Jefferson Starship at your local casino bar

Talk about misleading advertising --

The "Jefferson Starship" played a gig last night
at a bar at a local casino. This is not
particularly unusual -- lots of groups and stars
who used to be big names play at local casinos.

Heck, people play at local casinos who're still
basically stars, though not ones that still draw
the big stars.

But something about the radio ads got under my
skin. They name Paul Kantner and Marty Balin,
and they say something about everybody else
from Jefferson Starship. And it talks about
bringing the San Francisco sound to the casino.

Now that's downright odd in a way.

Marty Balin left the group about the time it
went from being the Jefferson Airplane to the
Jefferson Starship.

Grace Slick is not named, so obviously she's
sticking to her determination not to be an
aging rock star looking ridiculous on stage.

(Actually, I think that's ageist. I have no
problems with anybody of any age being on
on stage with a rock group. You don't become
physically incapable just because you're
50 or 60. And I'm glad that The Rolling
Stones are proving her wrong.)

Still, what kind of Jefferson "Starship" has
Marty Balin but not Grace Slick?

And the Starship didn't really put out
a "San Francisco" sound. Music was too
fragmented by then. That was the Airplane,
back when you could speak of them and
the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger
Service and Moby Grape in the same breath.

By the time Paul and Grace launched their
space age starship fantasy of their babies
wandering naked through the universe,
nobody was talking about sounds of cities.

And some of the other members can't be the
same -- the group had some severe personal
differences.

Though, if Balin and Kantner can work together
for the money, maybe they could include some
of the other original members also, or it
doesn't matter to the crowds at the casino
bar anyway.

After all, "We Built This City on Rock and
Roll," didn't we?

Let's see, I wonder how long was it that
Balin was mocking that song?

Maybe I'm being sarcastic since I was never
idealistic enough to give free concerts in
the park and sing and "Got to Revolution."

If listening to a group with a 40 year old
tradition that goes back to promoting
the psychedelic age turns you on, maybe
Paul and Marty will bring the 40 year old
San Francisco sound to a bar in your town.

And maybe I'm being unfair. After all,
it's reasonable that professional musicians
should want to keep making music. And who
can blame them for taking the obvious route
of building on the greatness that they did
have back then.

If it sometimes seemed odd for Elvis to go
from rock and roll star to Las Vegas club show . . .
how much stranger for Paul and Marty to go
from acid tests at Bill Graham's Fillmore West
to a bar in a casino in St Louis, MO?



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