Grace Barnett Wing Slick (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, widely known in rock and roll history for her role in San Francisco's burgeoning psychedelic musi scene in the mid-1960s. Her music career spanned four decades. She performed with The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship. She also had a sporadic solo career.
She was born October 30, 1939, in Chicago, but her family moved to the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto in the early 1950s. In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco,
Slick only half-heartedly considered it for a profession until she
watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry's brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass) formed a group called The Great Society, a play on the social reform program of the same name.
On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue
known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the song "White Rabbit". The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band's followers.
By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area.
Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden
Studios and recorded several tracks. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned "Someone to Love" b/w "Free Advice" on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label "North Beach". Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder. That autumn, Jefferson Airplane's singer Signe Toly Anderson left the band and Slick was asked to join. With Slick on board, the Airplane began recording new music, and they
turned in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock
style. Surrealistic Pillow
included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both
of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the
most popular bands in the country and earned Slick a position as one of
the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. In an appearance on a 1969 episode of The Dick Cavett Show, she became the first person to say "motherfucker" on television during a performance of "We Can Be Together".
After
Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen decided not to return to Jefferson
Airplane, Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Kantner and other
bandmates, and also began a string of solo albums with Manhole, followed
by Dreams, Welcome to the Wrecking Ball!, and Sofware. Manhole also
featured keyboardist/bassist Pete Sears,
who later joined Jefferson Starship in 1974. Sears and Slick penned
several early Jefferson Starship songs together, including "Hyperdrive"
and "Play On Love". Dreams was nominated for a Grammy Award.
During the 1980s, while Slick was the only former Jefferson Airplane member in Starship. In 1987, Slick co-hosted The Legendary Ladies of Rock & Roll. She left Starship in 1988 and in 1989, with her former Jefferson Airplane band members reformed the group, released a reunion album, and made a successful tour. She retired after this tour.
