24-460: Inphasion is an album by the American musician Papa John Creach , released in 1978. It was his last with DJM Records . Creach would not record another studio album until 1992. AllMusic deemed the album "for the most part a pop-rock vocal collection with more guitar than violin." Papa John Creach John Henry Creach (May 28, 1917 – February 22, 1994), better known as Papa John Creach ,
48-491: A child when visiting his father. Dryden's father was a jazz fan, and exposed him to the jazz scene by taking him to Los Angeles jazz clubs during the 1950s. These inspired Dryden's musical ambitions. During that time, Dryden became friends with Lloyd Miller , also born in 1938, who lived down the street on Royal Boulevard in the Rossmoyne neighborhood of Glendale, California . Because they both liked jazz, Miller suggested that
72-423: A child, he was introduced to the violin by an uncle, and he received both tutoring in the instrument and conservatory training. Creach and his family moved to Chicago in 1935. Once he relocated to Chicago , the teenager began playing violin in bars. He performed some symphonic work when he was in his early 20s, which was unusual for a black musician at the time. At one point, he joined a local cabaret trio called
96-515: A fire in 2003. A few years before his death, Dryden needed hip replacement and heart surgeries. In May 2004, a benefit concert that included performances by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Warren Haynes was held, raising US$ 36,000 to help pay Dryden's medical expenses. Later, in 2004, he was diagnosed with cancer. The benefit re-kindled Dryden's friendship with Jefferson Airplane band member Jorma Kaukonen , who remembered him fondly for
120-446: A heart condition that had been causing continual fluid build-up in his lungs, resulting in bouts of pneumonia . He was 76 years old. Jefferson Starship performed a benefit concert to raise money for his family after his death and released tracks from their performances as the album Deep Space/Virgin Sky . Spencer Dryden Spencer Charles Dryden (April 7, 1938 – January 11, 2005)
144-581: A member of Dinosaurs . Creach continued to make occasional guest appearances with Hot Tuna. He was performing with them at the Fillmore Auditorium in 1988 when Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna reunited with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick for the first time on stage since 1972. In 1992, Creach joined Kantner as a member of the relaunched Jefferson Starship and performed with them until his death. Creach succumbed to congestive heart failure on February 22, 1994. Creach had been suffering from
168-636: A member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage . He performed and recorded with them from late 1970 until 1977, at which point he became the manager of the band. After leaving the New Riders, Dryden went on to play a lengthy stint with Dinosaurs and Barry Melton 's band before retiring from drumming in 1995. Dryden did not participate in Jefferson Airplane's 1989 reunion. In 1996, Dryden was inducted into
192-534: A period that included platinum selling album Red Octopus (1975). In August 1975, Creach left the band to focus on his solo career. Nevertheless, he remained on amicable terms with the group and briefly returned as a touring member for the band's spring 1978 engagements. A year later, Creach renewed his working relationship with Covington as a member of the San Francisco All-Stars. He also performed with Covington's Airplane predecessor Spencer Dryden as
216-582: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of Jefferson Airplane. He played with the band in a special event for the first time since 1970. In 2003 Dryden joined the group onstage for the last time, in the Jefferson Starship Galactic Reunion. He lived in relative obscurity, reportedly in a small house on rented property with a few acres in Penngrove, California . He lost his home due to
240-697: The Airplane's Crown of Creation , is said to have been written by Grace Slick on the occasion of Dryden's thirtieth birthday. Its lyrics tell of a boy who stays as young as possible until one day when he is shattered by having to finally grow up. Founding editor of Rolling Stone and music critic, Ralph J. Gleason , published The Jefferson Airplane and the San Francisco Sound in 1969. The book included an engaging forty-four-page interview with Dryden. Dryden quit Jefferson Airplane in February 1970. This followed
264-643: The Chocolate Music Bars and toured the Midwest with them. According to Creach, knowing how to play in a variety of styles was a necessity to survive as a musician in Chicago at the time: [B]ecause of all the nationalities [there], I had to learn to play everything. At some jobs it was strictly German music, or Polish. Now, they used to dance and knock holes in the floor. He had some difficulty in learning to play jazz violin, having to adjust his bowing technique, but
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#1732869887156288-474: The San Francisco All-Stars (1979–1984), Dinosaurs (1982–1989) and Steve Taylor . Creach recorded a number of solo albums and guested at several Grateful Dead and Charlie Daniels Band concerts. He was a regular guest at the early annual Volunteer Jams , hosted by Charlie Daniels, which exposed him to a new audience that was receptive to fiddle players. Creach was born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania . As
312-720: The U.S. until his studios were sold in 1954. His father died in 1957, when Dryden was 19 years old. In mid-1966, Dryden was recruited to replace Skip Spence as the drummer in Jefferson Airplane , a leading San Francisco psychedelic band. Together with bassist Jack Casady , he helped create an exceptional rhythm section. A feature of live Airplane sets at the time were free-form improvisational jams, with Dryden's licks complementing Casady's fluid style, examples of which can be heard on "Thing" and "Bear Melt" from Bless Its Pointed Little Head . During this period, he had an affair with Grace Slick . The song " Lather ", appearing on
336-583: The difficult nerve sticks. Soon they had recruited trumpet player Buzz Leifer, a Glendale High acquaintance of Dryden's, a trombone player, Miller's friend Faith Jackson on piano, and a banjo player. The band, called the Smog City Six, would rehearse in Miller's garage. After his parents complained, they played on neighborhood lawns for short concerts until they had to flee from cops. Soon they were sought-after for their lawn jams. Their final New Orleans-style jazz gig
360-439: The group's violent experiences at the notorious Altamont Festival , where lead singer Marty Balin was knocked unconscious by Hells Angels bikers, and a festival patron, Meredith Hunter , was fatally stabbed. Dryden seemed to have some sense of foreboding about the concert, as he initially did not want to play there, saying the "vibes" were wrong. Dryden left the music business for a short period, but returned to drumming as
384-441: The two start a band, and encouraged Dryden to play drums. Since Dryden didn't have a drum set, Miller fashioned an instrument by thumb-tacking an old inner tube over a wooden barrel with no ends. Miller would pump his player piano, play cornet or clarinet and Dryden would bang out beats on the drum. One day Miller walked to Dryden's house and heard him playing on a full drum set. He was playing Baby Dodds ' solos to perfection, even
408-556: The way he said "Aww, MAN!" It was not until shortly before Dryden's death that Kaukonen learned that Dryden was the nephew of Charlie Chaplin. Dryden's last public appearance was in 2004 with Jefferson Airplane band members, at a DVD party for the release of the group's Fly documentary. Dryden died from metastasized colon cancer on January 11, 2005. Married three times, he was survived by his three sons, Jeffrey, Jesse, and Jackson Dryden, six grandchildren, and his mother, Alice May Chapple Dryden Judd. She died on December 25, 2005, at
432-500: Was a ballet dancer with Anna Pavlova 's dance company, and a member of the Radio City Ballet Company; Wheeler Dryden was an English-born actor who was also a half-brother of Charlie Chaplin . After becoming an American citizen in 1936 he later worked as a director. When Spencer Dryden was growing up, he carefully concealed his relationship with his world-famous half-uncle, not wanting to be judged on his name. When Dryden
456-520: Was an American blues violinist who also played classical, jazz, R&B, pop and acid rock music. Early in his career, he performed as a journeyman musician with Louis Armstrong , Fats Waller , Stuff Smith , Charlie Christian , Big Joe Turner , T-Bone Walker , Nat King Cole and Roy Milton . Following his rediscovery by drummer Joey Covington in 1967, he fronted a variety of bands (including Zulu and Midnight Sun) in addition to playing with Jefferson Airplane , Hot Tuna , Jefferson Starship ,
480-598: Was an American musician best known as the drummer for Jefferson Airplane and New Riders of the Purple Sage . He also played with Dinosaurs , and the Ashes (later known as the Peanut Butter Conspiracy ). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane. Spencer Charles Dryden was born in 1938 in New York City to Alice Chapple and George Dryden Wheeler Jr. Alice Chapple
504-593: Was an infant, the family moved to Los Angeles where his father went to work as an assistant director for Chaplin. His parents divorced in 1943. His mother later remarried, so Spencer would later have either two half- or 2 step-sisters: Ginny and Marilyn. He attended Glendale High School (Glendale, California) , and in 1955 he graduated from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California . In interviews, Dryden has fondly recalled playing at his famous uncle's Hollywood studio as
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#1732869887156528-479: Was for the spring festival at Miller's school, Flintridge Prep . After that Dryden 'went modern' and began playing cool jazz in Hollywood and Los Angeles. Miller also added modern jazz to his styles, and the two jammed a few more times at Miller's before losing contact. Both musicians made their mark in different ways. In 1952, after Chaplin moved to Switzerland, Dryden's father managed Chaplin's business affairs in
552-680: Was helped when he purchased an electric violin in 1943. Moving to Los Angeles in 1945, he played in the Chi Chi Club, worked on an ocean liner for five years, appeared in several films, including with Nat King Cole in Fritz Lang 's The Blue Gardenia , and performed as a duo with Nina Russell . Creach initially met and befriended drummer Joey Covington at a union hiring hall in Los Angeles in 1967. When Covington joined Jefferson Airplane in 1970, he introduced Creach to them. In autumn 1970, he
576-495: Was invited to join both Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna , Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady 's side band. He remained with both groups while also recording and touring as a solo artist for Jefferson Airplane's Grunt Records . During this period, his backing band Zulu included guitarist Keb' Mo' . Creach left Hot Tuna in 1973, but remained on board when Jefferson Airplane was reorganized as Jefferson Starship in 1974. He toured and recorded with Jefferson Starship from 1974 to 1975,
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