From the American Bandstand archives, here’s an unintentionally funny clip as Dick Clark interviews Jefferson Airplane on June 3, 1967. The classic rock band was riding high with their two huge breakthrough hits, “Somebody to Love” (#5) and “White Rabbit” (#8), released less than three months apart.
The two songs were the only ones by Jefferson Airplane to chart within the Top 40 of the U.S. singles chart*.
After Grace Slick introduces the band, Clark asks her: “Why did music such as you just performed happen in San Francisco?” Slick: “Because the, uh, the promoters gave us the freedom to write our own material.”
To Paul Kantner he asks: “Older people worry… they see the way you’re dressed. They hear your music; they don’t understand it. Do parents have anything to worry about?”
And to Jack Casady: “If you gave a hundred thousand dollars in cash to a hippie and you said you had to put a suit and tie, cut the hair, shave the beard, and go to work five days a week, would he take it?”
To Jorma Kaukonen: “What’s gonna happen this summer in San Francisco?” Remember, this was 1967… the Summer of Love.
Watch our Classic Video to see their great responses
Slick, born October 30, 1939, was 27 years old at the time of this appearance.
We wouldn’t leave you hanging! Here’s the band’s performance of “Somebody to Love”…
*The band’s next incarnation, Jefferson Starship, would score more frequently with Top 40 programmers with nine singles that reached the Top 40 of the Hot 100 between 1975-1984. A few years later, the next iteration, Starship, would become radio darlings with three #1 pop hits between 1985-1987.
Related: Our feature on an amazing picture of Grace Slick at Woodstock
