kantner, Balin, Cassidy, Kaukonen, and Dryden. One of the top concerts of my life. An incredible night, that once again, is hard to put into words. Suffice to say that being a Jefferson Airplane fan, I saw them like a fan should see them. Dead Heads will relate.

You would have had to have been there to understand. This was just a few months after Kent State and I was rapidly approaching draft age. I saw my future..... me, riddled with AK47 bullets lying face down, dead, in a rice paddy. I didn't think much of that future and decided to chart a different course. To me, JA was a lodestone, pointing in a different direction.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

Room2201974 said:


> Yes, I saw them live in 1970, the classic lineup, Slick, Kantner, Balin, Cassidy, Kaukonen, and Dryden. One of the top concerts of my life. An incredible night, that once again, is hard to put into words. Suffice to say that being a Jefferson Airplane fan, I saw them like a fan should see them. Dead Heads will relate.
> 
> You would have had to have been there to understand. This was just a few months after Kent State and I was rapidly approaching draft age. I saw my future..... me riddled with AK47 bullets lying face down, dead, in a rice paddy. I didn't think much of that future and decided to chart a different course. To me, JA was a lodestone, pointing in a different direction.


Great story, thanks very much for that. They were a fantastic live act based on the recorded evidence that I've heard. I would have given a lot to have the opportunity to see them myself but that's just what a guy half my age said to me the other day when I told him about the Nirvana show I attended in 1994. :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The "Strange Magic of" thread on the Airplane....

The Strange Magic of: Jefferson Airplane


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

One of Marty's best songs: Coming Back to Me. Youth can be devastating.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

I remember the peculiar thoughts when I heard the song "When I'm Sixty-Four”. What would these guys be thinking about this song when they reached the ancient age of 64?

I had some bad guesses about what ‘old’ people thought about. 

64 seems so young to me now. I'm sure Paul wiould give anything to be 64 again..


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