1969-1973: beginnings Hot Tuna

the band in 1972. casady , kaukonen in front; creach , piazza in back.

that summer, rca paid band go jamaica record next album, album never finished, in part due financial dispute between balin (who left both bands shortly thereafter) , kaukonen , casady. papa john creach brought in band in late 1970 – joined jefferson airplane @ same time – , jefferson airplane , hot tuna finished co-tour in november 1970 shows @ fillmore east.

in september 1970, kaukonen , casady performed 2 acoustic-based shows hot tuna without jefferson airplane @ pepperland (a capacious dance hall in san rafael, california) , received reviews, further signifying hot tuna survive without other band support it.

as jefferson airplane wound down , stopped regularly touring on eighteen months (save handful of concerts in summer of 1971 , winter of 1972) after fillmore east shows, hot tuna – whom live performance of prime importance – became independent group consisting of kaukonen, casady, drummer sammy piazza, , creach, moving electric band format. line-up first documented on album first pull up, pull down (1971), recorded live @ chateau liberte, obscure club located near los gatos, california in santa cruz mountains favored band throughout era. group appeared on 3 tracks papa john creach s debut solo album, walking tou tou second album filthy!.

the studio albums burgers (1972) , phosphorescent rat (1974) followed, creach leaving before latter recorded. these 2 albums featured kaukonen compositions. on former album, david crosby sang supporting vocals on highway song, while keyboardist nick buck (who guested group in studio next 5 years before serving touring member in 1977) contributed 3 tracks.