Paul Kantner, a founding member of JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, died Thursday of multiple organ failure, his publicist told the San Francisco Chronicle. He was 74.

 

Kantner had suffered a heart attack earlier in the week. He had also suffered a heart attack in March 2015.

 

Kantner, a native of San Francisco, broke into the business in the early 1960s as a folk musician who idolized Pete Seeger. He was the first band member recruited by Marty Balin to form JEFFERSON AIRPLANE in San Francisco in 1965 after Balin saw Kantner perform at the folk club the Drinking Gourd.

 

The band pioneered the psychedelic sound by fusing folk with rock music and mixing in reverb and fuzzy guitar lines. THE AIRPLANE became the first San Francisco rock group of that era to achieve mainstream success.

 

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE's debut show was on Aug. 13, 1965, at San Francisco's the Matrix nightclub, which Balin had converted into a music outlet from a pizza parlor. Their first album 'The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off' was released a year later to little acclaim despite Balin's memorable 'It's No Secret.'

 

In 1966, singer Grace Slick replaced Signe Toly Anderson, who had left the group to start a family. Slick's addition to the band gave the group a defining sound and enhanced their stage presence. Their second record album 'Surrealistic Pillow' -- released in February 1967 -- became a blockbuster success during the "Summer of Love" with the hit songs 'Somebody to Love' and 'White Rabbit.'