Jorma Kaukonen Reflects on the Iconic ’Somebody to Love’ by Jefferson Airplane
Jorma Kaukonen vividly recalls the moment he recorded “Somebody to Love,” the groundbreaking debut single from Jefferson Airplane, back in December 1966. This track, a cornerstone of psychedelic rock, is deeply intertwined with his distinctive guitar style. However,when Kaukonen reminisces about those recording sessions,it’s not his guitar that stands out in his memory,but rather the powerful voice of grace Slick that resonated throughout the studio.
“I can still hear her voice clearly – I was right there when she performed it,” Kaukonen shared in an April 2024 interview with Neely Tucker from the Libary of Congress.”When we listened to the playback, it was a moment of pure astonishment.”
“But did we ever think that anyone beyond our small circle in San Francisco would actually care about it? Not at all. At least, I didn’t,” he added.
The Sonic Dance of Kaukonen and Slick
While Slick’s electrifying vocals dominate the track, Kaukonen’s intricate guitar work weaves seamlessly around her melodies, creating a haunting atmosphere. The essence of “Somebody to Love” is rooted in classic rock and roll, yet Kaukonen’s unique note bending and ethereal tones elevate it to a psychedelic experience.
Upon its release in February 1967 as the second single from Jefferson Airplane’s album Surrealistic Pillow, the psychedelic genre was still in its infancy. Earlier tracks like the Yardbirds’ “Shapes of Things” and the Byrds’ “Eight Miles High” had hinted at the movement, but it wouldn’t fully explode until the following year. surrealistic Pillow played a pivotal role in igniting this cultural shift, producing two landmark hits: “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”
(Image credit: Michael Ochs Archives/getty Images)
Kaukonen’s Journey from Folk to Psychedelia
For Kaukonen, this was a new frontier. Before joining Jefferson Airplane in early 1966, he was primarily an acoustic folk guitarist, performing in clubs across Palo Alto and San Jose. During this time, he formed friendships with Jerry Garcia and Bob weir, who would later become key figures in the Grateful Dead. It was through this vibrant scene that he met Paul Kantner and marty Balin, who were looking to form an electric folk-rock band.
“When Paul and Marty approached me about joining their band, I was taken aback,” Kaukonen recounted in a June 1976 interview with Guitar Player. “I was like, ‘Uh, I’m not sure about this.’”
“At that time, I hadn’t even played electric guitar,” he admitted.
His setup was quite basic: a Gibson L-5 acoustic guitar equipped with a $60 pickup and a Fender Princeton amplifier. Nevertheless, Kaukonen accepted the offer and soon brought his friend Jack Casady on board as the bassist. He also contributed to the band’s name – jefferson Airplane – inspired by his own playful nickname, Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane, a tribute to the acoustic blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson.
“When Paul and Marty approached me about joining their band, I was taken aback.”
– jorma Kaukonen
Transitioning to Electric Sound
“Suddenly,I went from being an acoustic player to learning the electric guitar,” Kaukonen reflected in a 1996 interview with Jas obrecht. “It was a unique opportunity for on-the-job training, and we had the freedom to explore our sound.”
Following their folk-oriented debut, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, the band made a significant shift towards rock with Surrealistic Pillow, their frist album featuring Slick, who had previously performed with the Great Society, one of San Francisco’s pioneering psychedelic bands.
“We recorded in a massive studio designed for symphony orchestras,” Kaukonen explained. ”They had us positioned in the center, surrounded by gobos to minimize sound bleed.”
The recording technology was rudimentary by today’s standards. “we used three-track machines with no noise reduction,” Kaukonen recalled. “The performances were almost entirely live,with very few overdubs. Surrealistic Pillow is as close to a live album as you can get.”
“During the time of Pillow, I was transitioning from the Guild Thunderbird guitar and Standel amp to the Gibson and two Fender Twin Reverbs, but I was still experimenting with setups. The solos on ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Somebody to Love’ were recorded with the Thunderbird and Standel. Saturating the sound with spring reverb was key.” - Jorma Kaukonen in his autobiography Been So Long: My Life and Music.
Unconventional Gear and Creative Freedom
Kaukonen’s equipment for “Somebody to Love” was unconventional: a Guild Thunderbird electric guitar paired with a Standel Super Imperial amplifier featuring two 15-inch speakers. “I chose it because the Lovin’ Spoonful used one,” he noted. “It was solid-state technology,and the Guild Thunderbird was not a common choice back then.”
“So here I was with this solid-state amp and an unusual guitar, and that’s the sound you hear in the solos of ‘Somebody to Love’ and ‘White Rabbit,’” he explained.
Looking back, he finds the obsession with gear amusing. “Guitarists frequently enough geek out over equipment,” he said. “But back then, we just played with what we had.”
“So here I was with this solid-state amp and an unusual guitar, and that’s the sound you hear in the solos.”
– Jorma Kaukonen
Spontaneity in the Studio
This same spontaneity characterized his solos. There were no pre-planned notes. “We rehearsed the songs, but once you’re in the studio, it takes on a life of its own,” he explained. “We just went for it.”
The outcome was a solo that felt almost ethereal. It begins with piercing high notes and meanders through the Dorian mode, concluding on a note that leaves the listener hanging. kaukonen once referred to his work as a “moderately psychedelic solo,” but its winding melody and sharp tone – at times reminiscent of backward recording – became hallmarks of the psych-rock genre.
Years later, he remained puzzled by its creation. “People frequently enough ask, ’How did you come up with that?’” he told Obrecht. “And my response is, ‘I didn’t know any better. I just played around until that emerged.’”
A Cultural Milestone
Released in February 1967, “Somebody to Love” soared to number five on the U.S. charts and clinched the top spot in Canada, playing a crucial role in ushering in the Summer of Love and establishing Jefferson Airplane as icons of the San Francisco sound.
However, Kaukonen distinguishes the song’s legacy from the band’s true psychedelic evolution, which he believes began with their subsequent album, After Bathing at Baxter’s.
“In my view, the real psychedelic Jefferson Airplane album is Baxter’s,” he stated. “That’s when we truly began to explore our musical boundaries.”
