Jan. 30: Marty Balin founder and singer with Jefferson Airplane & Jefferson Starship is 69 today.

-----

Did you know?


Balin was mildly autistic as a child, and he struggled with this while growing up in Ohio, and it affected him into his adulthood.

His father Joe Buchwald was an important part in the 60s San Francisco music scene. As a lithographer, he was responsible for printing more than 200 different posters for shows at famous clubs like the Matrix, the Fillmore and Avalon Ballrooms. His mother, Jean Buchwald started and kept the Jefferson Airplane scrap books.

----

Born Martyn Jerel Buchwald in Cincinnati, Ohio, Marty Balin is 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."




Balin grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and later attended San Francisco State University. He initially pursued a career as a painter, but after appearing in a production of West Side Story he changed his name to Marty Balin and turned to music, with the encouragement of his close friend Ralph’s brother, Johnny Mathis.

Marty issued the solo singles "Nobody But You" and "I Specialize in Love" on Challenge Records 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 became the symbol and a leading figure of the psychedelic scene, scoring a gold record with their 1967 sophomore LP Surrealistic Pillow.

While 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."

Artwork by Marty Balin

After issuing 1983's Lucky, he next joined Kantner and fellow Airplane alum Jack Casady in the K.B.C. Band; in 1989, all three participated in a Jefferson Airplane reunion that yielded a new studio album and tour before sputtering out.

(Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)

(Press album cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):

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. The album Marty Balin's Greatest Hits released in 2000, assembled re-recordings of past favorites.


In 2003, Balin issued the self titled CD Marty Balin, the first of several independent albums issued on his Balince Music label.

As of 2008, Balin continues to perform part-time with Jefferson Starship and had intended to record lead vocals for two tracks for their latest album, Jefferson's Tree of Liberty. However, his art touring schedule conflicted with studio sessions and instead the track "Maybe for You" from the German release of Windows of Heaven was included.


He has also released Nashville Sessions in 2008, Nothin’ 2 Lose and Time for Every Season in 2009, and Blue Highway in 2010.

####

Jan. 29: Singer and dancer Claudine Longet is 69 today.

Born in Paris, France, Claudine Georgette Longet was a popular singer and recording artist in the 1960s and 1970s. She was best known as the ex-wife of singer Andy Williams - and later for being convicted of “misdemeanor negligent homicide” in the death of skiing star Spider Sabich in 1976.

Longet was a dancer at the Folies Bergere in Las Vegas. and met Andy Williams when he pulled over to aid her on a desert road. They married on Christmas Day 1961 and had three children together.

In 1968, she appeared in The Party with Peter Sellers and sang “Nothing To Lose” by Henry Mancini.

Longet recorded a series of five albums for A&M Records between 1966 and 1970 and two albums for Williams’s Barnaby label in 1971 and 1972. She also made frequent acting appearances in television series and appeared from time to time on Williams’ variety series and specials.

Williams called Longet a “my favorite French singer.” She and Williams separated in 1969 but did not divorce for six more years.



Peter “Spider” Sabich, Jr was an American alpine ski racer. He was a member of the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics; he was the pro ski racing champion in 1971 & 1972.

Late in the afternoon of March 21, 1976, Sabich had returned from a day of skiing in Aspen and was preparing to shower. He was fatally shot in the bathroom of his Starwood home by his live-in girlfriend, singer-actress Claudine Longet, then age 34.

The two had met at a pro-celebrity event four years earlier in 1972 in Bear Valley, California, and were quickly an item. She claimed the gun discharged accidentally, as he was showing her how it worked.

He was hit in the abdomen and lost a significant amount of blood before the ambulance arrived. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, with Longet at his side. Spider Sabich was 30 years old.

Longet was charged with reckless manslaughter. She was convicted in early 1977 of a lesser charge, criminally negligent homicide, a misdemeanor.


Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)

(Press album cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):

-----

Longet was sentenced to just 30 days in jail, and allowed to serve the time at her convenience. She served her sentence three months later, following a vacation with her married defense attorney, Ron Austin. The two would later marry and continue to live in the Aspen area.

Longet has never performed again after the criminal trial, and the Sabich family initiated civil proceedings to sue Longet. The case was eventually settled out of court for a large monetary settlement, with the proviso that Longet never tell or write about her story.



####