Editing Jefferson Starship (section)

===1970–1974: Origins===
In 1970, while [[Jefferson Airplane]] was on break from touring, singer-guitarist [[Paul Kantner]] recorded ''[[Blows Against the Empire]]''. This was a concept album featuring an ad hoc group of musicians (centered on Kantner, [[Grace Slick]], [[Joey Covington]], and [[Jack Casady]] of Jefferson Airplane; [[David Crosby]] and [[Graham Nash]]; and [[Grateful Dead]] members [[Jerry Garcia]], [[Mickey Hart]], and [[Bill Kreutzmann]]) credited on the LP as Paul Kantner and "Jefferson Starship", marking the first use of that name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/music/album/paul-kantner-jefferson-starship/blows-against-the-empire/8d6kgx512wh2|title=Blows Against the Empire|website=Microsoft.com|access-date=July 5, 2017|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023164225/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/music/album/paul-kantner-jefferson-starship/blows-against-the-empire/8d6kgx512wh2|archive-date=October 23, 2017|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="BATE-AllMusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/blows-against-the-empire-mw0000024441|title=Blows Against the Empire |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509080517/https://www.allmusic.com/album/blows-against-the-empire-mw0000024441|archive-date=May 9, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> This agglomeration was informally known as the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra, a moniker later used on a Kantner album in the early 1980s.<ref name="PERRO-AllMusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/planet-earth-rock-and-roll-orchestra-mw0000855723|title=Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra|last=Ruhlmann|first=William|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=October 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301031500/https://www.allmusic.com/album/planet-earth-rock-and-roll-orchestra-mw0000855723|archive-date=March 1, 2022|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On ''Blows Against the Empire'', Kantner and Slick sang about a group of people escaping Earth in a hijacked starship. In 1971, the album was nominated for the prestigious science fiction prize, the [[Hugo Award]], a rare honor for a musical recording.  Kantner and Slick were a couple during this period. Slick was pregnant during the recording of the album.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tamarakin |first=Jeff |year=2003 |title=Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane |publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=231|isbn=0-671-03403-0}}</ref> Their daughter, [[China Kantner|China]], was born shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nu8gAAAAIBAJ&pg=5269,3520946&dq=paul+kantner&hl=en|title=Daughter Born To Pop Singer|date=January 26, 1971|publisher=The Day|access-date=December 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222164448/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nu8gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vnMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5269,3520946&dq=paul+kantner&hl=en|archive-date=December 22, 2015|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Kantner and Slick with the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra released two follow-up albums: ''[[Sunfighter]]'', an environmentalism-tinged album released in 1971 to celebrate China's birth, and 1973's ''[[Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun]]'', titled after the nicknames [[David Crosby]] had given to the couple. Bassist/keyboardist/vocalist [[David Freiberg]] was given equal billing alongside Kantner and Slick on the latter album. A founding member of [[Quicksilver Messenger Service]], Freiberg had known and played with Kantner on the folk circuit in the early 1960s and sang background vocals on ''Blows Against the Empire''. Following a marijuana arrest that resulted in his departure from Quicksilver in 1971, he joined Jefferson Airplane as a vocalist for their 1972 tour, documented on the live album ''[[Thirty Seconds Over Winterland]]'' (1973).<ref name=Freiberg-AM>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-freiberg-mn0000638153/biography |title=David Freiberg |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |website=[[Allmusic]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011021453/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/david-freiberg-mn0000638153/biography |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |url-status=live |language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="TSOW-AllMusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/thirty-seconds-over-winterland-mw0000204694|title=Thirty Seconds Over Winterland|last=Planer|first=Lindsay|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=October 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621195522/http://www.allmusic.com/album/thirty-seconds-over-winterland-mw0000204694|archive-date=June 21, 2012|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Kantner was introduced to the teenage guitarist [[Craig Chaquico]] through his friend and fellow musician, Jack Traylor, during this time. Chaquico, a high school English student of Traylor's and a member in his band Steelwind, played guitar on the song "Earth Mother" from ''Sunfighter''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tamarakin |first=Jeff |year=2003 |title=Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane |publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=251|isbn=0-671-03403-0}}</ref> Chaquico would go on to perform with Kantner and Slick on their subsequent album collaborations, then with Jefferson Starship, and finally with Starship until 1990.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jefferson-starship-mn0000840050/biography |title=Jefferson Starship: Artist Biography |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=August 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625213447/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jefferson-starship-mn0000840050/biography|archive-date=June 25, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="AllMusicStarshipBio">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/starship-mn0000748168/biography|title=AllMusic Starship Biography |last=Ruhlmann|first=William |website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=September 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620102219/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/starship-mn0000748168/biography|archive-date=June 20, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Early in 1974, Slick released ''[[Manhole (album)|Manhole]]'', her first solo album.<ref name="Manhole-AllMusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/manhole-mw0000015080|title=Manhole|last=Viglione|first=Joe|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619200955/http://www.allmusic.com/album/manhole-mw0000015080|archive-date=June 19, 2012|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Appearing along with Slick on ''Manhole'' were Kantner, Freiberg, Chaquico, Jack Casady, David Crosby, and the [[London Symphony Orchestra]].<ref name="Manhole-AllMusic"/> It was on that album that Kantner, Slick, and Freiberg next worked with bassist and keyboard player [[Pete Sears]] (who had first played on [[Papa John Creach]]'s first solo album). Sears, was co-producing a [[Kathi McDonald]] album in the same studio. Sears wrote the music to Slick's lyrics for the song "Better Lying Down," and also played bass on the song "Epic #38". It was during this session at Wally Heider studios in San Francisco that Kantner and Slick first approached Sears about playing in what would eventually become Jefferson Starship.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tamarakin |first=Jeff |year=2003 |title=Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane |publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=270|isbn=0-671-03403-0}}</ref> Sears would eventually join Jefferson Starship in June 1974, replacing [[Peter Kaukonen]].<ref name="allmusic"/>

In early 1974, with guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady having moved on to their band [[Hot Tuna]] full-time, Kantner decided to put together a touring band without them. The musicians on ''Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun'' formed the core of a new lineup that was formally reborn as Jefferson Starship. They appropriated the name from Kantner's ''Blows Against the Empire'', with manager [[Bill Thompson (manager)|Bill Thompson]] convincing the group that keeping the connection to Jefferson Airplane made sense from a business standpoint.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tamarakin |first=Jeff |year=2003 |title=Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane |publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=267|isbn=0-671-03403-0}}</ref> It included the other five remaining members of Jefferson Airplane, including Kantner on rhythm guitar and vocals; Slick on vocals and percussion, David Freiberg on vocals and keyboards, [[John Barbata]], who had played with [[the Turtles]] and Crosby, Stills and Nash, on drums and Papa John Creach, from Hot Tuna, on electric violin. Jorma Kaukonen's brother, Peter (who had appeared on the albums ''Blows Against the Empire'' and ''Sunfighter''), was on bass. On lead guitar was Craig Chaquico who had played on three of Kantner and Slick's solo albums, as well as in the band Steelwind. The band began rehearsals in January 1974 and opened its first tour in Chicago on March 19. By April, it was decided that the band would go into the studio to record an album. British veteran Pete Sears, who had worked on Slick's solo album, ''Manhole'', and played with Rod Stewart, was selected to replace Peter Kaukonen as the band's bass player.<ref name="allmusic"/>