We
all know the much clichéd fact that women have endured a harsh journey in the
world of Rock N’ Roll, probably because the undefined rules of the genre have
been best associated with men. The validity of such norms was definitely
challenged by several female musicians, and one such woman was Grace Slick.
Born
as Grace Barnett Wing on October 30, 1939, she attended the Finch College in
New York and then shifted to the University of Miami. At school, she used to
sing obscene songs while playing a piano or a guitar. Grace initially tried her
hand at modelling, but aspired for just a simple life of a housewife. She
espoused Gerald ‘Jerry’ Slick in a traditional church wedding, in 1961. In
order to earn more money, they formed a band - The Great Society - along with
four other people in 1965.
Grace
Slick was then invited by the band members of Jefferson Airplane in 1966, to
replace their vocalist Signe Toly Anderson. The occurrences that followed her junction
with the band were the ones that characterised the true personality of Grace,
the one we are conversant with today.
It
may sound phoney when I say that the many attributes branching out of Grace
Slick’s persona have the potency to slightly change your perceptions about a
lot of things. She comes across as one of the most sane rock figures of the
insane 60s, or maybe those who survived the decade are the actual sane ones.
Grace
was an alcohol addict, a self-confessed one, and admitted that she could never
perform sober. The woman once addressed a large rich audience at the Whitney
Museum of American Art as ‘fools’, and performed topless on a rainy day for her wet clothes
really irritated her.
Grace
was always an off-the-cuff music figure. Nobody could predict her next step.
She was invited to the White House by President Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia
for a luncheon, as the two girls went to the same college. Grace then decided
to tag along Abbie Hoffman, a political protestor, and intended to put LSD in
the President’s tea. However, the security identified Grace and forbade her
from moving inside for she was on the FBI list.
Her
fire-brigade-alarm voice, having a pinch of vibrato, instantly compels a person
to stop and listen. And she does have an abundance of wisdom to share. On
describing her first LSD and psychedelic experience, she said:
"Assuming that through material
achievement you can improve your level in the cosmos is like assuming that a
particle of sand can become any more than a particle of sand when it resides in
the wall of a sand castle. Anything you happen to collect stays here when you
go. There are no armoured cars in a funeral procession."
In
the late 60s and early 70s, when several male bands like Led Zeppelin, The
Rolling Stones and The Doors gained momentum, women were largely seen as their
sexual counterparts. Even the Hippie culture limited women’s role as ‘onlookers’,
instead of the ‘doers’. They were treated either as ‘chicks’ or ‘old ladies’,
confined to do all child-rearing and household chores (very much like the
suburban housewives but with less security).
Such
notions were defied by Grace Slick and her vast array of men. She was always
vocal about her sexuality, and never afraid of expressing it. She also had a
one-night stand with Jim Morrison, when the two bands (The Doors and Jefferson
Airplane) were performing in Europe. However, she has always addressed The Lizard
King as ‘a rabid version of Johnny Depp’ and ‘Mr. Non Sequitur’ for he did not
make sense at any time.
Out
of her self-written songs White Rabbit and
Lather are my personal favourites.
While the former colligates drug intake with the children’s novel Alice In Wonderland, the latter talks
about a man who does not want to grow up and accept the monotony of adult life.
At
present, Grace Slick has the same enchanting blue eyes and is an accomplished
artist. The 72-year-old holds only three regrets from her life – not having sex
with Jimi Hendrix, never travelled to the Middle East and never learned horse
riding.
