Elvin Bishop--Fooled Around and Fell in Love (1976)

     Elvin Bishop was born in California, but moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of ten. He was noted in his early years not for his guitar playing, but his academics which got him a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar finalist where he studied Physics.

     It was while in Chicago that he met Paul Butterfield and joined his band which is where he remained for the next 5 years. He went solo in 1968, and began touring the country playing with many of the best blues artists in the country. His first real recognition to me was in 1975, when his song, "Travelin' Shoes" was getting a lot of FM airplay. However, it was the next year that he hit big with, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love"

      Mickey Thomas was a backup singer at the time, and since Bishop didn't think his gravelly voice did the song justice, invited Thomas to sing lead. It turned out to be #3 on the charts, and eventually lead to Thomas being asked to sing with Jefferson Starship. Bishop continues to tour and record today.

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Jefferson Starship--Miracles (1975)

     The Jefferson Airplane had run into the ground. With the Paul Kantner/Grace Slick songwriting axis on one side, and Kaukonen/Cassady on the other, Balin and his romantic ballads had been left out. His close friend Janis Joplin had just died and was wanting to separate himself from the drug lifestyle that the others were involved in. He finally left the group in 1970, and not long after that, the group itself ground to a halt. Jack Cassady and Jorma Kaukonen devoted themselves full time to Hot Tuna and Kantner/Grace released a series of albums. The first one, "Blows Against the Empire" was credited to Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship was the first time that name had been used (this was 1980), and formally named that in 1974. On the first album under that name, "Dragon Fly", Balin had been invited to write a song, and a year later was formally invited to the group full time.

      1975 brought Red Octopus and the best selling album in the Jefferson Starship formation. Balin contributed the song Miracles, which not only was the highest charting single before the forming of Starship, but the album went #1 as well. The song shows off Balin's romantic crooning that has always been a hallmark of his best work, but what sends it soaring was the great production by Larry Cox. This is a song that you need to hear in it's album format. It's almost 7 minutes long, but there isn't a wasted note anywhere....

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Happy 70th Birthday Paul Kantner

If you don't feel old enough....Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane/Starship turns 70 today. Here are a few clips to help celebrate....

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