Home > Music > Spencer Dryden > Biography
Biography:
Spencer Dryden was the drummer in the classic line-up of Jefferson Airplane, from the spring of 1966 until the winter of 1969-70, and for most of that time was one of the three most well-known drummers on the San Francisco scene (along with the Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart). He also came out of a background completely different from the rest of the band -- where the other members of the Airplane were all relatively new to the world of full-time professional music, Dryden had been

making a decent living and working full-time as a drummer for years before he crossed paths with Marty Balin and company. And unlike the others, San Francisco wasn't where he made his home or planned on making a career, and he was never part of the folk scene like the other members. His way into music

-- and his living for a good 10 years before joining the band -- came from jazz.

Dryden came from a performing family, though not one directly involved in music. He was born in New York City, the son of a British actor (who was a half-brother to Charles Chaplin) and a dancer. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1939, and it was there, in the late 1940's and early 1950's, that Dryden began discovering jazz -- his parents had split up in the mid-1940's, and Dryden's father happened to love jazz; one of the things that they would do on their days together would go to the jazz clubs around the city. He became fascinated with the drumming in the bands that he saw and decided to take up the drums himself. He studied with Jimmy Dorsey veteran Ray Bauduc, whose career went back to the 1920's, and by his mid-teens Dryden had also discovered modern jazz and was starting to sit in with professional and semi-professional bands in and around Los Angeles. While millions of American teens were swept up in the rock 'n' roll boom of the mid-1950's, Dryden was playing with Charles Lloyd and Bobby Hutcherson in the early days of their careers. He didn't really turn toward rock 'n' roll until the early/middle-1960's, when the combined impact of the British invasion and the folk-rock boom that followed began overtaking some of the jazz clubs where he worked. Dryden became a member of a band called the Ashes -- who later evolved into the Peanut Butter Conspiracy -- who were doing well enough until their lead singer became pregnant and quit.

Dryden was approached during this period by the Jefferson Airplane's then-manager, who was looking for a replacement for Skip Spence, the group's original drummer -- Spence, who was really a guitarist and

songwriter, had quit following the recording of their first album. At the time he joined, in the early summer of 1966, the Airplane was, as luck would have it, also in the process of losing its female singer, Signe Anderson, to pregnancy. Her replacement came aboard in September of 1966 in the form of Grace Slick, whose more exciting and charismatic singing, coupled with a pair of songs she brought with her, suddenly jump-started the group's career and carried them into the top 10 on the singles charts twice in 1967. Dryden was along for the ride and rose to the occasion -- from playing clubs in 1966, he went to performing in front of 50,000 people in June of 1967, at the Monterey Pop Festival. His drumming, along with Slick's voice and the new boldness of the other members, helped turn the Surrealistic Pillow album

into one of the best selling and most enduring albums of the late 1960's.

Dryden played an essential role within the group's sound, providing more of a compelling, driving beat for many of the songs on Surrealistic Pillow than the band's first LP had shown, as well as great sensitivity as a percussionist on some of the more subtle songs such as the ballad &"Today". On the band's two subsequent, more experimental records, After Bathing At Baxter's and Crown Of Creation, his playing took on a more diverse, at times surprisingly melodic role. He offered little in formal, traditional

songwriting but did provide one of the more delightful psychedelic moments on After Bathing At Baxter's, in the form of &"A Small Package Of Value Will Be Coming To You Shortly". Still, Dryden wasn't entirely a perfect fit with the group -- perhaps due to his not having been part of the folk scene before entering the group, and 10 years longer than any of them inthe music business, he was never as laid back in his approach to life or work as the others; in fact, for a time (partly due to a physical attraction), his

closest ally there was the other "new" member, Grace Slick. Additionally, though his skills were daunting, he initially lacked some of the straight ahead, raw power -- which became a necessity once the group began playing ever-larger venues -- in his playing that the group wanted. Dryden adjusted, however, and his sound on the live album Bless Its Pointed Little Head is certainly a match for the rest of the band.

Dryden left the group following the release of Volunteers and the wearying year of 1969, in which the Airplane had managed to play both Woodstock and Altamont. By that time, neither the music that the group was making nor the shows they were doing were satisfying to him, and he'd already made up his mind to leave at the point that he was fired by the band, to be replaced by Joey Covington. Dryden's departure merely opened a door through which singer/founder Marty Balin exited during the following

year. Additionally, despite his unhappiness with the group, Dryden did play on Paul Kantner's 1971 solo album Sunfighter. In 1971, Dryden became a member of the New Riders Of The Purple Sage, playing with them for seven years and eventually took over their management representation as well -- during this period, he also played on the Grateful Dead offshoot album Seastones.

Dryden was enough of a fixture on the San Francisco scene that he was asked in to various combos of veteran Bay Area players during the 1980's, including the Dinosaurs, whose members included veterans of such bands as Country Joe && The Fish, Big Brother && The Holding Company and the Quicksilver Messenger Service, and played on one of Barry Melton's albums as well. He was the only member of the classic line-up not to participate in the Jefferson Airplane's 1989 reunion tour and album, though he was present in 1996 for the group's induction into the Rock && Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2003 Dryden's home was destroyed by fire and the following year he was the recipient of a benefit concert to help mounting medical bills. After numerous ailments Spencer Dryden passed away January 11, 2004 at his Petaluma, CA home. Bruce Eder

, All Music Guide

Member Of:
New Riders of the Purple Sage
Jefferson Airplane
More >>