by dubkitty » Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:58 pm
i got derailed by other stuff and didn't get to do the rest-of-the-story Tuna post i intended last night. Hot Tuna, starting from the beginning, was Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady's side project from the Jefferson Airplane. they originally started out gigging as an acoustic duo (well, Jorma on a Gibson J-50 and Jack turned way down); this version of Tuna is documented on the eponymous first album (1970) as well as several latter-day archival releases of similar live tapes (the first album was recorded at a small club in Berkeley). if you're interested in this version of Tuna, take care to distinguish between the 1969 recordings and 1990s/2000s live discs, which far less rewarding.
after a brief period of ad hoc electric lineups which included various Airplane-family personnel including Joey Covington, Jorma's brother Peter, and briefly Marty Balin, a steady lineup coalesced with the inimitable Papa John Creach on electric violin and Sammy Piazza on drums. this group cut the live second album First Pull Up Then Pull Down with harmonica player Will Scarlett, who also guested on the first album, and then recorded the delightful ragtime-blues-meets-howling-psychedelia Burgers in the studio. by 1973's The Phosphorescent Rat Papa John was out, and a more aggressive guitar and bass approach was taking over with layers of screaming effected guitar and overdubbed fuzz bass orchestrating the tracks. when Piazza was replaced by the extremely interactive and in-your-face Bob Steeler, the "Metal Years" Tuna that cut the records from America's Choice to the breakup in 1978 was in place. keyboardist Nicky Buck guested on synth on some Hoppkorv tracks, and played on the entire Double Dose album, on which he was credited as a full band member.
the post-reunion records have a certain charm, but they aren't a patch on the original Tuna for energy or overall wonderfulness.
back in the 70s Tuna were one of my favorite bands. i'm really happy to see someone enjoying them nowadays.