Sixties Survivors #6: Signe Anderson
September 14, 2008
This is a rock star? You’ve got to be kidding! She looks like a normal person. Shouldn’t a mid-sixties rocker have big hair like Dusty Springfield? Or long bangs like Cher? Rock stars aren’t supposed to wear pigtails, especially with little ribbons like Petunia Pig. And her teeth aren’t even capped. Girl rock stars are supposed to look glamorous, not like somebody’s sweet cousin from Astoria.
Signe Anderson had a couple of attributes, though, that sort of worked. First, she was a terrific singer. She could raise blisters on her microphone while sending chills down your spine. Second, we hippies loved her. She was real. She was one of us except she could sing like Aretha. Well, maybe not like Aretha – but she could sing really good.
After a year or so with the Jefferson Airplane, Signe got pregnant, but she was married, so it didn’t count as shocking rock star behavior. She sang right through her pregnancy up there on stage at the Fillmore, getting a little bigger each week, still belting it out out with her finger in her ear. She was breaking all the rock star rules, but not in the approved shocking way. We could hardly wait to see what would happen next.
(Side note: The finger in the ear posture was standard for San Francisco rock singers in those days, it was so they could hear themselves. In 1966, onstage monitor speakers still had a ways to go. And, after you got used to it, it actually looked kind of cool.)
What happened was, after Signe had her baby, she decided to move back home to Oregon. Suddenly, she was gone, leaving behind only that one so-so album, The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Then the Jefferson Airplane stole equally talented Grace Slick from The Great Society, and really took off for fame and fortune. But I never could warm up to Grace, not that she cares. I can’t fault her fabulous singing or her appropriate rock star looks and shocking rock star behavior – it’s just that she wasn’t Signe, and Signe was the cat’s meow.
Signe had a rough road in her later life. In the early seventies, she was diagnosed with uterine, cervical, and bladder cancer. She has spent much of her adult life trying to beat them, plus other other physical problems that cropped up along the way, including an eighties bout with breast cancer. The thing is, she’s still out there fighting…and singing.
Her old band mate Marty Balin was up to see her in August and together they played a benefit billed as the Jefferson Airplane Family Reunion. Fans came all the way from San Francisco for the event. If I had known about it, I might have dropped in myself.
Happy 67th Birthday, Signe. You’re a gas.
I pulled out “Takes Off” after reading this post. I used to really dig that old sound and, behold, I still do. Tobacco Road was always a favorite. No matter that it’s sort of primitive and Jorma sounds pretty quirky. Signe and Marty’s harmony together was great. She really did have a pretty commanding voice. It’s good to know she’s still belting it out.
greetings music lovers .. my name is lilith, and i am signe’s oldest daughter. it is a joy and a thrill to read genuinely positive reviews of my mother’s vocal talents, as well as her musical career. i had the privilege of watching her perform last august in oregon, at a benefit concert in her honor, and i must say … she ROCKED! i have never been so proud!!! she is alive & well in portland and music is an integral part of her daily life … peace & love to all.
Yeah? Well, I am equally thrilled to have you show up at The Pondering Pig. You must be the very package she was carrying around up there on the Fillmore’s stage. And Lilith has got to be one of the best names. Trust Signe to pick a good one. You Mom’s singing is one of my favorite memories of the early Haight-Ashbury. At some point I would love to interview her for the blog, if she would be interested.
Great to see her doing great !! I just listened to the first JA CD as i have listen to for many years and still love to hear her voice; Does she keep in contact with the other members of JA ??
Regards
That was a great video (Elijah even liked it), but I thought we were going to get to hear blister-raising spine-chilling Signe so I was a little disappointed.
Me too. Three seconds max – but it was all I could find.
I thought I would be listening to Signe,but it sounded so familiar that I thought I was listening to Grace. Is that because Marty’s voice is so dominant?
Hey Silky. Marty’s voice dominated the track all right. You can tell who was dominant in that incarnation of the band. I don’t believe this was filmed live, by the way. Looks more like the single ‘It’s No Secret’ with footage cut to it later. It’s still pretty good though – captures that moment in time. I wish there was more Signe.
hello! yeah,the film clip is dubbed over obviously a silent film (or a badly recorded?)piece of film.The thing to do is get the dvd “Fly Jefferson Airplane” Eagle Rock Entertainment for the whole song and lots of nice J.A. appearances.For a fabulous look at the Haight circa ‘67 get again on E.R.Ent.”Go Ride The Music” the J.A. segment is pretty naff but go to “West Pole” to see The Ace of Cups/Sons of Champlin/Steve Miller band and more…brilliant stuff!all produced by Ralph Gleason.Also find a B.B.C.T.V. video called “Whickers World” where Alan Whicker in ‘67 visits the Haight,chats to Chet Helms and watches him take acid up in Muir Woods! lots of BRILLIANT footage of commune life/Grateful Dead/street scenes and interviews as life goes on….p.s. dig those interviews outside the Avalon in West Pole!
Thanks for the hitlist – I want to see all of these.
Interesting you mentioned Ace of Cups. This is a band I’ve wanted to write about for a while. They were the first all-female rock band on the West Coast and had very few predecessors anywhere — but they have been shockingly ignored and forgotten by the rock press. I have their lead guitar’s email, and it’s just a matter of doing it. But it would take a lot of research and I just don’t want to take the time awau from my novel right now.
Thanks for writing!
hello again!nice of you to mention the Ace of Clubs in your reply to my e.mail.Big Beat records here in the U.K. put out a wonderful compilation of their unreleased material some years back:CDWIKD 236 Big Beat Records.As you know they never released anything over their life time as a band but here is to be found wondrous stuff such as Afro Blue/Hear Everysound etc also includes many photo’s/posters.Also an old friend of yours was in the group Denise Kaufman!
Mary Ellen Simpson (Ace of Cups lead player) sent me a link to this blog. Thanks for the kind comments about the Ace of Cups. FYI — we’re all still playing and will very likely get together for some events that Alec Palao is putting together in SF later this year. He is co-curating a show on SF music from 1963-73 at the Museum of Performance and Design.
Most recently I’ve been playing bass with Dave Stringer and his great band (CC White, Joni Allen, Patrick Richey and Jeff Andrews) on the kirtan circuit here in LA and around California. Every other member of the Ace of Cups has musical projects going, too.
Music, Music — everything will be all right.
great news there ponderpig….just been thru some of my film archives as something kept bugging me…but lo and behold i found it! a beautiful clip of the Cups playing an outdoor festival ‘67 and sounding GREAT! its to be found in the film “Revolution” released 1967,Centred around a hippie chick Today Malone its more of a documentary with tons of stuff filmed on the streets/inside the Avalon/crash pads/med.centre/the Haight/hippie hill/and lots more….what song are they playing its so tuff and very raw? people look so happy!
Can you put it up on YouTube? I would love to see that, and I’ll bet a lot of other readers would too.
hello again!I’ll see what i can do about you-tube i need to get the soft ware this week to convert from video to computor then i can upload it.I’m sure your enjoy it!
Great, Dave. Sounds like you have a deep archive filled with wonderful things if you care to share them.
Signe Anderson has always intrigued me. Most people today think Grace Slick was the only female lead singer for the Airplane, but I think Signe’s voice had its own charm, especially on the song “It’s No Secret.” Check out the DVD “Fly Jefferson Airplane.” The first song is “It’s No Secret,” and there’s Signe, pigtails and all, belting it out for an exuberant crowd.
Superb!
Always wondered what happened to her. Great to know that she’s still out there and doing her thing!
I can confirm what dave tulloch told you: the Fly Jefferson Airplane DVD has the It’s No Secret clip. For what little you see and hear of Signe, she certainly looks and sounds like the she belonged up there on styage with the Airplane. Thanks for the post.
Thanks, Lad. If I ever get back to focusing on this blog, I’d like to do a more complete profile of her. She was/is a terrific singer – but apparently there is not much of it on record.