Hi, Marty,
I first heard Chauffeur Blues on K R L A's pop chronicals in the early 70's
and thought "wow, what a neat voice that lady has". She'll be sorely missed.
Rosie
-----Original Message-----
From: ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Marty Rimpau
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2016 6:16 AM
To: our place list <ourplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ourplace] signe anderson, 74; original jefferson airplane singer
Signe Anderson, 74; original Jefferson Airplane singer . NEW YORK - Signe
Toly Anderson, a vocalist and original member of the Jefferson Airplane who
left the band after its first record and was replaced by Grace Slick, died
Jan. 28 at her home in Beaverton, Ore., according to her daughter, Onateska
Ladybug Sherwood. Ms. Anderson was 74 and had been suffering from chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease. Ms. Anderson, who survived cancer in her 30s,
died on the same day that another Airplane member, Paul Kantner, died. Born
Signe Toly in Seattle and raised in Portland, Ore., after her parents
divorced, she was a folk and jazz singer who had performed in groups since
high school. She moved to San Francisco in her 20s and began appearing at a
popular folk club, the Drinking Gourd. Vocalist Marty Balin heard her sing
and asked her to join what became the Jefferson Airplane, which in 1966
released "The Jeffers on Airplane Takes Off. Strongly influenced by the
folk-rock sound of the time, "Takes Off" was a word-of-mouth hit that
combined original songs and covers, including a showcase for Ms. Anderson
and her soulful contralto, "Chauffeur Blues. But by the time the album came
out, she had given birth to her first child and she departed after a show at
the Fillmore in October 1966, a concert bootlegged for years and released
officially in 2010. Given a standing ovation after Balin announced from the
stage that she was leaving, Ms. Anderson told the audience, "I want you all
to wear smiles and daisies and box balloons. I love you all. Thank you and
goodbye. The switch from Ms. Anderson to Slick, formerly of the San
Francisco group the Great Society, proved momentous for the Airplane and for
rock history. Slick brought with her two future standards, "Somebody to
Love" and "White Rabbit," and a fierce vocal style and confrontational
attitude. The next album, "Surrealistic Pillow," was a landmark of
psychedelic rock that made the Airplane superstars and representatives of
the "San Francisco Sound. "You have to look at the priorities in your life,
the reality in your life," Ms. Anderson told radio station KGON in Portland
in 2011, remembering the ordeals of bringing her baby on tour. "I had to
wait in the San Francisco airport in July of 1966 for 36 hours before we got
on the airplane and flew to Chicago. All the diapers were gone. "I don't
regret having left," she added. Ms. Anderson was a footnote in the
Airplane's history, but she was regarded with respect and affection by fans
and stayed in touch with Kantner, Balin and other band members and performed
on occasion with them over the following decades. On Facebook, bassist Jack
Casady remembered her as "a real sweetheart with a terrific contralto voice.
Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen wrote on his blog that Ms. Anderson was
"our den mother in the early days of the Airplane" a voice of reason for
"our d ysfunctional little family. Balin, writing on Facebook, imagined that
she and Kantner "woke up in heaven and said 'Hey what are you doing here?
Let's start a band. Ms. Anderson was married twice, to Merry Prankster Jerry
Anderson and to Michael Alois Ettlin, who died in 2011. She leaves two
children and three grandchildren.
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