Editing Jefferson Starship (section)

===1974–1978: Balin on board and commercial apogee===
[[File:Jefferson Starship 1976.JPG|thumb|right|Promotional shot in 1976]]
In 1974, after touring as "Jefferson Starship," Kantner, Slick, Freiberg, Chaquico, Pete Sears, Papa John Creach, and John Barbata recorded the album ''[[Dragon Fly (album)|Dragon Fly]]''. Jorma Kaukonen's brother Peter had played bass during the group's spring tour in 1974, but was replaced by [[Pete Sears]] who, like Freiberg, played bass and keyboards. Kantner collaborated with [[Marty Balin]] on the song "Caroline" during the recording sessions, for which Balin sang vocals on the album.<ref name="allmusic"/> ''Dragon Fly'' was certified gold, and included the single "Ride the Tiger" (#84 [[Billboard Hot 100|US Billboard]]) and its [[B-side]] "Hyperdrive".<ref name="RIAA"/><ref name="Billboard-H100">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/jefferson-starship/chart-history/hsi/|title=Jefferson Starship Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 24, 2019|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229230847/https://www.billboard.com/music/jefferson-starship/chart-history/hot-100|archive-date=December 29, 2019|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Balin then appeared on-stage with the band to perform the song "Caroline" for a show at the Winterland ballroom in November 1974.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="BestClassicBands">{{cite web |url=https://bestclassicbands.com/marty-balin-joins-jefferson-starship-onstage-11-21-15/ |title=Nov 21, 1974: Marty Balin Joins Jefferson Starship Onstage |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=Best Classic Bands |date=November 21, 2015|access-date=August 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820074615/https://bestclassicbands.com/marty-balin-joins-jefferson-starship-onstage-11-21-15/|archive-date=August 20, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

[[File:CC - '70s Jefferson Starship Live Concert photo by Ron Draper.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Jefferson Starship free concert at Marx Meadow, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, May 30, 1975<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.djpreskool.com/blog/2016/1/29/paul-kantner-a-memory |title=Paul Kantner - A memory — PreSkool - A Mind Blown |date=January 29, 2016 |access-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709184044/https://www.djpreskool.com/blog/2016/1/29/paul-kantner-a-memory |url-status=live }}</ref> (''[[White Panther Party#San Francisco|People's Ballroom in the Park]]'')]]
Their followup album, 1975's ''[[Red Octopus]]'', had even greater success. Marty Balin, who had contributed and sung the ballad "Caroline" on the previous album, officially returned to the Jefferson fold as a full-time member in January 1975 and stayed with the group for nearly the remainder of the decade.<ref name="BestClassicBands"/> The Balin penned single "[[Miracles (Jefferson Starship song)|Miracles]]” peaked at No. 3 on the chart, and along with the single “Play on Love” (#49 US Billboard Chart), helped to propel the album to eventual multiple-platinum status and topping the [[Billboard 200]] chart.<ref name="RIAA"/><ref name="Billboard-H100"/><ref name="Billboard_200"/> It would be the biggest selling album of the band's career. Creach quietly left the group soon after in August 1975 to pursue a solo career.<ref name="DeRiso">{{cite web |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jefferson-starship-red-octopus/ |title=Revisiting Jefferson Starship's Zenith, 'Red Octopus' |last=DeRiso|first=Nick|work=Ultimate Classic Rock|publisher=[[Loudwire]]|date=June 13, 2015|access-date=August 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625213213/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jefferson-starship-red-octopus/|archive-date=June 25, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The next album, ''[[Spitfire (Jefferson Starship album)|Spitfire]]'', was released in June 1976 and went platinum.<ref name="allmusic"/> It spent six weeks at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, and included the singles "With Your Love" (#12 US Billboard Chart) and "St. Charles" (#64 US Billboard Chart).<ref name="RIAA"/><ref name="Billboard-H100"/><ref name="Billboard_200"/> Regardless of this success, the band considered the album's sales to be relatively disappointing compared to its predecessor and requested an audit from [[RCA Records]], distributor of their Grunt label.<ref name="Rolling-Stone-Jefferson-Starship-1978">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jefferson-starship-strange-times-at-the-launching-pad-53857/ |title=Jefferson Starship: Strange Times on the Launching Pad|date=May 18, 1978|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|volume=58|access-date=August 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827110405/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jefferson-starship-strange-times-at-the-launching-pad-53857/|archive-date=August 27, 2018|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all }}</ref> RCA subsequently put a reported $500,000 into the next Jefferson Starship project. ''[[Earth (Jefferson Starship album)|Earth]]'' was released in February 1978 and also went platinum.<ref name="allmusic"/> The album featured the singles "Count on Me" (No. 8 US Billboard Chart), "Runaway" (No. 12 US Billboard Chart), and "Crazy Feelin'" (No. 54 US Billboard Chart).<ref name="Billboard-H100"/> Tours of the U.S. and Europe would soon follow.

Balin's reluctance to tour had kept the band off the road for over a year, and Slick's alcoholism increasingly became a problem, which led to two consecutive nights of disastrous concerts in West Germany in June 1978.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://popshifter.com/2008-03-30/wasted-the-top-five-most-inebriated-performances-tours-in-no-particular-order/|title=Wasted! The Top 5 Most Inebriated Performances/Tours (In No Particular Order)|last=Carney|first=Emily|date=March 30, 2008|website=Popshifter.com|access-date=September 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729111037/http://popshifter.com/2008-03-30/wasted-the-top-five-most-inebriated-performances-tours-in-no-particular-order/|archive-date=July 29, 2017|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> On the first night, the band was scheduled to play at the [[Freilichtbühne Loreley|Loreley Amphitheatre]], on the bill with [[Leo Kottke]] and the [[Atlanta Rhythm Section]], but Slick was unable to perform and the show was cancelled.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://starship.lu/E78/78creem.html|title=Starship Disaster|last=McConnell|first=Andy|work=[[Creem]]|publisher=Barry Kramer|date=October 1978|access-date=July 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729094905/http://starship.lu/E78/78creem.html|archive-date=July 29, 2017|url-status=dead|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The show was rescheduled for July 2, but the audience were unhappy with this and began rioting, destroying or stealing some of the band's gear.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/jefferson-starships-craig-chaquico-reunited-with-stolen-1959-les-paul-39-years-later/62022|title=Jefferson Starship's Craig Chaquico Reunited with Stolen 1959 Les Paul 39 Years Later|work=Guitar Player|access-date=2017-10-07|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007221231/http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/jefferson-starships-craig-chaquico-reunited-with-stolen-1959-les-paul-39-years-later/62022|archive-date=October 7, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The band acquired replacement gear for the following day's show in Hamburg, which was marred by a drunken Slick continually swearing and insulting the audience throughout the show.<ref name="Swanson">{{cite web |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/grace-slick-quits-jefferson-starship/ |title=When Grace Slick Quit Jefferson Starship After a Drunken Germany Show |last=Swanson|first=Dave|work=Ultimate Classic Rock|publisher=[[Loudwire]]|date=June 20, 2013|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201205601/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/grace-slick-quits-jefferson-starship/|archive-date=February 1, 2021|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> She repeatedly asked "Who won the war?", and implied that all Germans were responsible for the wartime atrocities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gotarevolution.com/lorelei.htm |title=The Hangar: The Song of the Lorelei|last=Tamarkin|first=Jeff|website=Gotarevolution.com|access-date=February 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205145620/http://www.gotarevolution.com/lorelei.htm|archive-date=February 5, 2016|url-status=dead|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394376/fullcredits/|title="Behind the Music" Jefferson Airplane (TV Episode 1998)|access-date=October 27, 2017|website=IMDb.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307045809/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394376/fullcredits/|archive-date=March 7, 2019|url-status=live|language=en-US}}</ref> Slick later described her behavior as a deliberate provocation to force her departure.<ref name="LouderSound">{{Cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/what-happened-when-grace-slick-left-jefferson-starship|title='I Wanted to be So Out of Line that When I Fired Myself the Next Day Nobody Would Object': The Night Grace Slick Left Jefferson Starship|last=Lewry|first=Fraser|date=June 18, 2023|website=LouderSound.com|publisher=Future Publishing Limited|access-date=June 25, 2023|quote="I didn't like the 'reconstituted Airplane' situation, and I didn't like me for taking part in it." ... "I wanted to be so out of line that when I fired myself the next day nobody would object."|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622170646/https://www.loudersound.com/features/what-happened-when-grace-slick-left-jefferson-starship|archive-date=June 22, 2023|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Kantner subsequently asked for Slick's resignation from the band, and she left the group at this time.<ref name="Swanson"/><ref name="LouderSound"/>

Towards the end of 1978, a Jefferson Starship that was now without Grace Slick but still including Marty Balin recorded the single "Light the Sky on Fire" (No. 66 US Billboard Chart) for television's ''[[Star Wars Holiday Special]]''.<ref name="Rivadavia">{{cite web |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jefferson-starship-light-the-sky-on-fire-video/ |title=Jefferson Starship, 'Light the Sky on Fire' - Hilariously Outdated Videos|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|work=Ultimate Classic Rock|publisher=[[Loudwire]]|date=December 19, 2013|access-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728223815/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jefferson-starship-light-the-sky-on-fire-video/|archive-date=July 28, 2017|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Billboard-H100"/> It was released as a promotional tie-in to the special (backed with "Hyperdrive" from ''Dragon Fly''), and was also included as a bonus with their greatest hits album ''[[Gold (Jefferson Starship album)|Gold]]'' (1979), which highlighted their work from 1974's ''Dragon Fly'' to 1978's ''Earth''.<ref name="Gold-allmusic">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/gold-mw0000267147|title=Gold - Jefferson Starship|last=McCombs|first=Joseph|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628181132/http://www.allmusic.com/album/gold-mw0000267147|archive-date=June 28, 2017|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In October 1978, Marty Balin left the group, leaving the band without a lead singer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/jefferson-airplanes-marty-balin-dead-at-76/|title=Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin Dead at 76|last=Kim|first= Michelle|date=September 28, 2018|work=Pitchfork|publisher=[[Conde Nast]]|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126055847/https://pitchfork.com/news/jefferson-airplanes-marty-balin-dead-at-76/|archive-date=January 26, 2021|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> That same month, John Barbata was seriously injured in a car accident that forced him to drop out of the group.<ref name="allmusic"/>