There was this amazing guy, see — born in Memphis, moved to Chicago as a teenager, studied at a conservatory, learned drums, got a gig as a session drummer at the legendary Chess Records at age 22, worked on recordings for the likes of Etta James, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy, and hit singles like Fontella Bass’s “Rescue Me” and Billy Stewart’s “Summertime,” was a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio (1966-1969), formed a songwriting team, wrote songs for commercials, got signed by Capitol as The Salty Peppers, worked on his vocals, learned the kalimba, and moved to Los Angeles.

A fascination with Egyptology and spirituality led him to study the astrological charts for his sign, Sagittarius, which features the primary element of fire and the seasonal elements of earth and air.  He’d been searching for a name for the new band he was forming, and now he’d found it in the elements:  Earth, Wind & Fire.  

His name was Maurice White, and he was a bonafide legend and a visionary.  He is yet another in a flood of recent popular musician deaths — he passed away a month ago at age 74 from the effects of Parkinson’s disease.

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In the early ’60s, while most of the country was still living in a 1950s mindset, San Francisco was emerging as a mecca for radically new viewpoints, unusual lifestyles, and strident protests against government overreach.  The Free Speech Movement at UC-Berkeley epitomized the “Question Authority” way of thinking that had taken hold and found a sympathetic, nurturing atmosphere in the Bay Area.

Coming of age at about that time was a feisty young man named Paul Kantner, born and raised in San Francisco, who considered himself a “devil’s advocate,” as he had been branded in the Catholic schools and military schools he’d been expelled from as a teenager.  He had a passion for science fiction literary works and the protest folk songs of Pete Seeger and The Weavers, and by 1965, he was looking to form a band and write songs that reflected the new liberating attitude of the times.

Kantner met singer Marty Balin, and Jefferson Airplane was born.

Now, here it is, 51 years later, and Kantner is dead from complications following a heart attack at age 74.  Yet another fallen hero of the counterculture.  I’ve lost count how many we’ve lost since 2016 began.  Kantner’s name is not as well known to the masses as David Bowie and Glenn Frey and Natalie Cole, but his impact was huge, his legacy rather remarkable, and well worth discussing.

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