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| | Author Craig Fenton's Take Me To A Circus Tent, along with Jeff Tamarkin's "Got A Revolution", are the two most scholarly works on the saga of the Jefferson Airplane. With Have You Seen The Stars Tonite (Jefferson Starship Flight Manual 1974-78 & J.S. The Next Generation 1992-2007), Fenton takes the fan even deeper into Jeffersonian lore. GEMMZINE caught up with Fenton in between his book tour, lectures, and his work on the upcoming Jefferson Airplane Scrapbook.
GEMM: This is truly the guide for the obsessed Jefferson Starship fan, but where do you draw the line between the Mickey Thomas era and what fans get to hear today?
CF: Thank you for the nice words and superlative introduction. When the logical progression dictated a continuation of the exploration of the Jefferson Family on the surface there were four directions the flight could go. The first would be a look at the classic line-up of the Jefferson Starship 1974-1978. |
| The second would be the focus on Paul Kantner and Manager Michael Gaiman’s rescue of the name and their trail 1992-Present. The third would be everything about any era of the Jefferson name, and the forth was the flight I felt I could feel internally satisfied. |
GEMM: Are there tape traders who are very aware of the concerts you discuss in the book, and do you think this brings in new fans to appreciate this music? There are a myriad of traders that are aware and those that are now seeing the incredible diversity of a Jefferson Starship performance. It most certainly brings in the new fans and rekindles the flame of some that were dormant. The Paul McCartney philosophy of live music is perfect. He stated it best in the 1989 press-conference “As long as the fans buy the regular product.”
GEMM: Lou Reed just released a remake of his 1972 Berlin album, re-recording it live in 2006. Why hasn't Paul Kantner put on a "Blows Against The Empire" tour, staging the entire first draft of what would become The Jefferson Starship?
CF: There are marketing ideals that satisfy the needs of different bands. The Who performing “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia” were often epic shows. Since the 1992 re-launch of the Jefferson Starship | |
Paul Kantner and Michael Gaiman have pulled many rabbits out of a hat. The shows were more individualized and not full scale tours, although there are exceptions. For example Signe Anderson played a bunch of shows with the Jefferson starship starting on February 5th of 1993. On November 22, 2006 the band performed the entire “Blows Against The Empire Suite.” The unknown adds to the concert experience. November 27th of 2006 the Jefferson Starship played every song from the Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow” record. To further illustrate the magnitude of many of the gigs over the years would be the guest stars that played at least one song during the show. These include but are not limited to Randy California (Spirit), Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead), Spencer Dryden (Jefferson Airplane), Peter Frampton (Humble Pie), Robbie Krieger (Doors), David LaFlamme (It’s A Beautiful Day), Ray Manzarek (Doors), and Jack Traylor (Steelwind).
GEMM: Are Sunfighter, Baron Von Tollbooth and other Kantner/Slick titles considered part of the pure Jefferson Starship legacy?
CF: They most certainly are. The respect I have for the Jefferson Family fan is beyond description. To many a song from “Blows Against The Empire” called “The Baby Tree” or “Your Mind Has Left Your body” off “Ballad Of The Chrome Nun” is as common and important to them as the radio songs.
GEMM: Your books have a great attention to detail, have you thought of doing a character study of the artists you write about, something to reach a mass audience with? Thank you for the compliment. The question is always to balance properly a story by a band that I have admiration for that hasn’t been told. It would be an honor to see a Jefferson Airplane book through the eyes of Marty Balin come to fruition with Marty, esteemed rock journalist Joe Viglione, and myself. Thank you to GEMM Magazine for the opportunity to talk about the Jefferson Starship and "Have You Seen The Stars Tonite." |
About Craig Fenton
Author Craig Fenton's Take Me To A Circus Tent and Have You Seen The Stars Tonite (Jefferson Starship Flight Manual 1974-78 & J.S. The Next Generation 1992-2007) are available on Gemm.com
Craig Fenton
http://craigtheairplaneman.wordpress.com/
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Another interview with Craig Fenton on Gemmzine can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/rarerecordsongemm
Previous Craig Fenton article: http://tinyurl.com/jessebarishinterview |
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