Wooden Ships/Paul Kantner/'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now'

As I write this, today is Friday, 1/29.  I probably won't post this YET, hoping that I might actually get some reaction to the "Outrageous" post.  Sorry if this one may ramble a bit, but hey, there ARE threads to follow!

Yesterday (Thursday) I heard a song by Jefferson Starship - "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" that I haven't heard on the radio for some time.  I like it - pretty peppy and fairly uplifting lyrics - so it was good to hear it again.

Then today we found out that Paul Kantner, a founder of Jefferson Airplane has died.  It just struck me as though there must have been some sort of synchronicity at work there yesterday, even if Mr. Kantner wasn't in the JS lineup at the time of the aforementioned song.  

Turns out "NGSUN"  was co-written by one Albert Hammond.  I certainly remember him, the singer/songwriter of "It Never Rains in California" - a big hit during my college years.  Oh, and I often played THAT one on piano.  Turns out he also co-wrote "The Air That I Breathe", a hit for The Hollies.  Not a favorite song of mine, but I didn't realize he had a hand in it until now.  He also had a hand in many other hits - and for many artists.

Also, it turns out that Paul Kantner was a co-author of  "Wooden Ships", which was recorded by Jefferson Airplane and by Crosby Stills, and Nash.  WOW.  I hadn't thought of that song in YEARS.  I well remember listening to the CS and N version. Yeah, I have it around here somewhere, but you know how it is...  So I checked out a couple of videos and looked up the lyrics.  Some not bad, but there's the one verse...  So I think I'll just tuck it away again for now.

It is so sad that we're losing so many wonderful musical icons - like Bowie and now Kantner.  I love the comment following the above article by dj ranger.  Yes, we've seen a real classic era in music and we're losing so many of the talents that propelled it.  I think there are some commenters at The Guardian who agree that we're just not seeing artists of the same caliber today.  I TOTALLY agree with that. From what I hear of more contemporary music, I've definitely not been impressed.  

It speaks well for Kantner that many who met him have posted such great memories of meeting him - as well as accolades for his music.  Yes, he will definitely be missed.

Rest in Peace, Paul