R.I.P. Airplane/Starship vocalist Marty Balin

[SteveSly]

Balin was my least favorite songwriter in the Airplane / Starship / KBC band's, but I did like some of his stuff. I only saw him live once with the early 90's (post KBC Band) version of Jefferson Starship. It was a great show.

[GuitarGeek]

The main problem with the Angels, as I recall reading, was that they asked to be paid in unlimited access to beer. At least a precaution was taken in making them use billiard sticks as their weapons of choice to impose order.

Ah, so the beer was their idea?! That I don't think I had ever heard before, but now it makes sense, I guess. And yeah, I guess one should be thankful it was only billiard cues they used, and not, say chains or actual baseball bats.

[yoyiceu]

Even more than Gimme Shelter, a great source of information about Altamont is Stanley Booth's 'The Great Adventures of the Rolling Stones. Booth, a great writer, became intimate with the Stones specially Keith, during the 1969 tour and barely survived. He finally could publish his planned book some 15 years after the fact.
Also great is a novel, Sway, by Zachry Lazar, where he threads the Manson Family murders, Kenneth Anger and the Stones at Altamont into a fascinating read.

[spellbound]

LOVE AND REVOLUTION: AN APPRECIATION OF MARTY BALIN

[Rune Blackwings]

Late to this, but the JA/JS were probably my first real music loves and still are. I was deeply saddened by his death. I also feel extremely fortunate to have not only seen Marty and Paul play live, but, like Huw Lloyd Langton, had the chance do meet them, even if ever so briefly.