Marty Balin
| Marty Balin | |
|---|---|
Balin in a live performance, 2011
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Martyn Jerel Buchwald |
| Born |
January 30, 1942 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock, folk rock, pop rock, soft rock, acid rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels | Challenge, EMI, GWE |
| Associated acts | Jefferson Airplane, KBC Band, Jefferson Starship |
| Notable instruments | |
| Ovation Acoustic guitars | |
Marty Balin (born Martyn Jerel Buchwald; January 30, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.
Balin was born Martyn Jerel Buchwald in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Catherine Eugenia "Jean" (née Talbot) and Joseph Buchwald. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Eastern Europe. His father was Jewish and his mother was Episcopalian. Marty attended Washington High School in San Francisco, California.
In 1962, Buchwald changed his name to Marty Balin, as whom he has been known ever since, and began recording with Challenge Records, releasing the singles "Nobody But You" and "I Specialize in Love." By 1964, Balin was leading a folk music quartet called The Town Criers.
Balin was the primary founder of Jefferson Airplane, which he "launched" from a restaurant-turned-club he called the Matrix, and also one of its lead vocalists from 1965 to 1971. In the group's famous 1966-1971 iteration, Balin served as co-lead vocalist alongside Grace Slick and rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner. While his output diminished after Surrealistic Pillow (1967) as Slick, Kantner, and lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen matured as songwriters (a process compounded by Balin's eschewal of the group's burgeoning "ego trips"), his most enduring songwriting contributions--which were often imbued with a romantic, pop-oriented lilt that was atypical of the band's characteristic forays into psychedelic rock--include "Comin' Back to Me" (a folk rock ballad later covered by Ritchie Havens and Rickie Lee Jones), "Today" (a collaboration with Kantner initially written on spec for Tony Bennett that was prominently covered by Tom Scott), and again with Kantner, the topical 1969 top-100 hit "Volunteers." Although uncharacteristic of his oeuvre, the uptempo "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover" (both written for Surrealistic Pillow) remained integral components of the Airplane's live set throughout the late 1960s.
...
Wikipedia