How David Crosby got Grace Slick sober: “I’d turn on the news and probably kill myself”
The 1960s was a revolutionary time for music and popular culture. As an angry post-war generation of kids discovered the defiant sounds of rock music and political activism, the American music scene saw the emergence of some truly incredible artists. However, an undeniable influence on the scene came from the advent of cheap and available drugs. Few bands encapsulated the rebellious nature of the 1960s quite like the psychedelic rock heroes Jefferson Airplane, who were consistently impacted by the mind-altering powers of drugs like LSD.
During the 1960s, few rock outfits were free from the influence of LSD; everybody from The Rolling Stones to Miles Davies had their own flirtations with opening their third eye. However, the main bands pioneering the newfound subgenre of psychedelic rock were arising from the Bay Area of San Francisco. Alongside the likes of the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane helped to define that scene.
Songs like ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Somebody To Love’ became undisputed hippie anthems, fuelled by the band’s ‘live fast, die young’ rock and roll lifestyle. But alas, the 1960s would not last forever, and the psychedelic trips of the decade soon developed into the cocaine binges of the 1970s. As Jefferson Airplane morphed into Jefferson Starship, vocalist Grace Slick was becoming increasingly plagued by an addiction to drink and drugs, leading her to be sacked from the band.
So, when Slick finally accepted her need to embrace sobriety, help came in the unlikely form of fellow musical icon David Crosby. Crosby had his own battles with addiction, with cocaine and heroin being a particular favourite of his, before embarking upon his own recovery. Slick had been friends with Crosby for years; in fact, the pair collaborated during the studio sessions for Jefferson Airplane’s 1969 album Volunteers. It was not expected, at the time, that Crosby would be instrumental in getting Slick sober.
Talking to Goldmine in 2019, on the anniversary of Volunteers, Slick revealed, “It was Crosby who finally helped me get sober in the ’90s,” explaining, “My daughter called him, and he came right away and got me in rehab. He shows up in the back of a limo, picks me up, and takes me to Exodus, a place here, and it worked. I haven’t done drugs since.” It was also during this period that Slick retired from music, opting to spend her time working on artwork and painting rather than arena tours and a life of excess.
Despite her sobriety and appreciation for the help of David Crosby, Slick also offered some advice for any budding musicians hoping to experiment with psychedelics. “When I was doing a lot of acid,” she shared, “set and setting were important. You don’t take acid in the middle of Harlem, for instance. You take it out in the mountains or the prairie. Too many people collected in one place is not a good place for acid.”
LSD provided Slick with the inspiration for some of her best love tracks, but the 84-year-old is quick to note, “I couldn’t take acid now. I’d turn on the news and probably kill myself.” Presumably, though, the news was not overly inspirational back in the 1960s either – so maybe just avoid the world of psychedelics if you are prone to watching the news on an evening.
