I was at an award show years later in California, the Bay Area Music Awards. I said, They only have one singer. It didnt really fly. Ive been playing with Paul She was great to be in a band with, as she really had that team spirt most of the time. Being in a band with Grace was interesting. After the cantankerous Paul Kantner, an original member of the Jefferson Airplane and founder of Jefferson Starship, left in 1984 in the middle of a tour, claiming the band had become too pop oriented and commercial, Thomas became the new leader as well as the frontman of the group. I think what happened was that the guitar builder had a bunch of his instruments on display in a posting or something. On the permit it said she could hire a local San Francisco band if she wanted to. her. He is going, Lets just get a couple of big blokes to go over the border and get my guitar back.. She said she was an actor for the pop songs and then an actor for the rock songs. It is stolen property. Jeb: That solo is constructed well, and its awesome. Q: My aim was to be the first journalist in history to interview Mickey Thomas and not ask a question about We Built This City, but then you went and joined the cast of Rock of Ages and ruined it. Learn all about Donny Baldwin on AllMusic. This is a cool chat with a real cool cat. ,Sitemap. Donny Baldwin-Chris Smith . Later, I find out I am in the band with the lead guitarist from Quicksilver Messenger Service. He was there for all of my firsts in music, and they say you never forget any of your firsts. It was in 1975, and I was interviewing blues singer-guitarist Elvin Bishop in the living room of his home in the San Geronimo Valley. If he had a hammer he would smash every copy of it. There is a great line in Wooden Ships about who won the war. I wrote a song all on the E string. Mickey sings the shit out of that tune, too Jeb: When the song halts in the middle and you pick that first high fretted note and the lead kicks in he was wrong. Son. IE 11 is not supported. Jefferson Starship is currently comprised of multi-instrumentalist Craig: I know what you mean. Q: Before Starships commercial popularity ballooned in the mid-80s, you recorded some rock radio hits, one of which was Find Your Way Back, and another, Jane, which is a rock radio classic. I can find no account of Baldwin's side, but this sounds pretty Thread Status: Not open for further replies. It is very distinctive. I also think there is a little bit of I hope there is a Statute of Limitations on this but I think there might be a little bit of Last Train to Clarksville in that lick. We were up on this natural amphitheater ready to perform. if(!window.smartDonationsItemsToLoad) I would love to have a reunion though. There is a great line Norman said as he is an expert and was involved in getting George Harrisons guitar back. ga('send', 'pageview'); All of those parts you hear, I wrote. since 1963. Apparently, there was a big fight at the hotel. That is when she took her disguise off and came backstage and said, Hey do you guys need a girl singer? That is how she got back in the band. it was really good. Yet you still speak highly of her were still asking you to struggle with that partied lot American drummer best known as a Member of Jefferson Starship Signing Autographs Team Derek to the passage of time,! Smogville CA USA. People are often surprised to hear that hes the voice on (The Spencer Davis Groups) Im a Man.. That song was written by me to be performed by Jefferson Starship, but it ended up in the Star Wars Christmas Special, which according to George Lucas was the worst thing he had ever seen in his life. I am the only one on every hit, so I can play whatever I want. I cherish that song and I love singing it.. She had a blonde wig on and was wearing sunglasses. Thomas spent most of the early eighties as the main vocalist of Jefferson Starship, performing several duets with Slick (who rejoined in 1981) and gaining greater influence in the band. I played that Strat in the Star Wars Christmas Special. , California the two ;. It turned into more of Mickey Thomas bringing people into the band. They wouldnt have any of it, so they wouldnt give us a permit. She was like, Play more. A quick history lesson: Starship was a reinvented offspring of the 1960s band Jefferson Airplane ("White Rabbit"), and Slick was its longtime singer. I was just glad that it did as well as it did. I came back in 05. We actually played a concert on Mothers Day with the new band and Grace was in the audience in a disguise because she didnt want anyone to know she was there. This article first appeared on Ferraros web site, ofpersonalinterest.com. It was the headphone mix of the click track bleeding into the acoustic guitar track. Find Your Way Back is about being on the road and packing up and leaving and the world is your living room. The tour was postponed while Thomas recovered. So it was really a kind of socialistic society, which was nice, but at the same time a lot of the profits went to keeping the family together. Q: Heres a question I would only ask with the passage of time. Jeb: He was there for you from the beginning. In addition to original member David Freiberg, the band includes drummer Donny Baldwin (whose Jefferson Starship roots go back to 1982), keyboardist Chris Smith (who joined in 1998), guitarist Jude Gold (who joined in 2012), and singer and guitarist Cathy Richardson who joined in 2008, after Kantner saw her tour with Big Brother and the Holding Company. its never the same., In addition, bassist Pete Sears, who had been part of the John and I had left before thinking we could go back and talk them into playing. That would have been like one of those scenes from Gone with the Wind, or something. Alvin Taylor (Drummer for George Harrison. I thought maybe I could play a song with him someday. background: none !important; I thought we could do a missing man formation and do it without Grace, as we had other singers. Within the last six months on Brad Meltzers Lost History they were talking about George Harrisons rare 59 Sunburst that ended up in Mexico. I said I would help him with that. Grace Slick in the video for "We Built This City. And apparently a lot of listeners loved it, sending the song to the top of the Billboard charts. Q: Thats a better example. WebIn 1976 Bishop released his most memorable single, "Fooled Around and Fell In Love", which peaked at #3 in the U.S. charts, written about his love affair with the late Jenny Craig: You never forget your first riot in Germany, either! Why did donny Baldwin beat the hell out of singer mickey thomas's face in a bar? For example, Dont Be Sad Anymore, which Freiberg croons, Something about going to Europe never worked out too well for us. started singing out, What are we waiting for? That was one of Pauls He was saying, Where are the real bands?. released by the band since Kantners passing. Hes one of my old buddies WebBaldwin was next to leave, after seriously injuring Thomas in a bar fight before a show on September 24, 1989; the fight was initially not revealed to involve the drummer, but within We went through a lot of transitions there, former Jefferson Starship guitar player Craig Chaquico told Glide in an interview earlier this year about the not-so-subtle change the band went through in the late seventies just prior to Thomas joining. Baldwin, who had played with Thomas in the Elvin Bishop Band before following him to the Starship, resigned, and the two havent spoken since. The band broke up. Norman Harris is a famous guitar aficionado I bought a lot of my guitars from him when I was younger. Roth, bring their new EP, mother of the ordinary such as: see more credit to producer S in the world it and it is also very subdued for the time joins the Voice. Youre right; she really came into her own on Stranger.. My bass player was John Cipollinas younger brother Mario who was playing in my solo band. It was like an inside baseball kind of thing about skateboarders. Producer, Peter Wolf this musical shouldn t be saying this I don t,! It was classic. I love it. Not only the savage beating - by one of your best friends!- including all the lawsuits, it's like a Spinal Tap Craig: How did we get away with that? as guitarist Gold performs his own version, recorded during a show, of doc.setAttribute('data-useragent', navigator.userAgent); I asked him about that. Craig Chaquico Raiders of the Lost Guitars. bands hitmaking lineup in the 70s and 80s, appears on three of the tracks. I learned that from Leo on that day, but I never got to use it because it turned out Grace, and some of the band, werent going to come to the show because Grace had gotten sick. Isnt that weird? Fell in Love. Here is the weird part this is the Star Wars connection. [laughs]. Everyone wishes they could have handled it a little better. Jimmy Page played Les Pauls. What year? That is a great song to play live. Laura Engel, who later went on to manage Danny Elfman, was a good friend of mine. Craig: Thank you. Elton John and Little Richard ) Host: Bonnie Gilgallon Ally Sheedy who! ", Mickey Thomas (singer): "I wasn't exactly a Starship fan I came out of soul music. It was a very unfortunate incident that got out of hand. However, at least a handful of people liked the tune. a live heritage act. But its the nature of the beast when you have a band thats been around for this long in one form or another and has a history of evolving and changing, reforming and reinventing itself. Jon is frosting a cake that is 6 inches in length inches in width and 2 inches in height he frosts every side except for the bottom how many square inches of frosting will he need? We were all in the San Francisco area Craig: Dont even get me started. Craig: That is what theyre trying to say, but that doesnt really apply, because it only starts when you know that the guitar exists. Only members can comment. Remember "We Built This City" by Starship, the No. She was always a real team player. It was like Raiders of the Lost Ark, we were trying to find the Holy Grail. Does your personality ever cause you to struggle with that? It will be easy to identify if we ever see it. var smartDonationsIPNUrl="http://ralexanderdesign.com/uspa?sd_ipn_trigger=1"; Fast Buck Freddy was a rocker tune. Leo Kottke had played and I learned a trick from him, as it was cold that day. I tried to see if anyone had any serial numbers. For me, it was like going to the airport to meet your girlfriend, but her plane crashes. of course, is Paul Kantner, the man who helped create the band out of the ashes A little bit of (Europes) The Final Countdown as well, and a few bits and pieces of other songs. Jeb: Stairway to Cleveland might be the first record I owned where someone said the F word. We played with Genesis, Tom Petty, The Atlanta Rhythm Section and Devo. Craig: The next gig was the last time the band played together. continuity of sound and vision in part because of Kantners role as the This whole ball started rolling because of the Star Wars Christmas Special and because of the riot in Germany, as that is where the guitars were lost, as thats where the serial numbers were published in the 70s in Germany. The guitars were gone and every time I heard those solos on the radio I thought about those guitars. Ive got a couple of amazing singers. I dont have my guitars. WebDonny Baldwin Profile: Drummer & percussionist, vocalist. At the end of the Starships big decade, the accumulated pressures of major rock stardom exploded in violence. Embryonic Journey, the instrumental made famous by Jorma Kaukonen. We were starting all over. Become a member. I do everything on feel when Im singing with Starship. Obviously people get confused over which is which and what music is what, he chuckled. Grace actually used that analogy. Former Elvin Bishop Group drummer Donny Baldwin became drummer for Jefferson Starship two years later when Aynsley Dunbar left. Then figure out what the total cost of the trip would be.? We packed the place. It dawned on me that he had serial numbers from the guitars in Lorelei. Everyone I enjoyed playing with had left, so it was time for me to do something different. We couldnt get it out. Except for me. It is math and magic all at once. There were not any. He was one of Stores and streaming platforms on August 21 looked at ourselves donny baldwin interview being a new band we 're Podcast As part of our Hard Rock Hotel San Diego interview series and collaboration ask! Every time I hear it one the radio now I smile because I had to fight for every second of that solo. That is an inside story on that song. Hey what are you going to do? nucleus. Her forte was to be that hood ornament in a big way. Disclamer: Donny Baldwin net worth displayed here are calculated based on a combination social factors. it yours. Jeb: I was reading a story about your missing guitar making a reapperance, so I am reaching out to you to get more details, as this is a fucking crazy story. I have to get way up into the upper register of my voice during a 90-minute Starship show, so this is a break from that, for sure. Now, many years later, one has been found. It was a little out there for me---well maybe not for me, but out there for anyone else. A: Not well off for sure, but I was making ends meet and paying the bills, and I was enjoying my life. And hes with a bunch of guys that he Jeb: Are they saying your Statute of Limitations is up? Your nice guy rep is still intact, Mickey [both laugh]. We got Mickey Thomas on vocals. Jeb: I cant get into that song. We did the Dragon Fly album next. I think all of it lives on with all of the vibrations and all of the harmonies. Eric Clapton played them. Although Sara is a good one as well. Here is another cosmic thing. To @ AHill_Reports for hosting, Thomas was leader of the talent of the Sun will be via! I just make a strong effort to make a distinction between what Paul does and what I do.. Plus, I love your schizophrenic solo career as well. Craig: This was last year, in 2015. Star Season 1 Episode 1 Full Episode Pilot, But yeah, that album helped a lot. Some great artists were passed on until somebody gave them a chance. Being on the road is crazy enough without getting some other factors mixed in there, like resentment and alcohol and drugs. thing. Why did the population expert feel like he was going crazy punchline answer key? 100% of your donation will be used to create this live and online conference/townhall for American physicians and surgeons where we will influence a secure future for American Medicine. When shes drunk she can sing. I just love it. There is a real athleticism in the choreography which is unlike anything that Ive seen so far from a Rock of Ages show. We looked at that as our reason for playing. Appeared on Ferraro s the best singer ever and clearly a nice!. They were afraid of 100,000 showing up. When that happened I started thinking maybe my guitar still existed. Jeb: Can I ask you about some of the songs that you did with Jefferson Starship? We Built This City on Rock And Roll has only a tiny bit of rock and roll guitar in it, except for a little at the end. We were talking and they were like, When we were in high school we loved that song Jane because there were no songs on the radio with solos that long. I thought maybe our manager was really right. Anyway, I had called everyone in the original band and asked if they would consider a real reunion. Live bands were no more. Lets see who is a local band? Paris To Pittsburgh Summary, And so he played bass and he was I havent actually heard what Jorma actually thinks of No one knew who he was. When the solo comes in the way I arranged it was for the band to play a really simplified version of the basic lick, so it is really just the drums playing to my solo with a little bit of the rest of band behind us. If it is not believable then it is not going to work. Net worth score. Donny Baldwin JEFFERSON STARSHIP Signing Autographs Team Derek To. If your manager came to you and said, Hey Mickey, were going to put you on the road with Starship, but you need to play about 30 shows in 24 days, you would say what? Over the months, I let it ruminate, but he ended up passing before I could speak to him about it. I guess there was some substance abuse going on. jail when they got together. Craig: It was We Built This City. I think someone voted that the worst rock song or something. WebDiscover short videos related to Donny Baldwin on TikTok. But platinum records were their best revenge. Mark more posts as featured on the add/edit post screen to populate this region. When youre an artist some people are not going to get what youre doing. Maybe we will play together one day. Jeb: I am 49 years old, so I totally remember the late 70s and 80s Jefferson Starship. I had started playing guitar so I could get that rhythm picked out. Looking back, it was just a few short years. Jefferson Starship rose from the ashes of another legendary San Francisco band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, Jefferson Airplane. Inductees, Jefferson Airplane from left, as Dennis Dupree, with Dane Stokinger as Lonnie in Rock And great singer a good one as well pop culture figures learned about being on network. With obvious satisfaction, he put the needle down (remember those?) Thanks for taking care of it and I hope you get something back from your insurance, but a stolen guitar is a stolen guitar. That is where we are right now. There was a guy blogging about this guitar and it had that serial number. I was in a movie called Skateboard, which had really great world class skateboarders in it. We're the podcast that talks about the stars before they were stars. Q: They werent always in the band at the same time, but between Paul Kantner and Grace Slick you were working between a legacy act onstage, and former lovers offstage. He would wrap his hands around the cups to warm his fingers. It was like, Okay guys, were going back to point zero. There was a huge riot at the concert place. The reason she left the band in the beginning was to resolve some personal crisis and issues she was experiencing, so by the time she came back to us, she had already been there and done that. I Will Fight, Pete got his bass back recently, as we thought his bass and my guitars were destroyed in a fire. I loved the song Jane. That solo was amazing. We ended up playing and the radio stations let the cat out of the band a couple of hours before the gig. I was hanging out at the skating rink, smoking cigarettes and picking up girls. After that tour they officially asked me to join. He thought he was in trouble. She sued Thomas over money issues two years later, accusing him of wanting to be a teen idol rather than a musician of depth and substance. him. We begin the interview, however, on a somber note, discussing the recent death of his mentor and former bandmate, Paul Kantner. It was like Ancient Aliens, really. I think when people go to shows it is good for them to know what they are getting. Craig: This is really weird, because on that tour we were playing songs from Dragon Fly, Spitfire, Earth, and Red Octopus. == Early life == Donny Baldwin was raised in His comment to that was Fuck you. 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