it was really good. Leo Kottke had played and I learned a trick from him, as it was cold that day. At them, and Jude Gold probably had 25 people on the payroll donny baldwin interview whether were 20 countries across the globe in the world playing in 20 countries across the globe in the 80s and! released by the band since Kantners passing. What year? 'This is the Starship? It was a very unfortunate incident that got out 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 was the baby in the band and I ended up being the only guy who played on every hit. I had no idea it would lead to me meeting Grace Slick and being asked to join Jefferson Starship. He is going, Lets just get a couple of big blokes to go over the border and get my guitar back.. help us write a song? Grace said shed send some lyrics and, some time later, Cathy Discover who Donny really is. wanted to play and he said hed love to. No one knew who he was. I acted in high school but then I moved my attention to more serious things once I got to college. All of us spent a long time playing with Paul, he explains, before The 57 Goldtop that I used on Dragon Fly and Red Octopus could still be out there. It all began when he thought he was being summoned to see a teacher while still in high school. of hand. When we toured in 1978, it was the last time I played those guitars and the last time that lineup ever played together, as Grace wouldnt play a show that one day in Germany. Paul said, Grace can sing when shes sick. taglines. 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. Thread Status: Not open for further replies. Marty said, We could do this. When I heard that he had passed I immediately felt there was a new Jefferson star in heaven. Craig: I dont think that is weird or anything. Duane Allman played them. Im sure each of us would love to go back and retrace our steps that night and make it different, but you cant do that. fight by far, he doesn't seem to blame Baldwin nor hold it against Hey, our house was right across the street and we wanted to play. I thought it would look like the constellation Orion. Although Sara is a good one as well. Even with Kantner gone, Jefferson Starship managed to make Despite it being obviously stolen at that time, and obviously his, Craig has yet to play his long lost axeyet. Charles. Those first four albums were mostly with those Les Pauls. We had just come off of a Top 5 single from our album that Mutt Lange helped us produce. If you heard the original demo, you wouldn't even recognize the song.". By the time he was 19 years old, Craig had given up jamming with instructors and was made a member of Jefferson Starship. I guess Grace was in rehab. This guy saw me play this black custom-made boogie body Stratocaster that I had made. I wish Id been there for that. started singing out, What are we waiting for? That was one of Pauls We begin the interview, however, on a somber note, discussing the recent death of his mentor and former bandmate, Paul Kantner. of course, is Paul Kantner, the man who helped create the band out of the ashes It sounds like Ansley is clicking his sticks, but it is really the click track that bled through into the guitar mic. neutral and definitive and even though Mickey got the worst of the You can really hear the vocals and the guitar solo. He had to get plastic surgery. It was a very unfortunate incident that got Craig: I was actually in a band with my English teacher, lying about my age and wearing a fake mustache. 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. The dialogue actually takes more out of my voice than singing does because I have to project to make sure that they can hear me in the last row of the theater. Balin, the man responsible for writing and singing some of the bands biggest It is an amazing tune. All we know is the other two survived, the bass and my guitar. Then the song Sara didnt have any band members in the video. him. It makes me scream. There were not any. You think about the one that got away. Someone had stolen it. This section is my attempt to answer those questions. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[6]='MMERGE6';ftypes[6]='number';fnames[3]='MMERGE3';ftypes[3]='radio';fnames[5]='MMERGE5';ftypes[5]='dropdown';fnames[4]='MMERGE4';ftypes[4]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); In addition to this crazy tale, where his long-lost Les Paul was discovered after a guy called him about his appearance in the ill-fated Star Wars Christmas Special, we also discuss that fateful day on the Senior Lawn, where it all started. Craig: Thank you. After he left, I looked at the band wed been auditioning other singers. Looking for Donny Baldwin online? Being on the road is crazy enough without I wish there had been a little more guitar on it. ,Sitemap. Jefferson Starship is currently comprised of multi-instrumentalist Its to his credit that he holds no grudges against her. I still have a cassette of the first song Mickey ever sang at a rehearsal or an audition, really. We had to fight over that. When Aynsley Dunbar left Jefferson Star read more Features They watched the #MeToo womens Live, Ansley would click his sticks in that exact spot, even though that is not how it happened. Right before he passed, I had talked to everyone who was with the original band, except for Papa John [Creach], as he died first. I think what happened was that the guitar builder had a bunch of his instruments on display in a posting or something. It was completely black except for a few chrome pieces. We packed the place. By the 1980s, the band had undergone name and personnel changes becoming Jefferson Starship and then simply Starship and needed to brighten up its brand. He always talked about going into space. on a track called Fooled Around and Fell in Love.. Craig: Dont even get me started. WebView the profiles of professionals named "Donny Baldwin" on LinkedIn. This person actually, at first, was very apologetic. I guess the lighting director told Paul that Grace could not sing because she was sick. There is a great line Norman said as he is an expert and was involved in getting George Harrisons guitar back. We did that for a couple of days, Paul was always saying that. till his death in 2016. nucleus. Why did donny Baldwin beat the hell out of singer mickey thomas's face in a bar? Starship currently features, from left, Jeff Adams, Phil Bennett, Mickey Thomas, Stephanie Calvert, John Roth and Darrell Verdusco. As Thomas noted to GQ, "Doesn't every band want hits? It was ironic that he left in such a cosmic time with these planets lining up at dawn, as he was such a science fiction guy. But is this inescapable rock anthem really the worst song ever? And everybody is totally into it.. He wanted to give it back, but he wanted to get his money back for his investment. Apparently, there was a big fight at the hotel. Of course you do. I said I would help him with that. Featuring original and historic members David Freiberg (also a founder of San Francisco luminaries Quicksilver Messenger Service) and drummer Donny Baldwin, along with longtime members Chris Smith on keyboards and synth bass, Jude Gold on lead guitar and GRAMMY Nominee Cathy Richardson anchoring the female lead vocal spot made famous by the inimitable Grace Slick (who invited her to sing in her place as Jefferson Airplane accepts their Lifetime Achievement Award at the GRAMMY Merit Awards Concert.). We talk about the creation of their new EP, Mother Of The Sun. Maybe I should have split the difference a little more. You change one thing and you may change the whole course of your life.. Join us for an exclusive live stream interview and acoustic performance session with current Jefferson Starship band members and VP of Education Jason Hanley on Friday, August 21 at 7pm ET. Only members can comment. We felt him here. Baldwin, who had played with Thomas in the Elvin Bishop Band before following him to the Starship, resigned, and the two havent spoken since. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven when I got to play in that band as a lead guitar player. Hes a fan of Jefferson Starship going back to the Find Your Way Back and Jane days. What are the disadvantages of shielding a thermometer? I really appreciate that. 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 It could have been different if the lead singer thought, Oh there goes the guitar player again. That was the only time we knew anything from that day existed. Hes so busy, Freiberg says of Sears. August 20, 2020, 9:21 am. ", Grace Slick (singer): "I was such an a------ for a while, I was trying to make up for it by being sober, which I was all during the '80s," she told Vanity Fair in 2012. We were getting all of that in the press. Affiliate programs and When Paul left on such a cosmic time it just really hit me. In on our Zoom call is David Freiberg, Donny Baldwin, Cathy Richardson, Chris Smith and Jude Gold. When that happened I started thinking maybe my guitar still existed. Craig: This is really weird, because on that tour we were playing songs from Dragon Fly, Spitfire, Earth, and Red Octopus. margin: 0 .07em !important; Despite it all, Craig still is playing at the top of his game, and he still has a huge smile on his face. When he found out it was mine -it was obvious because we have all of these pictures of it on covers of magazines, and on tour, and at rehearsal- he said he would give it back, but he felt he should have his investment back. I know what you mean about the Starship evolution. It was the first time I had ever met them. The way it is written and the way they play it really works for all of us, especially me as the guitar player. It was like an inside baseball kind of thing about skateboarders. I wrote most of them. Rock goddess Cathy Richardson speaks out about honoring the legacy of Paul Kantner, songwriting with Grace Slick for the Jefferson Starship's new album, and rocking the vote to dump Trump. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/starship-mickey-thomas-fight It created a bit of a buzz, which I actually think helped me to some degree. Normally, Check this out she had a permit for a Frisbee tournament in Golden Gate Park on Mothers Day. Bennett, mickey [ both laugh ] Ferraro is a former producer of radio talk and. At that point the artist, the writer, the actor, or the poet has to have that belief in themself and that inspiration to not let anything get in their way. 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. 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. He said he had a bad car accident and they set his arm so he could play. Grace was gone. And Donny Baldwin started singing out, What are we waiting for? That was one of Pauls taglines. That was the first song we did with the new lineup. I called it E Elizabeths Song as my doctor was Elizabeth. There is so much synchronistic there it is amazing. We were just a little unknown acoustic band traveling across the country. Here is another cosmic thing. It will be easy to identify if we ever see it. Make on Podchaser, aired Friday, 4th September 2020 Carolina Rial joins the! Craig: My bass player is mixing my live DVD that we all recorded that I told you about. Jeb: Before we get into the stolen guitars, I have heard you got your first Les Paul from your dad after you were in a car wreck. Freiberg, who has been a member of Jefferson Starship for 25 years over two Some of those songs werent very guitar intensive, but I believed in the guitar parts, but sometimes, there were not very many of them. Regardless of the roster turnover, Jefferson Starship proves Forum Policies, Rules, and Terms of Service. I cherish that song and I love singing it.. of Jefferson Airplane in 1974 and was its leader for most of the time from then Something about going to Europe never worked out too well for us. 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