Grace Slick

Recently, I did an XM Satellite show with Graham Nash called Song Stories. It turned out to be very successful and was a huge amount fun to do. It was basically an interview show, where I talked to writers who'd written some of the world's most famous songs.

Grace Slick I knew, but only slightly, from when the Paupers toured with Jefferson Airplane back in the Sixties. She'd written "White Rabbit" and "Don't You Want Somebody to Love", both Sixties anthems, and I was looking forward to it very much. When I went to her house in Malibu, she didn't actually remember me but as they say, if you remember the Sixties, you couldn't have been there. Now, remember we're talking about Grace Slick, who actually once tried to put LSD in President Richard Nixon's drink at the White House. Yes she did, no kidding.

Anyway, our interview about her classic "White Rabbit" turned out really well. Grace is genuinely charming and funny and we had a hilarious time. Partly because Grace has absolutely no censor between her brain and her mouth. Case in point, I asked her how she knew when she'd written a good song. Without missing a beat, she said...

"Oh, I'd listen to it on opium, then listen to it on LSD, then listen to it on pot, then listen to it on a lot of alcohol. If it sounded good on all four, hey I knew I had a keeper! "

Gee, why didn't I think of that!