JasO Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I’ve just transcribed one of my interviews with guitar great Jorma Kaukonen, of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame. Jorma not only played a major role in the creation of San Francisco-style psychedelic music back in the 1960s, but also inspired a generation of acoustic fingerpickers with his beautiful dropped-D instrumental “Embryonic Journey” on Surrealistic Pillow, which he played with a Gibson acoustic. He was also one of the few psychedelic rockers to rely heavily on a Gibson ES-345. In this 1996 interview, we focused on the birth of psychedelic guitar playing and the early years of Jefferson Airplane. Jorma provided a lot of interesting information. For instance, outside of “Somebody to Love,” he didn’t consider Surrealistic Pillow to be that psychedelic of an album, pointing instead to After Bathing at Baxter’s as the band’s truest psychedelic work. Asked about the change in volume (when he began using four Fender twins onstage), Jorma said, “We escalated quickly. Well, of course now with the technology of electric guitars being the way it is, you can get all that overdriven stuff at acoustic volumes. But in those days, it was before all the master volumes and fuzz boxes and all that stuff. Well, they had fuzz boxes, but they really sucked. And in order to do it, you had to use volume. And also, if you’ll recall back then, the P.A.’s in venues were slim to none, so they could barely handle the vocal and some of the drums. Everything else was pretty much up to the instrumentalists. So it was just a necessity.” His guitar of choice on Surrealistic Pillow – the one heard on the “Somebody to Love” solo – was a Guild Thunderbird. He then switched to a Gibson ES-345 for his subsequent J.A. albums, running the guitar’s neck pickup through a fuzztone and the other through a wah-wah. His favorite fuzz box? The Ampeg Scrambler. If you’d like to see more of Jorma’s insider views on the psychedelic 1960s, I’ve posted the whole conversation here: Jas Obrecht Music Archive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I can see myself spending a few hours at your web site. I just checked out the Roth era Van Halen and James Honeyman Scott interviews. Cool site, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 I STILL youtube "white rabbit" at least twice a week !! I wasn't born until '63 but my parents were "working hippies" so I got my dose of Psychodelia (along with paregoric and belladonna) VERY young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windmills Optional Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Wow! Thanks for posting this. I'm a big Jorma fan and been lucky enough to see him several times. I'm looking forward to reading this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Thanks, JosO...great site. I just finished that interview, and the James Honeyman Scott interview, as well. Good work! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Saw him with Hot Tuna a couple of years ago. They were great. He is an under-rated guitarist and an excellent performer. "Hesitation Blues" off of Surrealistic Pillow is some fine guitar pickin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEtT9yZBLFs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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