Been So Long: My Life and Music
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"A modern parable." —from the foreword by Grace Slick

"Jorma Kaukonen is a force in American music, equally adept at fingerpicked acoustic folk and blues as he is at wailing on an electric." – Acoustic Guitar
"Jorma Kaukonen lit a fuse and transformed his electric guitar into a firework." – Live For Live Music
Includes a CD of live music as a companion to the book!
From the man who made a name for himself as a founding member and lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane comes a memoir that offers a rare glimpse into the heart and soul of a musical genius—and a vivid journey through the psychedelic era in America.
"Music is the reward for being alive," writes Jorma Kaukonen in this candid and emotional account of his life and work. "It stirs memory in a singular way that is unmatched." In a career that has already spanned a half century—one that has earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors—Jorma is best known for his legendary bands Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. But before he won worldwide recognition he was just a young man with a passion and a dream.
Been So Long is the story of how Jorma found his place in the world of music and beyond. The grandson of Finnish and Russian-Jewish immigrants whose formative years were spent abroad with his American-born diplomat father, Jorma channeled his life experiences—from his coming-of-age in Pakistan and the Philippines to his early gigs with Jack Casady in D.C. to his jam sessions in San Francisco with Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and other contemporaries—into his art in unique and revelatory ways. Been So Long charts not only Jorma's association with the bands that made him famous but goes into never-before-told details about his addiction and recovery, his troubled first marriage and still-thriving second, and more. Interspersed with diary entries, personal correspondence, and song lyrics, this memoir is as unforgettable and inspiring as Jorma's music itself.

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Jorma Kaukonen. (2018). Been So Long: My Life and Music. St. Martin's Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Jorma Kaukonen. 2018. Been So Long: My Life and Music. St. Martin's Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Jorma Kaukonen, Been So Long: My Life and Music. St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2018.

Jorma Kaukonen. Been So Long: My Life and Music. St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2018.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.

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"A modern parable." —from the foreword by Grace Slick

"Jorma Kaukonen is a force in American music, equally adept at fingerpicked acoustic folk and blues as he is at wailing on an electric." – Acoustic Guitar
"Jorma Kaukonen lit a fuse and transformed his electric guitar into a firework." – Live For Live Music
Includes a CD of live music as a companion to the book!
From the man who made a name for himself as a founding member and lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane comes a memoir that offers a rare glimpse into the heart and soul of a musical genius—and a vivid journey through the psychedelic era in America.
"Music is the reward for being alive," writes Jorma Kaukonen in this candid and emotional account of his life and work. "It stirs memory in a singular way that is unmatched." In a career that has already spanned a half century—one that has earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors—Jorma is best known for his legendary bands Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. But before he won worldwide recognition he was just a young man with a passion and a dream.
Been So Long is the story of how Jorma found his place in the world of music and beyond. The grandson of Finnish and Russian-Jewish immigrants whose formative years were spent abroad with his American-born diplomat father, Jorma channeled his life experiences—from his coming-of-age in Pakistan and the Philippines to his early gigs with Jack Casady in D.C. to his jam sessions in San Francisco with Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and other contemporaries—into his art in unique and revelatory ways. Been So Long charts not only Jorma's association with the bands that made him famous but goes into never-before-told details about his addiction and recovery, his troubled first marriage and still-thriving second, and more. Interspersed with diary entries, personal correspondence, and song lyrics, this memoir is as unforgettable and inspiring as Jorma's music itself.

reviews

1. • premium: False
   • source: Associated Press
   • content: "A quick, engaging read. "
2. • premium: False
   • source:Wall Street Journal
   • content:"Been So Long is a survivor's tale, well told and sprinkled with a bit of 1960s fairy dust."
3. • premium: False
   • source:Publishers Weekly, starred review
   • content: "Jefferson Airplane guitarist Kaukonen's candid and affectionate memoir resembles the rambling and free-flowing road trips he enjoys. A mesmerizing storyteller, Kaukonen delivers a memoir as intricate and dazzling as his music."
4. • premium: False
   • source:Counterpunch
   • content: "Been So Long could be considered a text that reveals not only the musical heart of Jorma Kaukonen, but his heart in and of itself. It is a memoir of a man who has lived an eventful life and has decided to take advantage of his later years to consider his past and his legacy both as an artist and as a human being."
5. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content: Starred review from June 11, 2018
     Jefferson Airplane guitarist Kaukonen’s candid and affectionate memoir resembles the rambling and free-flowing road trips he enjoys. The author began taking trips early in life as he traveled to Pakistan and the Philippines from his Washington, D.C., home with his father, who worked for the State Department. When Kaukonen was 16, he was inspired by a guitar-playing friend to play music and, with his father’s help, bought his first guitar. In high school, he met Jack Casady, who would become the bassist for Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, and the two began a lifelong friendship and musical partnership. Kaukonen continued to develop his fingerpicking blues guitar style at Antioch College in Ohio, playing with fellow guitarist Ian Buchanan. After college, he headed to California where he joined the Airplane and played at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival. At the same time his music career was evolving, he sank into alcoholism, and his marriage with his first wife, Margareta, disintegrated, exacerbated by his own ambivalence. Kaukonen left Jefferson Airplane in 1972, pursuing the Hot Tuna project he and Casady had begun, but five years later, he decided to go out on his own. He now lives on a ranch with his wife, Vanessa, in southern Ohio, where he runs songwriting and guitar workshops. A mesmerizing storyteller, Kaukonen delivers a memoir as intricate and dazzling as his music.
6. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content: July 15, 2018
     Amiable and informative, if not always compelling, memoir by the folkie who anchored Jefferson Airplane.As guitarist for Airplane, Kaukonen once wrote a memorable acoustic instrumental named "Embryonic Journey." That could well serve as a title for this debut, the septuagenarian rocker's therapeutic account of his inner and outer life and times. The son of a State Department attaché, Kaukonen's formative years were spent traveling around the world. Along the way, he became an obsessive finger-picking guitarist and, luckily, wound up back on the family's California home turf at a time when legendary bands were formed at a moment's notice. Such was the case with the Airplane, which reaped a hefty advance from the beginning and created a new and defiantly trippy sound. "All of a sudden," he writes, "psychedelic was no longer a door to perception or an excuse to party. it was becoming a genre!" As the money rolled in, so did amphetamines (among many other pharmaceuticals) and more music. "I am convinced that many of the crystalline solos on those Airplane recordings were directly related to that little orange pill," writes the author. "It's funny to think that my life could have been so completely ruled by mood-altering substances, but at the time it would never have occurred to me that there might be another way to live." Kaukonen spares little in describing the winding path of his life, both the ups (writing and playing music) and the downs (addiction and a destructive codependent marriage). Unfortunately, his philosophical and spiritual ramblings become increasingly repetitive and tedious. Also, while he offers factual details about life inside the Airplane (and follow-up band Hot Tuna), he is short on offering the kind of interesting personal details only he would know--e.g, what was/is lead singer Grace Slick really like? Was he affected by the controversies swirling around the provocative "Volunteers" album?An honest personal portrait but also one where the author could have revealed more--and written less. COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
7. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content: August 1, 2018
     Guitarist, songwriter, and singer Kaukonen, best known as a cofounder of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, was at the forefront of rock in the late 1960s and 1970s. His gently rambling memoir explores his early life and accounts of his family, detailing a youth of peripatetic living around the world owing to his father's jobs overseas, before moving on to the story of his musical awakenings and influences. Kaukonen writes with narrative flair, although his pivotal time with Jefferson Airplane beginning in the mid-1960s is curiously given a somewhat cursory treatment. From there, he traces his career with Hot Tuna and eventually his solo and collaborative projects, while also chronicling years of substance abuse and his recovery, a lasting relationship with his second wife, the establishment of his Fur Peace Ranch for musicians, and a continuing life of performing, writing, and recording. VERDICT Dedicated fans of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna will want to read this book by a musician who played a part in the defining moments of Sixties rock and beyond.--James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
8. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content: July 15, 2018
     Amiable and informative, if not always compelling, memoir by the folkie who anchored Jefferson Airplane.As guitarist for Airplane, Kaukonen once wrote a memorable acoustic instrumental named "Embryonic Journey." That could well serve as a title for this debut, the septuagenarian rocker's therapeutic account of his inner and outer life and times. The son of a State Department attach�, Kaukonen's formative years were spent traveling around the world. Along the way, he became an obsessive finger-picking guitarist and, luckily, wound up back on the family's California home turf at a time when legendary bands were formed at a moment's notice. Such was the case with the Airplane, which reaped a hefty advance from the beginning and created a new and defiantly trippy sound. "All of a sudden," he writes, "psychedelic was no longer a door to perception or an excuse to party. it was becoming a genre!" As the money rolled in, so did amphetamines (among many other pharmaceuticals) and more music. "I am convinced that many of the crystalline solos on those Airplane recordings were directly related to that little orange pill," writes the author. "It's funny to think that my life could have been so completely ruled by mood-altering substances, but at the time it would never have occurred to me that there might be another way to live." Kaukonen spares little in describing the winding path of his life, both the ups (writing and playing music) and the downs (addiction and a destructive codependent marriage). Unfortunately, his philosophical and spiritual ramblings become increasingly repetitive and tedious. Also, while he offers factual details about life inside the Airplane (and follow-up band Hot Tuna), he is short on offering the kind of interesting personal details only he would know--e.g, what was/is lead singer Grace Slick really like? Was he affected by the controversies swirling around the provocative "Volunteers" album?An honest personal portrait but also one where the author could have revealed more--and written less. COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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1. • code: en
   • name: English

1. • value: Biography & Autobiography
2. • value: Music
3. • value: Nonfiction

1. • type: ISBN
   • value: 9781250125484

1. • code: BIO004000
   • description: Biography & Autobiography / Composers & Musicians
2. • code: MUS017000
   • description: Music / Genres & Styles / Folk & Traditional
3. • code: MUS035000
   • description: Music / Genres & Styles / Rock