Spencer Dryden
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Spencer Charles Dryden (April 7, 1938 – January 11, 2005) was an American musician best known as the drummer for
Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
and
New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...
. He also played with
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
, and the Ashes (later known as
the Peanut Butter Conspiracy The Peanut Butter Conspiracy was an American, Los Angeles-based, psychedelic pop/psychedelic rock, rock group from the 1960s. The band is known for lead singer Barbara Robison and for briefly having Spencer Dryden of Jefferson Airplane as a ban ...
). He was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
in 1996 as a member of Jefferson Airplane.


Life and career


Early life

Spencer Charles Dryden was born in 1938 in New York City to Alice Chapple (1911–2005) and George Dryden Wheeler Jr. (1892–1957). Alice Chapple was a ballet dancer with
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...
's dance company, and a member of the Radio City Ballet Company; Wheeler Dryden was an English-born actor who became an American citizen. He later worked as a director, and was also a half-brother of
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
. When Spencer Dryden was growing up, he carefully concealed his relationship to his world-famous half-uncle, not wanting to be judged on his name. While Dryden was an infant, the family moved to Los Angeles and his father went to work as an assistant director for Chaplin. His parents divorced in 1943. Dryden later fondly recalled playing at his famous uncle's Hollywood studio as a child when visiting his father. In the 1950 s, Dryden became friends with Lloyd Miller, also born in 1938, who lived down the street on Royal Boulevard in Rossmoyne in Glendale. They both liked jazz. Miller said the two boys should start a band and encouraged Dryden to play drums. Since Dryden didn't have a drum set, Miller fashioned an instrument by thumb-tacking an old inner tube over a wooden barrel with no ends. Miller would pump his player piano, play cornet or clarinet and Dryden would bang out beats on the drum. One day Miller walked to Dryden's house and heard him playing on a full drum set. He was playing
Baby Dodds Warren "Baby" Dodds (December 24, 1898 – February 14, 1959) was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He is regarded as one of the best jazz drummers of the pre-big band era, and one of the most important ...
' solos to perfection, even the difficult nerve sticks. Soon they had recruited trumpet player Buzz Leifer, a Glendale High acquaintance of Dryden's, a trombone player, Miller's friend Faith Jackson on piano, and a banjo player. The band, called the Smog City Six, would rehearse in Miller's garage. After his parents complained, they played on neighborhood lawns for short concerts until they had to flee from cops. Soon they were sought-after for their lawn jams. Their final New Orleans-style jazz gig was for the spring festival at Miller's school, Flintridge Prep. After that Dryden 'went modern' and began playing
cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...
in Hollywood and Los Angeles. Miller also added modern jazz to his styles, and the two jammed a few more times at Miller's before losing contact. Both musicians made their mark in different ways. After Chaplin moved to Switzerland in 1952, Dryden's father managed Chaplin's business affairs in the U.S. until his studios were sold in 1954. Dryden's father was also a jazz fan, and took him to Los Angeles jazz clubs during the 1950s. These inspired Dryden's musical ambitions. His father died in 1957, when Dryden was 19 years old.


Jefferson Airplane

In mid-1966 Dryden was recruited to replace
Skip Spence Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, he released his only s ...
as the drummer in
Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...
, a leading San Francisco psychedelic band. Together with bassist
Jack Casady John William "Jack" Casady (born April 13, 1944) is an American bass guitarist, best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Jefferson Airplane became the first successful exponent of the San Francisco Sound. Singles including " S ...
, he helped create an exceptional rhythm section. A feature of live Airplane sets at the time were free-form improvisational jams, with Dryden's licks complementing Casady's fluid style, examples of which can be heard on "Thing" and "Bear Melt" from ''
Bless Its Pointed Little Head ''Bless Its Pointed Little Head'' is a live album by Jefferson Airplane recorded at both the Fillmore East and West in the fall of 1968 and released in 1969 as RCA Victor LSP-4133. Five songs on the album had not appeared on any of the band's pr ...
''. During this period, he had an affair with
Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...
. The song " Lather", appearing on the Airplane's ''
Crown of Creation ''Crown of Creation'' is the fourth studio album by the San Francisco psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, and was released by RCA Victor in August 1968. Containing more rock music than previous efforts, the album saw the band continuing the ...
'', is said to have been written by Grace Slick on the occasion of Dryden's thirtieth birthday. Its lyrics tell of a boy who stays as young as possible until one day when he is shattered by having finally to grow up. Founding editor of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' and music critic, Ralph J. Gleason, published ''The Jefferson Airplane and the San Francisco Sound'' in 1969. The book included an engaging forty-four-page interview with Dryden. Dryden quit Jefferson Airplane in February 1970. This followed the group's violent experiences at the notorious Altamont Festival, where lead singer
Marty Balin Martyn Jerel Buchwald (January 30, 1942 – September 27, 2018), known as Marty Balin (), was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as the founder/leader and one of the lead singers and songwriters of Jefferson Airplane and ...
was knocked unconscious by
Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
bikers, and a festival patron, Meredith Hunter, was fatally stabbed. Dryden seemed to have some sense of foreboding about the concert, as he initially did not want to play there, saying the "vibes" were wrong.


New Riders of the Purple Sage, Dinosaurs

Dryden left the music business for a short period, but returned to drumming as a member of the
New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred ...
. He performed and recorded with them from late 1970 until 1977, at which point he became the manager of the band. After leaving the New Riders, Dryden went on to play a lengthy stint with
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
and
Barry Melton Barry "The Fish" Melton (born June 14, 1947) is the co-founder and original lead guitarist of Country Joe and the Fish and Dinosaurs. He appears on all the Country Joe and the Fish recordings and he also wrote some of the songs that the band re ...
's band before retiring from drumming in 1995.


Later life

Dryden did not participate in Jefferson Airplane's 1989 reunion. In 1996, Dryden was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
along with the rest of Jefferson Airplane. He played with the band in a special event for the first time since 1970. In 2003 Dryden joined the group onstage for the last time, in the Jefferson Starship Galactic Reunion. He lived in relative obscurity, reportedly in a small house on rented property with a few acres in
Penngrove, California Penngrove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, United States, situated between the cities of Petaluma and Cotati, at the foot of the western flank of Sonoma Mountain. It is part of the North Bay subregion of the Sa ...
. He lost his home due to a fire in 2003. A few years before his death, Dryden needed
hip replacement Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...
and heart surgeries. In May 2004, a benefit concert that included performances by
Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...
of the
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...
and
Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a ...
was held, raising
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
36,000 to help pay Dryden's medical expenses. Later, in 2004, he was diagnosed with cancer. The benefit re-kindled Dryden's friendship with Jefferson Airplane band member
Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...
, who remembered him fondly for the way he said "Aww, MAN!" It was not until shortly before Dryden's death that Kaukonen learned that Dryden was the nephew of Charlie Chaplin. Dryden's last public appearance was in 2004 with Jefferson Airplane band members, at a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
party for the release of the group's ''Fly'' documentary. Dryden died from metastasized
colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...
on January 11, 2005. Married three times, he was survived by his three sons, Jeffrey, Jesse, and Jackson Dryden, six grandchildren, and his mother, Alice Chapple Judd. She died the same year Christmas Day, December 25, 2005, at the age of 94. At the news of his death, Grace Slick and other band members wrote tributes to Dryden that appeared on the group's website. Slick's ends with this: "Lather was 30 years old today, they took away all of his toys." – Grace Slick (January 13, 2005).


Legacy and honors

*In 1996 Dryden was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
.


References


External links


Spencer Dryden memorial pageDevenish, Colin. "Jefferson Airplane's Spencer Dryden Dies", ''Rolling Stone'', January 13, 2005
*
Spencer Dryden interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dryden, Spencer 1938 births 2005 deaths American jazz drummers American people of British descent American people of English descent American people of Irish descent American rock drummers Chaplin family Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from colorectal cancer Jefferson Airplane members Jewish American musicians Jewish rock musicians Musicians from New York City People from Penngrove, California New Riders of the Purple Sage members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Jazz musicians from New York (state) American male jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians Jazz musicians from California The Dinosaurs members