Marty Balin, co-founder of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, RIP

[Allan Balliett]

from Jorma:

>From Jorma Kaukonen:
>
>
>
>     Now We Are Three
>
>     Requiem For A Friend
>
>     Marty Balin
>
>     30 Jan. 1942/27 Sept. 2018
>
>
>
>     Life is a thin thread
>
>     It’s a thin little hand on a hospital bed
>
>     It’s all the things you’ve left unsaid
>
>     Life is a thin thread
>
>
>
>     It’s a fine line between loving and not
>
>     Between holding it back or giving all that you’ve got
>
>     Feeling you’re free, thinking you’re caught
>
>     It’s a fine line
>
>
>
>     (Thin Thread by Connie Kaldor)
>
>
>
>     I was more than saddened yesterday to hear of Marty Balin’s passing.
> Jack and I were in Northampton, Mass. at the Academy Of Music and we were
> just getting ready to do our sound check. I knew that Marty had been sick
> and I knew in a general way that he had grievous issues but I did not
> really know what they were. Marty always kept a lot of shade on himself. I
> stood there in the little room in the wings, stage left… struck dumb. What
> can you say? We always say and hear, ‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ but what
> does that really mean? We say it. We have to say it and then in the
> confines of our hearts we try to process the sorrow and search for the
> words that really convey what we feel. It is an imperfect process.
>
>
>
>     Marty and I were young together in a time that defined our lives. Had
> it not been for him, my life would have taken an alternate path I cannot
> imagine. He and Paul Kantner came together and like plutonium halves in a
> reactor started a chain reaction that still affects many of us today. It
> was a moment of powerful synchronicity. I was part of it to be sure, but I
> was not a prime mover. Marty always reached for the stars and he took us
> along with him.
>
>
>
>     I always felt that he was somewhat guarded… the quiet one. Perhaps
> that’s because I was one of the noisy ones… I don’t know. It’s probably not
> for me to say. His commitment to his visions never flagged. He was always
> relentless in the pursuit of his goals. He wrapped those he loved in
> sheltering arms. He loved his family. Times come and go but his passion for
> his music and his art was never diminished. He was the most consummate of
> artists in a most renaissance way. I always felt that he perceived that
> each day was a blank canvas waiting to be filled.
>
>
>
>     It was fortuitous that we were able to stay connected in a loose way
> over the years. He and his friends graced our stage at the Fur Peace
> Station in Ohio and he was able to join us at the Beacon Theater in NYC the
> year we celebrated Jack’s 70th birthday.
>
>
>
>     Very good stuff!
>
>
>
>     Coming to grips with reality is a process that starts at birth. I am
> always stunned when one of my friends passes and yet, it would seem that at
> some point we will all take that journey. It’s almost like, ‘How can this
> be? There are things I need to say.’ There were indeed things I needed to
> say and the fault for that lack lies on me and me alone. I don’t think any
> of us really think that we will live forever yet often that thought lies
> dormant in the back of our minds. At my age my world is starting to be
> surrounded by passing. I will miss my friends who rest on the banks of the
> River Of Time and I am reminded to make the most of every moment as I am
> swept downstream! Marty’s passing reaffirms the power of love, the power of
> family, the power of possibilities.
>
>
>
>     So many of our brothers and sister from that time are gone. Skip
> Spence, Spencer Dryden, Joey Covington, Paul Kantner, Signe Anderson and
> now Marty have all joined the Heavenly Band as Rev. Davis would say.
>
>
>
>     We were young together. I would like to think we made a difference. As
> for Grace Slick, Jack Casady and myself…
>


On Sun, Sep 30, 2018 at 3:00 AM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Sad to read this. He was an immense figure in my young life. Thanks for
> all the good times, Marty.
> This is indeed a good way to remember him, but the daze in Golden Gate
> Park are, well....
>
> On Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 5:58 PM Allan Balliett <allan.balliett at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Marty Balin died in Florida this past Thursday
>>
>> Here's a very good way to remember him:
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuwMEiNg3B8
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>