Editing Jefferson Airplane (section)

===1970–1974: Decline and dissolution===
Dryden was dismissed from the band in February 1970 by a unanimous vote of the other members.{{sfn|Tamarkin|2003|p=216}} Dryden had political differences with the band and was experiencing burnout after four years on the "[[LSD|acid]] merry-go-round". He was also deeply disillusioned by the events at Altamont, which, he later recalled, "did not look like a bunch of happy hippies in streaming colors. It looked more like sepia-toned [[Hieronymus Bosch]]." He took time off before returning to music the following year as [[Mickey Hart]]'s replacement in the [[New Riders of the Purple Sage]]. Dryden was replaced by Hot Tuna drummer Joey Covington, who had already contributed additional percussion to ''Volunteers'' and performed select engagements with Jefferson Airplane as a touring second drummer in 1969. Later that year, the band was further augmented by the addition of veteran jazz violinist [[Papa John Creach]], a friend of Covington who officially joined Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane for their fall tour in October 1970.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

[[File:JeffersonAirplaneKralingen1970.jpg|thumb|Jefferson Airplane at [[Holland Pop Festival|Kralingen]] 1970]]
Touring continued throughout 1970, but the group's only new recordings that year were the single "[[Mexico (Jefferson Airplane song)|Mexico]]" backed with the [[B-side]] "Have You Seen the Saucers?" Slick's "Mexico" was an attack on President [[Richard Nixon]]'s [[Operation Intercept]], which had been implemented to curtail the flow of marijuana into the United States. "Have You Seen the Saucers" marked the beginning of the [[science fiction|science-fiction]] themes that Kantner explored in much of his subsequent work, including ''[[Blows Against the Empire]],'' his first solo album. Released in November 1970 and credited to "Paul Kantner/[[Jefferson Starship]]," this prototypical iteration of Jefferson Starship (alternatively known as the [[Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra]]) included Crosby, [[Graham Nash]], Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia, [[Bill Kreutzmann]] and Mickey Hart, session luminary [[Harvey Brooks (bassist)|Harvey Brooks]], David Freiberg, Slick, Covington and Casady. ''Blows Against the Empire'' peaked at No. 20 in the United States and was the first rock album nominated for the [[Hugo Award]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Jefferson Airplane ended 1970 with their traditional Thanksgiving Day engagement at the Fillmore East (marking the final performances of the short-lived Creach-era septet) and the release of their first compilation album, ''[[The Worst of Jefferson Airplane]]'', which continued their unbroken run of post-1967 chart success, reaching No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' album chart.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

1971 was a year of major upheaval for Jefferson Airplane. Slick and Kantner had begun a relationship in 1970, and on January 25, 1971, their daughter [[China Kantner|China Wing Kantner]] ("Wing" was Slick's maiden name) was born.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=c2EhAAAAIBAJ&pg=758,4727131&dq=paul+kantner&hl=en |title=Names In The News|date=January 26, 1971|work=[[Tri-City Herald]] |location=Kennewick, Washington|access-date=December 5, 2010|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}{{dead link|date=September 2023}}</ref><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 |volume=90 |issue=172 |page=11 |date=January 26, 1971|work=[[The Day (New London)|The Day]] |location=New London, Connecticut |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> Slick's divorce from her first husband had recently become official, but she and Kantner agreed that they did not wish to marry.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In April 1971, Balin officially left Jefferson Airplane after disassociating himself from the group following the fall 1970 tour. Although he had remained a key part of live performances after the band's creative direction shifted from brooding love songs, the evolution of the polarized Kantner/Slick and Kaukonen/Casady cliques—compounded by an emerging drinking problem—had finally left him the odd man out. Following the traumatic death of Janis Joplin, he began to pursue a healthier lifestyle; Balin's study of [[yoga as exercise|yoga]] and abstention from drugs and alcohol further distanced him from the other members of the group, whose drug intake continued unabated. This further complicated the recording of their long-overdue follow-up to ''Volunteers''; Balin had recently completed several new songs, including "Emergency" and the elongated R&B-infused "You Wear Your Dresses Too Short," both of which later appeared on archival releases.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

On May 13, 1971, Slick was injured in a near-fatal automobile crash when her car slammed into a wall in a tunnel near the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] in San Francisco. The accident happened while she was drag racing with Kaukonen; both were driving at over 100 miles per hour, and Kaukonen claims that he "saved her life" by pulling her from the car.{{sfn|Tamarkin|2003|p=239–240}} Slick's recuperation took a few months, forcing the Airplane to curtail their touring commitments. In the meantime, Slick recorded a comic song ("Never Argue with a German If You're Tired or European Song") about the incident for the new album.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In September 1971, ''[[Bark (Jefferson Airplane album)|Bark]]'' was released. With cover art depicting a dead fish wrapped in an [[A&P]]-style grocery bag, it was both the final album owed to RCA under the band's existing contract and the inaugural release on the band's Grunt Records vanity label. Manager Bill Thompson had struck a deal with RCA to allow Jefferson Airplane to run Grunt Records as they saw fit while retaining RCA's distribution. The single "Pretty As You Feel", excerpted from a longer jam with members of [[Santana (band)|Santana]] and featuring lead vocals by Joey Covington, its principal composer, was the last Jefferson Airplane chart hit, peaking at No. 60 in ''Billboard'' and No. 35 in ''Cashbox''. The album rose to No. 11 in ''Billboard'', higher than ''Volunteers'', ''Blows Against the Empire'' and Hot Tuna's second album, ''[[First Pull Up, Then Pull Down]]'', released three months before ''Bark'' in June.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Despite the band's continued success, major creative and personal divisions persisted between the Slick-Kantner and Kaukonen-Casady factions. (Kaukonen's "Third Week In The Chelsea," from ''Bark'', chronicles the thoughts he was having about leaving the band.) These problems continued to be exacerbated by the band's escalating [[cocaine]] use and Slick's [[alcohol use disorder]]. Consequently, while the band played several dates in August in support of ''Bark'' (including two concerts in the [[New York metropolitan area]] and a show apiece in [[Detroit]] and [[Philadelphia]]), no tour was planned. Following a private concert/party commemorating the formation of Grunt Records at San Francisco's Friends and Relations Hall in September, the band would not reconvene until several Midwestern engagements in January 1972.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Jefferson Airplane held together long enough to record one more album, ''[[Long John Silver (album)|Long John Silver]],'' begun in April 1972 and released in July. By this time the various members were thoroughly engaged with their various solo projects. Following the release of Kantner and Slick's ''[[Sunfighter]]'' in November 1971 and Creach's [[Papa John Creach (album)|eponymous solo debut]] in December 1971, Hot Tuna released their first studio album and third opus ''[[Burgers (album)|Burgers]]'' in February 1972; meanwhile, Covington immersed himself in various Grunt Records projects, including his own solo album, ''Fat Fandango'', released in 1973, and the sessions for [[Black Kangaroo]]'s debut album led by multi-instrumentalist [[Peter Kaukonen]], Jorma's younger brother. Covington was either dismissed from the band or left of his own volition shortly after the sessions commenced.<ref name="AllMusic-LJS">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/long-john-silver-mw0000646531 |title=Jefferson Airplane: Long John Silver Review |last=Planer |first=Lindsay |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=January 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129070847/https://www.allmusic.com/album/long-john-silver-mw0000646531 |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |url-status=live |language=en-US |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

With Hot Tuna drummer Sammy Piazza deputizing on one track, Covington (who had already recorded two drum parts) was soon replaced by former [[The Turtles|Turtles]] and [[CSNY]] drummer [[John Barbata]], who ultimately played on most of the album.<ref name="AllMusic-LJS"/> Barbata was recommended to the group by David Crosby.<ref name="Ada_News">{{cite news |url=https://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/rocker-johny-barbata-remembers-david-crosby/article_8cfc3d1d-bc5b-53a0-b1d5-1a3341e31d7b.html |title=Rocker Johny Barbata remembers David Crosby |last=Barron |first=Richard |work=[[The Ada News]] |location=Ada, Oklahoma |access-date=February 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130121705/https://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/rocker-johny-barbata-remembers-david-crosby/article_8cfc3d1d-bc5b-53a0-b1d5-1a3341e31d7b.html |archive-date=January 30, 2023 |url-status=live |language=en-US |df=mdy-all }}</ref> ''Long John Silver'' is notable for its cover, which folded out into a humidor, which the inner photo depicted as storing cigars (which may have been filled with marijuana). Despite middling reviews, the album rose to No. 20 in the United States, a significantly higher placement than ''Burgers'' (No. 68) or ''Sunfighter'' (No. 89).{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The band began a proper national tour to promote ''Long John Silver'' in 1972, their first in nearly two years. Shortly before the tour commenced, David Freiberg (who had recently completed a prison sentence for marijuana possession after leaving Quicksilver Messenger Service) joined as a belated replacement for Balin. The East Coast leg of the tour included a major free concert in Central Park that drew over 50,000 attendees. They returned to the West Coast in September, playing concerts in San Diego, [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]], [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] and [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]]. The tour culminated in two shows at the [[Winterland Ballroom]] in San Francisco (September 21–22), both of which were recorded. At the end of the second show, the group was joined on stage by Balin, who sang lead vocals on "Volunteers" and the final song, "You Wear Your Dresses Too Short".{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The Winterland shows were the last live performances by Jefferson Airplane<sup>[[Jefferson Airplane#cite note-22|[22]]]</sup> until their reunion in 1989. A new live album, ''[[Thirty Seconds Over Winterland]]'', was culled from the tour and released in April 1973. Later that year, Kaukonen and Casady decided to focus on Hot Tuna as a full-time endeavor, effectively leaving the band; however, no official announcement was ever released. By December 1973, RCA had terminated the band's salaries, resulting in Freiberg being forced to draw unemployment to maintain his house payments.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Patrick |last=Snyder |date=January 1, 1976 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jefferson-airplane-the-miracle-rockers-19760101|title=Jefferson Starship: The Miracle Rockers|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=October 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028043644/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jefferson-airplane-the-miracle-rockers-19760101|archive-date=October 28, 2017|url-status=live|language=en-US}}</ref>

Following the commercially unsuccessful ''[[Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun]]'' (1973; credited to Kantner, Slick and Freiberg) and ''[[Manhole (album)|Manhole]]'' (1974; credited to Slick), Jefferson Airplane evolved into Jefferson Starship in January 1974.<ref>
{{cite web|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jefferson-airplane?gclid=CJ2NhLWm4tUCFUdWDQodqFwBAA|title=Jefferson Airplane |website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|access-date=October 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819063832/https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jefferson-airplane?gclid=CJ2NhLWm4tUCFUdWDQodqFwBAA|archive-date=August 19, 2017|url-status=live|language=en-US}}
</ref><ref name="Relix">{{Cite web|url=https://relix.com/articles/detail/the-core-jefferson-airplane/|title=The Core: Jefferson Airplane|date=December 11, 2019|website=Relix.com|publisher=Relix Media Group LLC.|access-date=December 29, 2019|quote="Paul and I didn't know what was going on because Jack and Jorma took off to one of the Scandinavian countries to do some speed-skating. They didn't call back, and they were just gone. So Paul and I started making records as Jefferson Starship. We had to rename it because you couldn't call it Airplane unless all of the original members were making the record."|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218040229/https://relix.com/articles/detail/the-core-jefferson-airplane/|archive-date=December 18, 2019|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="UCR">{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jefferson-airplane-reunion-breakup/|title=Why Jefferson Airplane's Unexpected Reunion Crash Landed|last=DeRiso|first=Nick|work=Ultimate Classic Rock|publisher=[[Loudwire]]|date=July 18, 2019|access-date=August 4, 2020|quote="The original group had released a series of era-defining anti-establishment projects in the late '60s before morphing into Jefferson Starship, a far less political outfit."|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422122439/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jefferson-airplane-reunion-breakup/|archive-date=April 22, 2020|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Yuzu-Melodies">{{Cite web|url=https://www.yuzu-melodies.fr/Paul-Kantner-The-songs-of-Jefferson-Airplane-and-Jefferson-Starship-are-as-relevant-now-as-they-were-in-the-60s_a1299.html|title=Paul Kantner: The songs of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship are as relevant now as they were in the 60s|last=Plantier|first=Boris|date=October 14, 2012|website=Yuzu Melodies|access-date=March 7, 2016|quote="I wouldn't so much call Jefferson Starship a spinoff as, perhaps, an evolution."|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307165710/http://www.yuzu-melodies.fr/Paul-Kantner-The-songs-of-Jefferson-Airplane-and-Jefferson-Starship-are-as-relevant-now-as-they-were-in-the-60s_a1299.html|archive-date=March 7, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The initial lineup consisted of the remaining members of Jefferson Airplane (Kantner, Slick, Freiberg, Barbata, Creach); bassist Peter Kaukonen (soon replaced by British multi-instrumentalist [[Pete Sears]], a veteran of Creach's debut solo album and ''Manhole''); and lead guitarist [[Craig Chaquico]], a member of Grunt Records band Jack Traylor and Steelwind who contributed to the Kantner/Slick solo albums beginning with ''Sunfighter''. They appropriated the name from Kantner's ''Blows Against the Empire'', with Bill Thompson convincing the group that maintaining the connection was prudent from a business standpoint.{{sfn|Tamarkin|2003|p=267}} Reflecting the transition, the album ''[[Dragon Fly (album)|Dragon Fly]]'', released in September 1974, was credited to Slick, Kantner and Jefferson Starship.