One factor that made Jefferson Airplane an interesting band was the diversity of styles the individual members brought to the mix.

Co-founder Marty Balin wrote love songs drawn from his folk roots, shaping the band's early sound with heartfeld odes like "It's No Secret," "Today" and "Coming Back to Me." Paul Kantner, another originator, contributing elements of science fiction ("Crown of Creation," "Have You Seen the Saucers?") and protest ("We Can Be Together," "Wooden Ships") in later years.

Grace Slick, following her two classic hit singles, tended toward the avant garde with compositions along the lines of "rejoyce," "Lather" and "Would You Like a Snack?" (something she recorded with members of the Mothers of Invention). The band's longest-serving drummer, the late Spencer Dryden, also took some cues from Frank Zappa, as evidenced by "Chushingura" and "A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly."

Coming from the roots/blues end of the spectrum were the band's primary instrumentalists, Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar and Jack Casady on bass, who first played together in the D.C. area seven years before they reunited in the Airplane in 1965. Jorma particularly had focused on the blues, teaming the year before in a San Francisco-based duo with a raspy-voiced singer named Janis Joplin before she decided to return (temporarily) to her native Texas.

By the late '60s, Jefferson Airplane had become a real melting pot as far as what audiences were likely to hear. The sequence on the band's live album of the period, "Bless Its Pointed Little Head," provides a snapshot: a Marty rocker is followed by one of Grace's hits, leading into Paul's trippy rendition of Donovan's "Fat Angel." And then a fuzz-toned run from Jorma's Epiphone leads into the blues standard "Rock Me, Baby."

And there is as good a place as any to start the odyssey of Hot Tuna, once referred to as a "Jefferson Airplane spinoff" but eventually the primary career choice for Jorma and Jack, who still are at it 35 years after the Airplane ceased to exist. They did split up for a bit, and they've both been involved in numerous other projects, but they still keep coming back to what their fans affectionately call "HFT." (As in "Hot," "Tuna" and a certain abstract adjective in the middle.)

Last week, Hot Tuna played at the classy Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in my old hometown of Harrisburg as part of the second leg of the group's fall tour. For this round, drummer Erik Diaz joins the lineup (with Jorma, Jack and multi-instrumentalist Barry Mitterhoff) for a dose of Electric Hot Tuna.

See, this is a band with a somewhat of a split personality. Its first album, "Hot Tuna" (1970), features Jorma on acoustic guitar; subsequently, he plugged in for some recordings that eventually verged on heavy metal, such as "Hoppkorv" (1976). In recent years, Hot Tuna had been strictly an acoustic act - after all, Jorma and Jack are approaching senior-citizen status. But at the urging of Jorma's wife, Vanessa, he's brought his electric guitars out of the mothballs.

Current shows feature two sets, one acoustic and one electric. In Harrisburg, the setlist for the acoustic portion was familiar to longtime Tuna fans, with the classic first album amply represented and the trio (Jorma, Jack and Barry and mandolin, banjo, guitar - you name it) dipping into the Airplane repertoire for a lengthy rendition of my personal favorite song from that era, the traditional "Good Shepherd."

Band members were in a jovial mood throughout the night, frequently joking about their advancing age. (Jorma at one point told about mentioning a youngster he once played in Jefferson Airplane, and the boy replied, "My grandfather likes that band!") And once, during a bit of discussion between Jorma and Jack about how a song should start, Barry provided a quip along the lines of: "Ladies and gentlemen, these are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!"

The second set was a real treat. (I personally had never seen the Electric Tuna before.) The set drew heavily from "Hoppkorv," which for some reason is one of the few Hot Tuna albums that's currently out of print. Jorma fired away in his instantly recognizable tone, and Jack showed he hasn't lost a step in the type of fluid rock bass playing he pioneered decades ago. Erik provided a steady beat and really put on a show during his solo in an extended "Funky #7."

A surprise was the electric playing of Barry, who plugged in a variety of mandolin-like instruments (such as something he called the "Swamp Cat") to help propel the sound. I'd always respected his skills in an acoustic context, but the hyperamplification displayed a new side to his versatility.

As an encore, Hot Tuna did a hard-rocking version of bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins'
"Come Back Baby," which brought it all back home, in a manner: Jorma recorded one of his first lead vocals for Jefferson Airplane on that song, 39 years ago.

The more things change ... well, you know the rest.

If you don't have plans for tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 17), this sounds like a great way to spend the evening:

Rock the 'Burgh

Hard Rock Cafe, Station Square, Pittsburgh

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door
- Doors open at 8:00 pm
- Concert starts at 8:30
- Featuring Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
- plus special guests including Donnie Iris, B.E. Taylor, Bill Toms & Hard Rain
- Proceeds will benefit the Epilepsy Foundation Western/Central PA

For tickets, contact Pat at amerison1@msn.com

One of the more interesting stories in rock music is the continuum of bands with variations of Jefferson, Airplane and Starship in their names.

It's also one of the most confusing, a point that was amply illustrated a few years ago when I attended a concert by the band billed as Jefferson Starship.

As I sang along with tunes called "She Has Funny Cars" and "Eskimo Blue Day," many of my fellow audience members eyed the stage with blank expressions. Between songs, they shouted, "We Built This City"! And the band members totally ignored their requests.

I tried to explain to one particularly insistent fellow near me that he was seeing a completely different band than the one that registered a string of MOR megahits in the mid- to late '80s. But he was as uncomprehending about my ramblings as he was when the band struck up "Three-Fifths of a Mile in 10 Seconds."

So, with Jefferson Starship scheduled to return to the Pittsburgh area (Feb. 19 at the Palace Theater in Greensburg), I thought I'd present a little history lesson. Let's call it Airship 101:

In the beginning, there was Jefferson Airplane, formed by Paul Kantner and Marty Balin, and joined shortly thereafter by Jorma Kaukonen. The name of the band, which was very unusual for 1965, came from a convoluted joke name for Jorma if he were one of those old delta bluesmen - instead of Blind Lemon Jefferson, he was "Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane." (You'd be surprised at how many band names come from musicians' in-jokes.)

At any rate, Jefferson Airplane was one of the hottest acts going by 1967, when it scored two hits that stand among the upper crust of classic rock: "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit." Ironically, neither was an Airplane original. Both were performed by Grace Slick when she was in a short-lived (but highly innovative) band called the Great Society, and she brought the tunes to the Airplane's repertoire when she switched groups in October 1966.

With several lineup shuffles, most notably Marty's departure in 1970, Jefferson Airplane continued as an active unit through a tour that wrapped up in September 1972. Rather than formally break up, members just kind of went their separate ways. Jorma and bassist Jack Casady already had been playing in their own band, Hot Tuna, for a few years. Paul and Grace recorded some solo albums in various configurations before putting together a touring band that included ex-Airplaners Papa John Creach on violin and David Freiberg (who made his name with Quicksilver Messenger Service) on bass and keyboards.

To name the new group, Paul drew on his 1970 album "Blows Against the Empire," which was credited to "Jefferson Starship." And when Marty joined the Starship crew in late '74, his presence cemented the relationship between the new band and the old.

Jefferson Starship almost immediately eclipsed the Airplane's successes of the previous decade, registering a No. 1 album, "Red Octopus," and No. 3 single, "Miracles," in 1975. Subsequent chart success in the next few years came with the songs "With Your Love," "Count On Me" and "Runaway," all sung by Marty.

But both of the Jefferson projects always had been rather volatile situations, and both Marty and Grace were gone by 1979. Replacing them as featured vocalist was Mickey Thomas, whose voice was heard on a consistent basis a few years earlier when he sang Elvin Bishop's hit "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." Despite a radical change not only to Jefferson Starship's lineup but its sound, the band scored major hits with the album "Freedom at Point Zero" and the single "Jane."

Despite Grace eventually rejoining, Jefferson Starship saw its fortunes decline through the early '80s, with such albums as "Wind of Change" and "Nuclear Furniture" drawing neither critical nor commercial interest. By 1984, Paul decided he'd had enough and departed as the last original Jefferson Airplane member still with the organization. As part of his settlement, he took the "Jefferson" with him, and those who remained christened themselves Starship.

In 1985, Starship did something neither of its predecessors had done: score a No. 1 hit with "We Built This City." The band kept it up for a few years with other songs in a similar vein. But Grace eventually bailed out again, and for whatever reasons, Mickey didn't keep the ball rolling on his own.

Meanwhile, on the Jefferson side ...

Jorma and Jack, after splitting up Hot Tuna in 1977, got back together in the mid-'80s and continued the act, usually as an acoustic duo. They'd often have guest performers, and on several dates in 1987 and '88, it was none other than Paul Kantner - who meanwhile had teamed up with Marty Balin, Jack Casady and guitar player Mark "Slick" Aguilar on a project called the KBC Band. And when Grace left Starship, they got the band back together again for an album simply called "Jefferson Airplane" in 1989.

The reunion lasted for just that one album and a brief tour, and when Starship folded a short while later, fans thought they might have heard the last of the story. But in 1992, Paul unveiled a group called Jefferson Starship - the Next Generation, combining new originals with a good bit of Airplane material that hadn't been heard live since the '60s. ("She Has Funny Cars," "Eskimo Blue Day" and "Three-fifths of a Mile in 10 Seconds" all fall into the latter category.)

Paul later has condensed the name back to Jefferson Starship, and under that designation the band continues to perform. He's had Slick Aguilar on guitar since he started it back up, and at various times it has brought back into the fold people like Marty (who still occasionally performs), Jack, and David, who is a full-time member these days at age 67. Tom Constanten, the Grateful Dead's keyboard player in the late '60s, also is lending his considerable talents and experience to the cause these days.

And one more meanwhile ...

A band called Starship Featuring Mickey Thomas also is active. And if you want to hear "We Built This City," that's where to go.

OK, you've just graduated from Airship 101.

Feed your head.

When it comes to rock music compilations, there's nothing quite like "Nuggets" for staying power.

Lenny Kaye (future member of the Patti Smith Group) came up with the idea in 1972 to feature songs from some of his favorite bands of the garage/psychedelic era, music that had unceremoniously faded into obscurity within merely half a dozen years or so. Through his efforts, groups like the Electric Prunes, the Standells, the Barbarians and the Blues Magoos gained new listeners.

The original pressings of the two-LP "Nuggets" didn't stay in print for too long, and finding a copy was both difficult and expensive just a few years after its release. For those of us who read about the set and were aching to hear it, we had to wait until Rhino Records (still in its fledgling stages) issued an expanded series of "Nuggets" LPs in the early '80s.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to most of the listening audience of that era, plenty of brand-new "Nuggets"-type music was making its way onto the scene, primarily in limited-release fashion. Bands like the Dukes of Stratosphear, the Stems, the Spongetones, the Inmates and the Cynics were drawing their sound, look and stage act from the garage/psychedelic heyday of a couple of decades before.

Plenty of that music resurfaced for a mass audience just this fall in another Rhino compilation, the four-disc "Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996." This release comes on the heels of two other four-disc "Nuggets" sets of '60s materials, both of which are extremely highly recommended, and continues the tradition 33 years after Lenny's groundbreaking set.

Personally, I knew next to nothing about the artists represented on "Children of Nuggets," besides a few of the ones that gained a modicum of popularity: the Smithereens, the Flamin' Groovies (which actually started in the '60s), the Soft Boys and the Chesterfield Kings, for example. And, of course, I knew about the Cynics, the Pittsburgh-area band that made quite a name for itself in the late '80s and early '90s.

In my quest for knowledge about local bands, I ran across Tom Hohn, who drums these days for Boss Diablo but previously did the same job for the Cynics. And his drumwork is featured on the Cynics' representation on "Children of Nuggets," a song called "Baby, What's Wrong," the leadoff track on the band's 1990 album, "Rock 'n' Roll."

The tune features a heavy fuzztone riff by guitarist Gregg Kostelich and anguished vocal by Michael Kastelic (the co-authors) that point to definite '60s influences, but advances in recording technology give the song a sonic depth that their forerunners weren't able to match.

About playing on a track that has made it onto a "Nuggets" compilation, Tom says, "It's an honor. It's almost like you're part of history, to make it onto one of the boxed sets.

As for the Cynics, they went on hiatus in the mid-'90s, then came back for a stand at the garage-rock festival Las Vegas Grind in early 2000, sharing the stage with such legends as the Standells, Barry and the Remains, and the Lyres.

"It ended up being a whole lot of fun," Tom recalls. "I don't remember who said it first, but it was, 'Why don't we keep it happening?'"

The Cynics proceeded to tour various parts of the world - they're huge in Spain - and recorded another album, "Living Is the Best Revenge." Along with new originals, it includes three really cool cover songs: the Electric Prunes' "You Never Had It Better," the 13th Floor Elevators' "She Lives (In a Time of Her Own)," and "Making Deals" by the Satans, a '60s aggregation so obscure that the All Music Guide doesn't even have anything listed about it, but which Tom calls "a true garage band."

Speaking of Tom and bands, Boss Diablo is working up material for a new CD that should be recorded and shopped to labels early next year. In the meantime, you can catch a highly recommended peformance this Friday, Nov. 11, at Michael's in McDonald (no, that's not Michael McDonald). The band also has just added a gig at Pickles in Washington on Wednesday, Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving.

Listen closely, and some "Nuggets" nuggets might turn up in Boss Diablo's set, as well.