Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Marty Balin

@ Wiki
Marty Balin (born Martyn Jerel Buchwald, January 30, 1942, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead singer and founder of Jefferson Airplane, the pioneering psychedelic rock band from San Francisco.

Balin was a featured vocalist for Jefferson Airplane during the late 1960s, concurrent with the band's most popular era. He appeared with the group during their performance at Woodstock in 1969, and less successfully at the disastrous Altamont Speedway concert, where he was knocked unconscious while on stage by a biker from the Hells Angels gang (this event was captured on film in the documentary Gimme Shelter).

Balin left Jefferson Airplane twice. In 1970, he departed for three years, returning to contribute one song to Dragon Fly (by which time the band was known as Jefferson Starship). In late 1978, after several major hits (including "Miracles," "With Your Love," "Count on Me," and "Runaway") with Starship, Balin again departed.

In 1981, he released a solo album, Balin, featuring two Top 40 hits, "Hearts" and "Atlanta Lady." In 1986, he teamed up with Paul Kantner and Jack Casady to form the KBC Band. A 1989 reunion with most original members of Jefferson Airplane proved unsuccessful.

In 1991 Balin reunited with Kantner in Jefferson Starship The Next Generation.

As of 2007 Balin continues to perform with Jefferson Starship TNG, the fourth incarnation of the band. He is also an accomplished painter.[citation needed]

Early Career During his late teens then Martyn Jerel Buchwald became interested in being an artist and musician. In 1962 twenty year old newly renamed Marty Balin recorded with Challenge Records and released the singles "Nobody But You" and "I Specialize in Love" they garnered little attention and he went to work with his father and married. His interest in music did not wane and by 1963-64 Balin was leading a folk music quartet called The Town Criers. The three other members were Larry Vargo, Jan Ellickson and Bill Collins. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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Jason Ankeny @ All Music
While remaining best known for his contributions to the pioneering San Francisco psychedelic band Jefferson Airplane, Marty Balin also enjoyed a successful solo career, scoring a Top Ten hit in 1981 with "Hearts." Born Martyn Jerel Buchwald in Cincinnati, OH on January 30, 1942, he was raised in the Bay Area and later attended San Francisco State University; though he initially pursued a career as a painter, after appearing in a production of West Side Story Balin turned to music, issuing the solo singles "Nobody But You" and "I Specialize in Love" on Challenge in 1962. Two years later he joined the folk combo the Town Criers, followed by a brief stint with the Gateway Singers; in 1965, Balin met singer/guitarist Paul Kantner at the local club the Drinking Gourd, and together they formed Jefferson Airplane. Initially a folk-rock venture, the group quickly came to epitomize the nascent psychedelic scene, scoring a gold record with their 1966 debut LP Jefferson Airplane Takes Off; although vocalist Grace Slick was the focal point of hits such as "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit," Balin's soulful tenor proved a pivotal element of their sound as well, and he also wrote key compositions including "Today," "Share a Little Joke," and "Volunteers."

However, long-standing ego clashes with Kantner and Slick forced Balin out of Jefferson Airplane in 1971; he then formed the short-lived Bodacious D.F., which issued their lone, self-titled album two years later. In early 1975 he rejoined the newly-rechristened Jefferson Starship, contributing perhaps his most memorable effort with the smash single "Miracles." Balin also sang lead on the hits "With Your Love" and "Count on Me," but he again left the group in 1978, penning the rock opera Rock Justice before mounting a solo career with 1981's Balin, which generated "Hearts" and its follow-up, "Atlanta Lady." After issuing 1983's Lucky, he next joined Kantner and fellow Airplane alum Jack Casady in the KBC Band; in 1989, all three participated in a Jefferson Airplane reunion which yielded a new studio album and tour before sputtering out. In 1991, Balin issued Better Generation and two years later joined Kantner's Jefferson Starship--The Next Generation project, concurrently continuing his solo career with 1997's Freedom Flight. 1999's Marty Balin's Greatest Hits assembled re-recordings of past favorites. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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