John William Casady was born on April 13,1944 and is an American bass guitarist, best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.
25 Facts About Jack Casady
2.
Jack Casady was born in Washington DC, the son of Mary Virginia and William Robert Jack Casady.
3.
Jack Casady's father was of half Irish Protestant and half Polish Jewish ancestry.
4.
Jack Casady's mother was a relative of aviator Harriet Quimby; some of her family had been in North America since the 1600s.
5.
Jack Casady became the bass player for Jefferson Airplane when lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, a high school friend and former Triumphs rhythm guitarist, invited him to join in late September 1965.
6.
Jack Casady replaced original Jefferson Airplane bassist Bob Harvey the following month.
7.
Jack Casady's impact is immediately evident on Airplane debut album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off on tracks such as "Let Me In" and "Run Around".
8.
The live Airplane album Bless Its Pointed Little Head, recorded in 1968, demonstrates Jack Casady's unique walking line style to the fullest, as his Guild Starfire bass signal was delivered through a Versatone amplifier which gave his instrument a distinctive growling sound when played in the higher register.
9.
On later Airplane albums, such as Bark, Long John Silver and the live Thirty Seconds Over Winterland, Jack Casady switched over to a $4,000 custom-made Alembic bass.
10.
For years in live performance with the Airplane, Jack Casady's showcase was the Paul Kantner composition "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", which gave the bassist the opportunity to improvize an open-ended solo that was different every night and often astonishing.
11.
The Fly Jefferson Airplane DVD includes one such performance videotaped at The Family Dog, where Jack Casady pulls off a solo that visibly impresses fellow band member Grace Slick.
12.
Jack Casady was likewise adept at complementing the musicianship of his fellow players; the live version of "Volunteers" on the Woodstock album is a notable example of cooperating bass and keyboard rhythm with session pianist Nicky Hopkins.
13.
Jack Casady occasionally played with other key San Francisco bands Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish and James and the Good Brothers.
14.
Later, Jack Casady was to appear on David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name, Roky Erickson's album Don't Slander Me and Warren Zevon's Transverse City.
15.
Jack Casady produced Jorma Kaukonen's first solo album, the critically acclaimed Quah, in 1975.
16.
Jack Casady is equally comfortable accompanying an acoustic Kaukonen or electric jamming.
17.
Some exquisitely intricate playing is evident on the 1972 album Burgers, particularly the sparkling instrumental track "Water Song", which Jack Casady has described as featuring "lead bass".
18.
When Tuna became a power trio in the mid-1970s, Jack Casady's Guild Flying V custom bass became his trademark.
19.
Again, Jack Casady's versatility was demonstrated as this band played in a convincing New Wave style, totally removed from Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane.
20.
Also during the 1980s, Jack Casady joined former Airplane members Paul Kantner and Marty Balin in the KBC Band.
21.
Jack Casady appears with Kantner again on the 2008 Jefferson Starship release, Jefferson's Tree of Liberty from a track previously recorded for the German release of Windows of Heaven.
22.
Not a singer and never a prolific songwriter, it was not until June 2003 that Jack Casady released his first solo album, Dream Factor, which he co-produced with Greg Hampton.
23.
Currently, as well as performing with Hot Tuna, Jack Casady teaches bass workshops at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio.
24.
In 2007, Casady joined a new band, Moonalice, whose members include former Jefferson Starship bassist and Hot Tuna keyboardist Pete Sears, along with G E Smith, Barry Sless, Ann McNamee, Roger McNamee, and Jimmy Sanchez.
25.
Jack Casady is widely known for the commanding tonal quality of his playing, something that he acknowledges is deliberate.