The march of time is relentless, and another of our rock and roll music icons has fallen to its drumbeat. TIMH marks the passing of the founder, guitarist and singer in Jefferson Airplane/Starship, Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra and KBC Band. Paul Kantner was an outspoken anarchist, and it’s not too hard to fathom why. Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, Paul’s mother died when he was 8, and his traveling salesman father forbade him from attending her funeral. Instead, he was sent to the circus. Paul was then sent to a Jesuit boarding school. While reading in the school library, Paul picked up his first science fiction book and became engrossed in the genre. He immersed himself in science fiction and music, and adopted a rebellious stance toward all forms of authority. He chose to become a protest folk singer, a la his hero, Pete Seeger.

Kantner’s life from this point on is well chronicled, and won’t be re-hashed here. Suffice it to say, he and Marty Balin formed a new band, Jefferson Airplane, in 1965. Paul thought Jorma Kaukonen would be good to include – a couple of others, too, including Skip Spence, Jack Casady, and singer, Signe Toly Anderson. A year later, Signe had a baby and left the band, replaced by model and singing firebrand, Grace Slick, Paul’s wife to be and mother of his daughter, China Wing. Through the next thirty years and all iterations of the Airplane/Starship, Baron von Tollbooth, as friend and colleague David Crosby dubbed Kantner, would be the only artist to play on every one of over 40 albums.

Kantner, Kaukonen, Balin and Slick, Garcia, Lesh and Hart, Crosby, Nash and Young, and others would also get together and jam in what was called the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (PERRO). Tape was always rolling. Multiple albums by multiple groups came out of those sessions.

But, it was the Jefferson Airplane that first captured the hearts and minds of rock fans everywhere. Psychedelic and martial; those were the sounds of revolution. Thanks for that, Paul. R.I.P.