Been So Long

by Jorma Kaukonen

"A modern parable." ―from the foreword by Grace Slick

“Jorma Kaukonen is a force in American music, equally adept at fingerpicked acoustic folk and blues as he is at wailing on an electric.” – Acoustic Guitar

“Jorma Kaukonen lit a fuse and transformed his electric guitar into a firework.” – Live For Live Music

From the man who made a name for himself as a founding member and lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane comes a memoir that offers a rare glimpse into the heart and soul of a musical genius―and a vivid journey through the psychedelic era in America.

“Music is the reward for being alive,” writes Jorma Kaukonen in this candid and emotional account of his life and work. “It stirs memory in a singular way that is unmatched.” In a career that has already spanned a half century―one that has earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors―Jorma is best known for his legendary bands Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. But before he won worldwide recognition he was just a young man with a passion and a dream.

Been So Long is the story of how Jorma found his place in the world of music and beyond. The grandson of Finnish and Russian-Jewish immigrants whose formative years were spent abroad with his American-born diplomat father, Jorma channeled his life experiences―from his coming-of-age in Pakistan and the Philippines to his early gigs with Jack Casady in D.C. to his jam sessions in San Francisco with Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and other contemporaries―into his art in unique and revelatory ways. Been So Long charts not only Jorma’s association with the bands that made him famous but goes into never-before-told details about his addiction and recovery, his troubled first marriage and still-thriving second, and more. Interspersed with diary entries, personal correspondence, and song lyrics, this memoir is as unforgettable and inspiring as Jorma’s music itself.

Genres: Music, Memoir, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography Memoir, Rock N Roll

368 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2020

Reviews

[Randee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy....I don't want to write this review. I wish I hadn't read the book. If I were Jorma Kaukonen, I wouldn't have written this book. I tend to think he probably shouldn't have even written a book. He's one of my guitar heroes and I will always think of him
as an inventive, interesting artist. As a person, I can't say I like him much which surprised and distressed me. He's what I call a floater. He floats in and out of situations like a ghost...there, but not really. By his own admission, he walked out of Jefferson Airplane without even telling them he was quitting. He left Hot Tuna (he did return much later) without even informing Jack Cassidy. He walked out on his first wife, after 20 years of marriage without saying he was leaving. He left his mistress who had his son without explanation. He insinuates that he had an affair with Grace Slick without really admitting it. (His second wife looks an awful lot like Grace.) I just don't like these kind of people who leave everyone high and dry and left in pain and bewilderment without being able to opine their opinions, feelings, reasons. I feel so badly that I didn't like him. I didn't like the book either....he couldn't commit to giving any interesting information about the Airplane for which is his claim to fame. I really wanted to like him as a person as much as I like him as a guitarist, but I can't.

[Dubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a handful and a half of indelible music memories from the 1960s, starting with The Beatles on Ed Sullivan (trite but true) and ending with all the hippies walking down the road past my bungalow colony to Woodstock, which took place a few miles away. Somewhere in there, I remember sitting at home with my transistor radio up to my ear, listening to 77 WABC (ding!), and hearing, for the first time, Somebody to Love. Grace Slick's voice certainly commands your attention from the start, but what captured the imagination of this 11-year-old in his first year of guitar lessons was the incendiary solo that, in an era of fade-outs, brings the song to a stunningly definitive conclusion.

Cut to a half century later. After decades of being inspired by that guitar player, I was studying with Jorma Kaukonen at his Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp, learning from the master himself (consider this my disclaimer that this review is being written by one of his students). During a break in the action, Jorma told us that he made a mistake during that solo, and then had to re-create that mistake forevermore during live performances (he told us Eric Clapton told him of his own mistake in Cream's recording of Crossroads).

Over the five years that I've been going to FPR as a repeat offender (as they call us), I've heard many of Jorma's tales, some of which can be found in Been So Long, his candid memoir, some of which (like the STL solo mistake) do not. But that's not what Been So Long is about. It's not Jorma's compendium of rock star anecdotes. It is a true autobiography in which the author examines his own life for answers (and questions) about how he became who he is, how he got where he is, why he is the person that he grew to be, why he is the artist that he grew to be.

I don't know how he did it. Put it all out there, I mean. As a fan for half a century, as a guitarist who has been inspired by him for nearly that long, as a student for the past few years who, thanks to Jorma's personal style, has gotten to know him a bit, I was floored by the depth of his self-examination and revelation. But not surprised -- Jorma is a true authentic when it comes to his music, putting everything of himself into his guitar and songwriting (which is evident when he describes within these pages how he came to write many of his songs). So why would he approach his memoirs any differently? His shows are never a mailed-in set of greatest hits, so why would his book be a throwaway collection of war stories, name-dropping, and the like? It is (most emphatically) not.

His early life turns out to be far more colorful that one would have imagined, a significant part of his youth spent in Pakistan, The Philippines, and Sweden (his father's international postings) and numerous ports of call in between. Imagine a 20-year-old future R'n'R Hall of Famer on an anthropological expedition to the remote islands off the eastern coast of Borneo picking Hesitation Blues for the locals (which I can, having played one of Jorma's songs for our Indonesian hosts on an island in Sumatra).

But what Jorma is more interested in exploring in recalling his childhood is the family dysfunction that presaged his way of dealing (or not dealing) with his emotionally fraught first marriage, his walking away without explanation first from the Airplane and later from Hot Tuna, and most importantly his addiction issues -- all of which he ultimately overcame, after many years and many ups and downs, with his vibrant second marriage, the enduring power of Hot Tuna, and getting sober.

The next act, his young adulthood, has been well documented -- we do learn more than we knew about how he learned fingerstyle guitar from Ian Buchanan at Antioch College and that he spent time in New York City during the folk scare, but we already well knew that he landed in the Bay Area in the early 60s, becoming part of a legendary community of musicians.

Recordings have surfaced of Jorma backing Janis Joplin at that time, and of his solo performances that anticipate his acoustic guitar mastery in his post-Airplane incarnations as co-founder of Hot Tuna and as a solo artist. In this part of the book, Jorma does focus on the music and career of the Airplane, including his own growth as an electric guitarist, and the momentous events they took part in, like Monterrey Pop, Woodstock, and Altamont.

But he also delves into his personal journey, particularly his first marriage, which lasted twenty years but was a disaster from the start. Music was more than a career and an art form for him -- it was his refuge and release. All of this was magnified over his next two decades, through his most intense creative period with Hot Tuna, his split from Tuna, and the turbulent years that ensued.

I learned how to play fingerstyle because of Hot Tuna, watching Jorma live and listening to his recordings. Then I lost it for about fifteen years. The main reasons for that were raising children and growing a business. When I did pick up the guitar, I found myself (this is the terminology I used at the time) without inspiration. Now I learn that my primary source of musical inspiration was also quite lost during that time, writing little new material, meandering in his live act(s), and fully down the rabbit hole of addiction.

Jorma came out of it, as he recounts. It was never easy -- this was not a neatly wrapped Hollywood ending -- but he found love with Vanessa, he found sobriety, he found a renaissance in his music, going back to his roots in Blue Country Heart (which re-inspired my own playing), he found himself as a parent, he discovered himself as a teacher and mentor at the Ranch. The final act in his life so far is positive for all of those reasons. Coinciding with the time in which I have come to know him, that left me more comfortable in the end, as a reader, than I felt during the earlier sections of the book.

I have read many music and entertainment biographies and autobiographies. This is the first time I've read about someone I know. The difficult passages were difficult to read, doubly so due to knowing the man. But even setting that aside, I have never read a biography as frank, heartfelt, and openly spiritual in the depth and breadth of its self-exploration as Jorma's.

Thanks for NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I literally couldn't wait for the official publication date, even though I'd already ordered my signed hard copy. As an avid listener of audiobooks, I will come back to this book and re-read it in that format -- I could already hear Jorma's voice in reading the print edition, and am thrilled that he is narrating the audio edition.

PS For all you gearheads, both musical and automotive, Jorma provides all the details of all his guitars, amps, cars, motorcycles, etc. A recurring theme in this book, as in his songwriting, brings these two things together, since music has led Jorma to life on the road, where he always seems most at ease.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book all I could think about was how much I really didn't like the man, Jorma and how many cliches were in his writing. I love his music. I love his songs (maybe not the lyric so much, but I love to hear him sing and play). But as I got deeper in the book, and realized what a personal story he was telling, and how he genuinely seemed to be laying out all his flaws with a hope that he could grow as a human I figured I'd offer him some forgiveness. Maybe he still wants to grow as a musician and maybe he hopes to make some money too, but it feels like more of a spilling out of his mistakes and wrongs with a hope that the river of time he has left on this earth will be more peaceful and filled with more kindness and true love. And boy his music is great!

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna Jorma Kaukonen might be dismissed as a typical 1960's musician, who went through many of the excesses of the 60's and 70's but decisions to get clean and sober and face up to adult responsibilities in the 1990's have allowed him an exceptionally long career as a singer, songwriter and fingerstyle guitar player, teacher and venue owner. Even before his time in The Airplane, he lived a varied life on several continents. "Been So Long" is a complex and interesting memoir of a long and diverse life which mixes present day writing with journal entries from earlier times and song lyrics to present a portrait of a complicated but ultimately fulfilled life. - BH

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tiny bit long and uneven, but a lot of heart and soul from the guitarist in one of my favorite bands (Jefferson Airplane) when I was a teenager. I was never a big Hot Tuna fan, but of course that was Jorma’s band far longer than he was in JA. Lots of SF 60s atmosphere!

[Dubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a handful and a half of indelible music memories from the 1960s, starting with The Beatles on Ed Sullivan (trite but true) and ending with all the hippies walking down the road past my bungalow colony to Woodstock, which took place a few miles away. Somewhere in there, I remember sitting at home with my transistor radio up to my ear, listening to 77 WABC (ding!), and hearing, for the first time, Somebody to Love. Grace Slick's voice certainly commands your attention from the start, but what captured the imagination of this 11-year-old in his first year of guitar lessons was the incendiary solo that, in an era of fade-outs, brings the song to a startlingly definitive conclusion.

Cut to a half century later. After decades of being inspired by that guitar player, I was studying with Jorma Kaukonen at his Fur Peace Ranch guitar ranch, learning from the master himself (consider this my disclaimer that this review is being written by one of his students). During a break in the action, Jorma told us that he made a mistake during that solo, and then had to re-create that mistake forevermore (he told us Eric Clapton told him of his won mistake in Cream's recording of Crossroads).

Over the five years I've been going to FPR as a "repeat offender" (as they call us), I've heard many of Jorma's tales, some of which can be found in Been So Long, his candid autobiography, some of which (like the STL solo mistake) do not. But that's not what Been So Long is about. It's not Jorma's compendium of war stories. It is a true autobiography in which the author examines his own life for answers (and questions) about how he became who he is, how he got where he is, why he is the person that he grew to be, why he is the artist that he grew to be.

I don't know how he did it. Put it all out there, I mean. As a fan for half a century, as a guitarist who has been inspired by him for nearly that long, as a student for the past few years who, thanks to Jorma's personal style, has gotten to know him a bit, I was floored by the depth of his self-examination and revelation. But not surprised -- Jorma is a true authentic when it comes to his music, putting everything of himself into his guitar and songwriting, so why would he approach his memoirs any differently? His shows are never a mailed-in set of greatest hits, so why would his book be a throwaway collection of anecdotes, name-dropping, and the like? It is (most emphatically) not.

His early life turns out to be far more colorful that one would have imagined, a significant part of his youth spent in Pakistan, The Philippines, Sweden, and his father's other international postings. But what Jorma is more interested in exploring in recalling his childhood is the family dysfunction that later morphed in part into his emotionally fraught first marriage, his walking away without explanation first from the Airplane and later from Hot Tuna, and most importantly his addiction issues -- all of which he ultimately overcame, with his vibrant second marriage, the enduring power of Hot Tuna, and getting sober.

The next act, his young adulthood, has been well documented -- we do learn more about he came to play fingerstyle while at Antioch College in Ohio and that he spent some time in New York City during the folk scare, but we already know that landed in the Bay Area in the early 60s, becoming part of a legendary community of musicians. Recordings have recently surfaced of Jorma backing Janis Joplin in 1965, and of his solo performances that anticipate his acoustic guitar mastery in his post-Airplane incarnations as co-founder of Hot Tuna and as solo artist. In this part of the book, Jorma does focus on the music and career of the Airplane, including his own growth as an electric guitarist, and the momentous events they took part in, like Monterrey Pop, Woodstock, and Altamont.

But he also delves into his personal journey, particularly his first marriage, which lasted twenty years but was a disaster right from the start. Music was more than a career and an art form for him -- it was his refuge and release. All of this was magnified over his next two decades, through his most intense creative period with Hot Tuna, his split from Tuna, and the turbulent years that ensued.

I learned how to play fingerstyle because of Hot Tuna, watching Jorma live and listening to his recordings. Then I lost it for about fifteen years. The main reasons for that were raising children and growing a business. Whenever I did try to pick up the guitar, I found myself (this is the terminology I used at the time) without inspiration. Now I learn that my primary source of inspiration was also quite lost during that period of time, writing very little new material, meandering in his live act, and fully down the rabbit hole of addiction.

Jorma came out of it, as he recounts. It was never easy -- this was not a neatly wrapped Hollywood ending -- but he found love with Vanessa, he found sobriety, he found a renaissance in his music, going back to his roots in Blue Country Heart (which re-inspired my own guitar playing), he found himself as a parent, he discovered himself as a teacher and mentor at the Ranch. The final act in his life so far is positive for all of those reasons. Coinciding with the time in which I have come to know him, that left me more comfortable in the end, as a reader, than I felt during the earlier sections of the book.

I have read many music and entertainment biographies and autobiographies. This is the first time I've read about someone I know. The difficult passages were difficult to read, doubly so due to knowing the man. But even setting that aside, I have never read a biography as frank and openly spiritual in the depth and breadth of its self-exploration as Jorma's.

Thanks for NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I literally couldn't wait for the official publication date, even though I've already ordered my signed hard copy. As an avid listener of audiobooks, I will come back to this book and re-read it in that format -- I could already hear Jorma's voice in reading the print edition, and am thrilled that he is narrating the audio edition.

PS For all you gearheads, both musical and automotive, Jorma provides all the details of all his guitars, amps, cars, motorcycles, etc. A recurring theme in this book brings these two things together, since music has led Jorma to life on the road, where he always seems most at ease.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this may not rate as one of the greatest memoirs of it's time Jorma took Socrates dictum "An unexamined life is not worth living" to heart with this effort. He offers compelling insights into the genesis of Jefferson Airplane along with his contributions and performers that have made up Hot Tuna over the years w/o divulging how the bands' name originated. I understood he wanted to call it "Hot Shit"(which it is) but when that didn't fly with his label it was changed to Hot Tuna but that's just my version.

The book spares no punches and he faces his life covering the globe as a kid of a diplomatic corps member with humor and grit - distant parents, bi-polar first wife, drug addiction etc. are all here and faced admirably head-on. While his tone defined by his later-life religious conversion gets a little much I reminded myself to be delighted with his ability to continue to produce music over the years and to be pleased to know more about what influenced his frequently melancholy lyrics.

The guy is a master of the finger picking style and has bridged acoustic and electronic music equally well. His work on "Embryonic Journey", "The Water Song" and "Watch The North Wind Rise" remain among my favorites.

[Dylan Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a fur piece anywhere you go alright

[Ted Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Image result for been so long jorma
BEEN SO LONG:
My Life and Music
By Jorma Kaukonen
There's an old joke that goes "If you can remember the Sixties, you weren't there." Those 60 and over go ha-ha, ho-ho, I get it, too many flashbacks, too many bong hits, far too many uppers to balance all those downers, and, too many long drum solos. The conceit was that there was too much experience crammed into too-few years; many of us who thrived and jived on the wide, permissive mores of the Sixties ought to still be overwhelmed, asking ourselves what happened. Who among us might recollect that glorious experiment in living? Jorma Kaukonen, founding member of and lead guitarist for the definitive 60s/San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane, remembers and brings his recollections together in a new memoir Been So Long: My Life and Music. It's worth noting up front that the musician, a stalwart figure who preferred to remain in the background, quiet though attentive while fellow JA members Grace Slick and Paul Kanter did the many media interviews admits early on that the book is composed of his recollections of how he remembers events transpired, but that some of what he's recounting might be vague or incomplete in the telling. He offers a disclaimer in the introduction mentioning his imperfect recollection: "...this is my story as I remember it as seen through the prism of my mind's eye. I can do no better than that."

However reticent Kaukonen was to speak with the press at the peak of his fame with the Airplane (and later with Hot Tuna, his long-term folk and electric blues project with JA bassist Jack Casady), the author’s memory seems to serve him well in these pages. A second generation American of Finnish descent born in Washington DC in 1940, young Kaukonen had already seen much of the world, particularly Philippines and Pakistan courtesy of his father’s diplomatic corps assignments. His early years seemed a case of accidental wanderlust, his family from moving city to city, country to country, with Kaukonen, easily making friends in each new home though, it seems, shared interests in music, cars (“gearheads” as they called themselves) and, to be sure, girls. While in Washington he acquired a guitar and began learning traditional folk songs, learned the advantages of keeping his guitar tuned, and made a lifelong friendship with future JA bassist Jack Casady. What Kaukonen realized was that playing music was pretty much what he wanted to do, and muses that music seemed the elixir that made brought a dimension to his life than just merely existing and putting with boring jobs and mean people. Laconically and tersely, he concludes “Music seemed to me to be the reward for being alive.”

The first half of the book is full of reminisces about his family, his two sets of grandparents from Europe in the quest for the opportunities migrations to America promised, and he speaks fondly, lovingly of his parents, aunts and uncles and shares what he recalls of their expectations of a new life in the promised land. Most tellingly, though, was Kaukonen’s seemingly slow but eventual emersion into music. We see in negotiation with his father for a guitar, his playing DC clubs with Casady, with fake IDs, when Casady was playing lead guitar and Kaukonen played rhythm. And we see his growing interest in folk music styles that would become the defining essence of what would become his electric guitar style with Jefferson Airplane. Developing into a fine finger picker and with an affinity for the simple and elegantly articulated patterns of folk-blues, Kaukonen incorporated these techniques into his eventual electric work for the Airplane, giving them a rattling guitar sound unique in an era where every other guitarist fashioned Clapton impersonations. Kaukonen’s style slid and slithered, his leads full of peculiar tunings, odd emphasis on blues bends, and a jarring vibrato that made teeth chatter and nerve endings fire up. It was a style that informed the Airplane’s best songs— “Lather”, “White Rabbit”, “Greasy Heart”—and which was a sound that was an essential part of the complex and wonderful weave that characterized this band’s best albums, from Jefferson Airplane Takes Off through Volunteers.

At a point, Jefferson Airplane was among the top bands of the era, one of the top bands in the world, originating in the countercultural environs of San Francisco and adventuring beyond those city blocks to perform historical rock gigs such as the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock. It was something of a charmed life, Kaukonen was earning a good amount of money. He was, he admits, willing to start spending it, buying homes, new cars, new equipment. The band was at the top of their game, and on a Dick Cavett, Show following the last night of the Woodstock Art and Music Festival, a myriad of performers—David Crosby, Joni Mitchell, the Airplane, Steve Stills among them—sat around a rather casual set for the program and bantered breathlessly about the monumental experience they’d all just been through. In the afterglow, at that moment, it seemed as though Ralph Gleason’s mid-Sixties prediction in Rolling Stone that the Sixties Youth, spearheaded by the music, musicians, troubadours, and poets of the time, would change America profoundly, enact a revolution without bloodshed or bombs. The music would set you free. Believe me, I was there, watching the Cavett show at least in my parent’s basement TV, as well as reading the newspaper and 6pm news reports on the massive concert. For a few minutes, just a few, it all seemed possible, especially when watching the beautiful and brilliant Grace Slick and the Teutonically authoritative Paul Kanter lay it out what many took to be a forecast of the American future. Kaukonen was on the set as well, in the background, sitting with his guitar. He was happy to let Slick and Kanter do the talking; as reiterates through the narrative that he was happy to play his guitar and let others be the prophets.


There is much ground Kaukonen tries to cover in Been So Long, but there is a lack of urgency on the author’s part to offer detail, specifics, characteristics or insights connected to the material progression of his story. He is an able writer that conveys a personality that’s sufficiently humble after the long, strange trip he’s been on. He has gratitude for the gift that has been bestowed upon him and humble in the face of the hard times and deviltries he’s survived. But there is a kind of cracker-barrel philosophy in tone, a succession of incidents, occasions, fetes, celebrations and disappointments in his life, told in sketchy detail summarized with a cornball summation, a reworked cliché, a platitude passing as hindsight. He mentions family, wives, children, famous musicians in a continual flow of circumstances, but does not actually say much beyond the convenient sentiment when you expect him to give a hard-won perspective of his adventures before and after the Rock and Roll Life. Despite having a life’s story that might otherwise seem impossible to tell in a dull manner, Kaukonen is intent on doing just that.

He does not tell tales out of school, he doesn’t reveal the quirks of his friends. what he might consider the essence of their genius; structurally the book reads as if it were compiled from notecards and handwritten journals, arranged in order (more or less), assembled for a rapid walk- through rather a revelation of what drew an artistic temperament to this kind of life at all. Kaukonen’s reticence to write more deeply prevents a fascinating and unique tale on the face of it from being more compelling. It is a small mystery, an annoying one, a recurring bump in the road that stops the reader; what is Kaukonen not telling us?

Perhaps an as-told-to memoir like Keith Richard’s memoir Life would have eased more nuance and insight and crucial detail from the hesitant Kaukonen. Richards, speaking at length and on-the-record with collaborator James Fox, the Rolling Stones guitarist speaks frankly and at length about the highlights and low spots of his life in music; free to speak as he pleased to Fox’s probing questions and not having to worry about censoring himself while at the typewriter or with pen-in-hand, Life is a witty, harrowing, bristling account of one remarkable musician’s life. On the surface, Kaukonen’s tale is as full and intriguing as a rock and roll biography requires— worldly as a young man, ROTC, a lover of music and cars, a founding member of one of the most significant bands of the Sixties in the midst of a major cultural revolution, drugs, money, fame, glory, flaming out, regrouping—the outline is here, yet Kaukonen does little to flesh it out or reveal the sex, sizzle, and drama under the facts and their note-card descriptions. Richard’s work with a collaborator allowed his mouth to run as long as it needed to tell the best story he had, his own, the final payoff is an engrossing read blessed with Richard’s hard-won and refreshingly offhand wisdom. The Jefferson Airplane guitarist is not so garrulous, is reflectively taciturn and terse, in fact. One needs to respect his right to tell his story as he sees appropriate; the shame is that what is likely a great story doesn’t so much get told as mentioned in passing.

Been So Long remains a fascinating read and is an interesting addition of first-hand accounts of the psychedelic revolution in the 60s from a key player. The irony here is that Kaukonen does indeed remember the decade—he just doesn’t see the need to get into the weeds, dig in the dirt and relate something fuller, an account of a life fully lived.
)

[Chris Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jorma Kaukonen - the lead guitarist of the Jefferson Airplane. This is a good biography detailing his family history, Finnish immigrants, his father working for the Government Diplomatic Corp. after WW 2. Stationed in the Philippines in his teenage years and DC. His musical beginnings, college in Ohio, and going to San Francisco with his guitar, the blues and folk rock coffeehouse scene meeting Paul Kantner forming the band with Marty Balin vocals (love songs) who set up (the Matrix theater club) & Grace Slick (vocals), (Bill Grahams Fillmore) where "The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off" and especially friend Jack Cassady the bass player. The biography details navigating through the bands success in the 1960's. The personality's ego's conflicts through alcohol drugs and constant touring. When Grace and Paul have their baby China and take a break. Jorma, Jack and Joey Covington (drums) form Hot Tuna as the Airplane become an on again off again band (like they broke up but no one was going to say it) and they evolved into another band altogether "Starship" with new band members. Jorma continues with Hot Tuna then focus' on his solo career albums and teaching finger picking guitar. He married settles down in Ohio and starts a music school and farm Fur Peace Ranch near Antioch..

[Laela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Been So Long felt a little like sitting across from someone at a diner who insists on telling you their life story—not because you asked, but because they’re convinced you’ll find every detail fascinating. And sometimes you do. Jorma Kaukonen has lived a life stitched together with guitars and mistakes and reinventions. The problem is that, somewhere between the chords and the chaos, he forgets to make himself someone you want to follow.

John Green once said that books allow you to "imagine others complexly." I really tried. I wanted to see Jorma as a tangle of contradictions, a flawed musician stumbling his way toward clarity. Instead, he often comes off less as complex and more as simply… unlikeable. There’s an emotional distance in his storytelling, an almost casual shrug at the wreckage left behind, that makes it hard to root for him or even fully empathize.

But the part of the book that truly held my attention was Margareta. Her story felt more gripping and emotionally alive than anything Jorma wrote about himself. And because the memoir keeps circling her declining health, I found myself in this strange, anxious rhythm, always waiting for the moment she would die. It was the only thread that carried genuine emotional weight, and it made me wish the book was her story and not his.

In the end, it’s a memoir with incredible raw material but a narrator who never truly lets you in—or fully owns the story he’s telling.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit of a disappointment. Being on the tail end of the baby boom, by the time I wanted to be a hippie, it was too late for that. So I figured reading this would be a nice consolation prize: I could hear all about it from someone who was right there at the legendary center of it all. If anything, it makes me realize that I might have missed the moment even if I had been there. The book comes across as a running account of how absent he was from his own life, which he attributes to drug and alcohol abuse. So it may serve as a warning to those who tell themselves, "I can handle [fill in the substance], I'll be fine," as so many did, back in those days. By the time he finally gets cleaned up, I'd already lost interest, but I am glad that he appears to have a better life now (thanks to 12 steps).

If you want to read the details about the guitars and equipment he used, or the cars and bikes he drove, then this is the book for you. Likewise if you want to know all about how some of his songs came about. Therefore, some readers might find this a treasure trove, and more power to them.

[Prooost Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another musician (and a very fine one) of my generation takes stock of his life. Jorma Kaukonen finds much to be happy about, much to regret, and much occasion for guilt.

It's a familiar story in the music world, I think. The single-minded pursuit of music takes place in a milieu that keeps a person from growing up as we working stiffs think he ought to (although we enjoy the perpetual adolescence vicariously).

Jorma Kaukonen was a "diplomatic brat," his father having had a career in foreign service, and so he spent an awful lot of his youth traveling to and from the U.S., and moving to the next assignment, in his case the Philippines and Sweden, for the most part.

Young Jorma had two passions: performing music and driving. Luckily the two go together in the life of a touring musician, a life he still pursues happily. This is a musician's biography written for the music geek. Kaukonen may have only a fuzzy idea of what his young life was about, but when it comes to music gear (or motorcycle and automotive gear, for that matter), his memory is perfect.

Jorma is an excellent guitarist, both acoustic and electric, with a so-so (but not unpleasing) singing voice. His prose is not wonderful, but it gets the job done, and of course he has stories to tell: of music adventures with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, and of a twenty-year marriage that was very unhappy.

He is grateful for his new life. Like many rockers, once he grew up, he was able to find a second life and a wife and children. Besides touring and recording, he teaches guitar at his Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio.

[Bruce Sabian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift before I had even been aware that Jorma Kaukonen, one of my true musical heroes, had written a memoir. I eagerly anticipated reading it and I found it a satisfying read. There were parts that I thought warranted a little more space, depth, and thoughtfulness - particularly the section (s) about Jefferson Airplane. But the book is full of great stories and I'll probably wind up reading it again at some point. I had an inkling of some of Jorma's life struggles and it's heartening to read about how things have come together for him. I read most of the book while I was on my winter break and it's a great choice for a time like that. Now I can't wait for Hot Tuna to come around again!

[Wes F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I became interested in Jorma Kaukonen in his post Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna years--though I always liked Hot Tuna's tunes. Jorma Kaukonen just didn't register with me. I think my becoming more familiar with him was from some of his great Americana/blues solo work. That in turn got me more interested in his Hot Tuna years. I saw Jorma & Jack Cassady as the more recent incarnation of Hot Tuna at the House of Blues in Boston back in 2015/16 or so--along with Steve Earle. Loved when they played together at the end of the show. Also loved that G. E. Smith was playing in Hot Tuna then. Didn't realize Jorma had a Finnish background and spent many years growing up overseas, as his father worked for the State Dept.--including some years in Karachi, Pakistan! I'm giving his bio 3-1/2 stars in my Reading Log. Not bad, but not great--and I would have liked more transparency overall. Jorma doesn't hide that he had struggles, but he seemed to deal with them so casually.

[Mark Plott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Kaukonen credits his editor in the Been So Long's acknowledgements, we still get a good dose of lazy prose. I lost count of how many paragraphs ended with "that was that", "so it goes", or some other literary shoulder shrug.

Like a few other reviewers, I felt Kaukonen could have gotten more into the weeds with the Jefferson Airplane years. There were also outright omissions; for example, Tom Hobson sang lead vocals on two Quah tracks, and played second guitar on others, but is not even mentioned in the chapter about that particular album.

Kaukonen doesn't avoid his shortcomings as a son/grandson/brother/husband/bandmate/etc. He's self-absorbed and largely humorless. I've loved his music, especially solo and Hot Tuna. It's not always fun to pull back the curtain.

2.5/5

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strangely heartwarming and heartbreaking book in a charming way. His childhood was magical and so interesting. That part was a real page turner. The second part of his life was the usual rock and roll musician drugs and groupies story that I’m so over. The third part, his life with Vanessa, is a fascinating journey to read. It’s like he rediscovered the curious child that was in him all along.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have always loved his lyrics and melodies and playing. I knew nothing about his personal life before this.

Readable but doesn't address everything I would like (nothing about "Water Song" that I recall). For me, Burgers is one of the greatest albums ever but he doesn't go into it as I wish he would.

[Tom Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a great read. For some reason I’ve always been interested in Jorma’s life ,being a fan of SF rock scene and I’m glad he wrote a book. I have heard him play at various clubs years before I really knew anything about him or his music this in the early 80s. I also met his girlfriend at a dead show in Rochester, NY, so Jorma kept appearing in my life ,learned to love his songs and playing. I never had the chance to talk to him, but plan on heading to the Fur Peace ranch sometime.

Looking forward to finishing the book

Still in the process of reading, but so far it’s insightful.
.............

I finished the book. It was really inspiring for me. I appreciated his sharing his spiritual journey. He lived a full life in a sweet spot of time and space.

[Edward Amato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story about J. Kaukonen's life and the music that was the thread that held it together. Have yet to listen to the CD that came with book but looking forward to playing it.

[Harriett Milnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lead guitarist of the Jefferson Airplane tells his story.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Kaukonen was a founding member of Jefferson Airplane (he came up with the name) and Hot Tuna. He has also had a long and successful solo career spanning 5 decades and entering the 6th. The is a no holds barred memoir dealing with his highs and his lows. He led an interesting childhood with his father working at the State Department, which saw the family living in Europe, Pakistan, and the Philippines at various times, shifting back and forth from the US. He felt this childhood led him to cope with life as a traveling musician. He also used music to escape a family life that had more than its share of fights and arguments between his Mom and Dad. He was given a musical instrument from a young age, and played incessantly. He got caught up in drugs and alcohol early in his life and didn't get sober until late in his life. He goes through his first marriage when he was quite young. And although it was a very dysfunctional relationship, that first marriage lasted 20 years. He blames himself as well as his partner, Margareeta as being too young and not wanting to get the help needed when they were together. The details about how the Airplane came together was quite interesting to me, although I knew some of the details. I didn't know that he and Jack Casady were boyhood friends. Mr Kaukonen then reveals how he met his current wife Vanessa and how she stuck with him despite still being on drugs and alcohol and helped him get sober. He talks about how what became the Fur Peace Ranch came to him by chance and how he just saw the land and decided on the spot this was the place. Overall, this is a well written memoir with fascinating stories and a look at the 60's by one who lived to tell the tale.

[T.P. Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Been listening to Jorma since 1966 and have seen him play many times. Book is a disappointment. I will give it to him that I don't believe he had a ghost writer, but still . . .
To me, he comes across as a self-absorbed narcissist, who even late in life doesn't seem to have learned much. Particularly irritating is the faux remorse he expresses about incidents and relationship in his past.
Constant references to money, being broke, how he spent it, how he needed it. and so on. If he is to be believed, impetus for re-establishing contact with Jack Casady after several years was the prospect of making money from a reunited Hot Tuna. Is it believable that he didn't apologize to Jack in that phone call? After walking out - as he admits - on Hot Tuna years earlier?
As for his revelations about his first wife, Margareta Peterson, shame on him - dredging up incidents of verbal and physical abuse (physical abuse by her, mind you), infidelity, etc. How very convenient that she is deceased and unable to respond to such charges. And yet - married for twenty years! It doesn't add up. Unless, of course, perhaps the author was concerned about paying alimony, especially in a community property state such as California?
Barely mentions Bill Graham, who pushed Jefferson Airplane to stardom (and wealth). Perhaps because Graham had identified the writer's ego as a problem? Claims to have fought with Paul Kantner - in the nineties - but can't remember about what. States he walked away from Airplane, because it wasn't new anymore and disliked the method of recording the music. But Jack walked out with him at the same time. Why did he go? Did the author bully him into quitting also?
Pays lip service to others, but frequently to draw attention to himself - does give credit to Ian Buchanan for teaching him guitar techniques. Surely he knew of Buchanan's troubled later life. Did he never reach out to him, especially given the great debt he owed him, as he admits?
Frequently blames others for his problems, most of which were self-created it seems - his parents, his parents' tumultuous marriage, Margareta, Stephanie, the mother of his son (also dead and therefore able to be talked about with impunity), and on and on.
And please spare me the "Lyrics Appendix" containing the instantly forgettable words of his compositions during his career. Another example of his self-absorption.
Book goes to show you can be a great artist and a jerk at the same time.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a Deadhead. Because of that, I was exposed to much great music. I always liked to expand my musical horizons and it was often via music somewhat associated with the Dead. Neville Brothers, reggae, Allman Brothers, etc. For nearly 40 years I have listened to Hot Tuna and the Jefferson Airplane, but mostly Tuna. It wasn't until 1999 that I actually got to see Jorma. Tuna opened for the Allmans at MPP then I saw them at the Beacon later in the year (Derek Trucks opened). Yes!

Since then I have listened to as much Hot Tuna as any band. Have truly loved all iterations of the band over the last couple decades. Fabulous stuff.

So, it took me by surprise to see that Jorma published his autobiography the other day. Wow! Frankly, it's a bad time for me to pick up a new book as I have four that have to be returned this week and I am behind reading.

But I have a free month of Audible and listening would work well today with the kind of work I am doing. Love that Jorma read this himself.

As he acknowledges, Jorma did not punch down in this. He could have. He has finally matured.

I enjoyed the book and the stories. One surprising thing was that I don't think he talked a lot about Jack too much. Considering they have been laying together for 60 years, I thought Jack would have been far more prominent.

Jorma really owes his professional career to chance. It's amazing how things just fell in line for him.

He acknowledged what I have long thought: Jefferson Airplane reunion wasn't really as great as it was hyped; JA had two hits that were Great Society songs. The rest of their repertoire were not hits.

Love that Jorma included live music at the end. Nice touch.

[Charlie De kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I truly wanted and expected to love this book. Sadly I found it inexplicably dull and often trite. I adore the man, the voice, the playing, the songs. That one of the greatest musicians and songwriters - such an artist! - would choose to write long, unhelpful passages about the stuff (cars, motorcycles, guitars, amps) and steer clear from any depth of introspection about his relationship with any other people (beyond the most superficial level) or the creative process, is just so disappointing. And, it feels intentional.
Perhaps this is all he has offer at this point. I have trouble believing that.
It's a jumble. It's a halfhearted redacted journal with unconnected song lyric filler, as poetic insights, I guess. It needs an editor. It needs any sense that he cares about his audience. It needs heart and soul.
It feels as if it lacks any commitment to be exceptional, it appears that it lacks any conviction to be useful, helpful or good.
I wonder why he wrote it. Were folks troubling him to write his story, and he thought well if it's really tossed off, they'll leave me alone?
It's striking how golden and generous Grace Slick and Jack Cassidy come across in their too brief pieces.
I wish I felt as if Mr. Kaukonen cared just a little about his readers.

[Joe Kraus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Jefferson Airplane, and I have long considered Jorma Kaukonen one of my favorite guitarists. In my imagined history of the band, it was Kaukonen’s and his partner Jack Casady’s departure from the band that led to its descent from one of the greatest of all rock bands into the forgettable Jefferson Starship.

So, I figured this memoir was a no-brainer for me, a favorite musician telling about his experiences in a favorite band.

Sorry, no. This one falls short on a lot of levels.

For starters, Kaukonen barely mentions Jefferson Airplane. I get that, to him, his experiences with Hot Tuna (originally defined as a “side project” to the Airplane) might be more memorable, but I still expected full chapters on key times with the Airplane: how they came together, what it was like recording the breakthrough masterpiece of Surrealistic Pillow, who it was like channeling the anger and generational distrust into Volunteers, how various forces pulled the band apart.

Instead, he rushes through all of that. He’s a gearhead, so we get occasional details about his instruments (there’s a long, technical description of his signature Martin guitar) but even about his motorcycles. I doubt those digressions are actually longer than his Airplane recollections, but – added together – they’re frustratingly close.

Wouldn’t it be obvious that most of us would pick this up to hear about the parts of his life that brought him the most fame? Why deny that? Or, if so, why not reflect on the choice to look elsewhere.

Perhaps even more damningly, he doesn’t seem to have learned much as he reflects on the life he’s narrating. He tells us at one point that he simply walked away from the Airplane – and from Casady/Hot Tuna as well, coming back to that only a decade or so later when Casady turned out to be a loving and forgiving friend.

Even now, decades later, he doesn’t seem able to explain what he was thinking. It was partly drugs, but I want to know more. What would lead a guy who was so serious a musician, who enjoyed that he was reaping in early rock star riches (he would lose out on the much more lucrative Starship cash), to give it all up?

In the same way, we get his occasional observation that he isn’t close to his brother. For a time that seemed a rock-star/civilian divide, but then we come to learn that his brother was an occasional part of the Airplane and Hot Tuna. They were close at times but are apparently at odds now (did it have something to do with Peter having to bear the weight of looking after their aging parents while Jorma made the occasional phone call that he talks of now missing with their parents?).

And then there are the big Did-He-Just-Say-That’s. Early on, he seems to talk of having fathered a child with a young lover, but she took care of that. That doesn’t seem to be a euphemism for abortion; he seems really not to know what happened.)

Later, when a woman comes forward with (another?) child, he keeps the news from his second wife whom he has repeatedly called his soulmate. When he does tell her, she sleeps in their cabin as she sorts out what she wants, then she sees the light and makes him sleep in the cabin. She sounds impressive, and she insists that Kaukonen have a part in the boy’s life.

I understand that not all musicians are artists with language – I’m underwhelmed by the lyrics Kaukonen sometimes quotes – but it seems a necessary part of memoir to try to learn what your life has told you. Outside of bland observations, we get nothing.

I can imagine that the other Airplaners, Grace Slick especially but probably Marty Balin as well, would have had much more to say about their individual lives as well as their collective experience as a band. I’d like to get to Slick’s memoir sometime, but the only audio version of it is heavily abridged.

But maybe the worst offense here is that it’s badly written. There’s a strange, scattered feel to it. Every so often, Kaukonen writes in the present tense – about the death of Kurt Vonnegut or some other friend/inspiration, or just about the way the morning looks. There’s a somewhat cringey section where, admitting that he doesn’t do birthdays well, he writes a love letter to his wife as part of the book.

Throughout, we get platitudes and generalizations. At some level, it seems a matured version of the “ow wow, groovy” that we might have heard from many in that acid generation.

Even the ending is bizarre. It feels as if this wraps up in each of the last 3-4 chapters. Casady and Slick provide forewords and afterwords, but they’re perfunctory, barely phoned in in both cases.

I wish I had a more favorable report on this. I’m bummed to say it’s one of the weakest memoirs I’ve ever read. Salvage a point on it for some excellent musical numbers at the end of the audio version of this, but – and this is damning – reading this hasn’t made me hunger to listen to any of the music I already love.

[WHKing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a big Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fan when I was a teen back in the late 1960s, early 1970s. I always liked lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s guitar playing. He was very versatile, playing hard psychedelic rock music, blues and the softer dreamy sounds.

Possessing striking Nordic looks, he had a very low profile back then. In my youth’s eyes, he seemed introspective, quiet, low key, reserved, and very cool. I spent many high school days listening to these bands’ records. When I entered college, other music moved into my life and the Airplane and Hot Tuna faded away.

Once in while over the years I’d read or hear something about Jorma such as his drug and alcohol use and his surprising move to Ohio to build a music school. Never did I imagine that such a private guy would ever write a biography so when I heard that he did I was intrigued to read about this rock legend in his own words, pull away that curtain and see who he really was, what it was like for him being part of the Airplane and one of the architects of that 1960s San Francisco music sound, why he abused alcohol and drugs, and what the hell he had been up to all these years since I stopped listening to Hot Tuna.

Jorma takes the reader on a journey into his world --- the ups and downs, the good times and the dark ones. I wanted to know once and for all who this guy really was and he delivers.

My favorite part of the book is the beginning when Jorma writes about his childhood, youth, and family. What disappointed me was that he didn’t supply in-depth information about the cool, innovative, cutting edge guitar sounds he created while a member of the Jefferson Airplane and what that process was like. I’d sure like to ask him why he didn’t write much about Marty Balin, the founder of Jefferson Airplane, and give him the credit he so deserves, which is a great disservice to Marty. Jorma seems to purposely gloss over this very eclectic period, referring readers to other books, which left me wanting for more.

Jorma is thoughtful and straight up honest about himself, yet it was sometimes tough and depressing for me to look behind that curtain, enter his world, and see the difficulties he experienced, especially the ones for which he was responsible and the ones he self-inflicted, and above all his continually abandoning people, both physically and mentally. Jorma’s marriage to his first wife, Margareta, was a toxic, living hell, which totally flabbergasted me. Sometimes Jorma’s distancing behavior towards others angered me and almost stopped me from completing the book. I thought, what a damn jerk he was. Thank goodness this dysfunctional musician went into rehab, soul searched and emerged a better man. Jorma confides why he behaved the way he did and knows he was in the wrong. Clearly, music provided an escape and fed his soul and creativity, but it also served as a wall for him to hide and not man up and deal with problems in his younger days. Despite his upper middle class upbringing and opportunities, he was a seriously, very flawed man which was a bombshell for me.

Jorma is a very good, no holds barred writer. The journey with Jorma back in time down that rabbit hole was interesting yet unnerving at times. Thanks to this book my curiosity about this legendary guitarist is completely satisfied. I understand the man behind the music better, and I thank Jorma for writing it, which was a very courageous act. Now I know what all happened. Strange that I don’t feel any pity for him but I'm glad that he survived and worked at becoming a better human being.

[Snidely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. He's an interesting person. I hadn't previously known about his somewhat unusual childhood and the diversity of his family background. I've read a number of musician autobiographies over the years and unlike many others, here's a guy who is relatively less full of himself than his peers and has the humility to share personal feelings and personal failures without excuses or pretension.

I was sorry to learn that he too had had various addiction problems over the years. Is this an occupational hazard of being in the arts? It's not a spoiler to say that he's left that behind but struggled for many years.

I'm surprised about some of the lower ratings with comments like "he mentioned nothing about this person or about thus and so." You know, it's his book and it's his choice what to include and what to exclude. I found some parts to be less interesting than others, inevitable in any book, but it was refreshing to see someone who recognized that so many positive developments in his life were the result of the dumb good luck of experiencing serendipity at the right times in addition to hard work. And the reverse, too, that many times he was spared from injury or problems by undeserved and unexpected good luck to avoid such things.

Sometimes you read autobiographies and think "if I ever found myself sitting next to this person on a plane, I'd find a book or work to dive into to avoid talking to them". With Jorma, I would cherish the opportunity to talk with him and I think especially today he's the down to earth sort who enjoys doing just that.

Whether or not you're a Jefferson Airplane or Hot Tuna fan, this book provides an insight into the life and experiences of a relatively level headed person who was there.

[Shaun Deane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Jorma and his music. I have learned much from him and he has helped me become a capable guitar player. I have a long appreciation for his music and I have looked forward to this book. I enjoyed reading this tome but a few things got in the way of five star endorsement. The book would have benefited greatly from the services of a developmental editor. St. Martins's Press is a reputable outfit so I'm surprised that some things slipped by - there were many instances of repeated phrases, sometimes on the same page. There were repeated descriptions of "well that's her story (or his) not mine" but it created a halt in the flow and made me wonder what the value of that approach was imagined to be. The middle third of the book - more, actually - described travel, drug use and bad relationship decisions. It was bleak and got tedious after a while. It would have been interesting to have heard about threads, commonality, insights, learnings from these experiences. My biggest problem, overall was that the book is extremely chronological. I guess it was not officially called a memoir and the tag line is "My Life and Music" which is true but it would have been a more compelling read if the time line was non-linear because let's face it - that is how memory works. We hop and skip around and gain knowledge about ourselves at the most unexpected times and often, or mostly, this is out of sequence. I am glad Jorma has found peace and I did enjoy reading his book. I'm just saying that a 2nd pass through after it was done, with the oversight of a developmental editor would almost certainly have bumped up the pace and the interest for the reader.

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been So Long: My Life and Music by Jorma Kaukonen...-I'm old enough to have followed Jorma since JA's Surrealistic Pillow...and I have. He's one of my RocknRoll heroes...his snarling electric guitar with JA, his top-notch finger-picking acoustic guitar playing, his song writing that kicked into gear with Turn My Life Down & Good Shepard (I know it's trad., but Jorma owns it, arrangement, etc) on the Volunteers album, how he kicked JA into a rocking unit for the final three years, and on to years & years of excellent Hot Tuna, solo, albums, tours and the Fur Peace Ranch blues school...AND...Jorma is an excellent writer, especially his prose...he knows how to craft a sentence, paragraph, an article...I used to follow his excellent blog in the early 2,000's...his motorcycle trip eastward on the original Route 66 was must reading. Not because he was Jorma but because he chronicled the trip so well. He also wrote poignantly what it was like to be aging and still touring, playing night after night along with traveling and his body just hanging in there...-Sooo, with this personal history of mine following his career, plus the number of rave reviews the book rcved, I was expecting an excellent read..Opps!...Unfortunately Been So Long: My Life and Music fell flat for me. Why? Because it was too heavy on the My Life (i.e., relationships) portion and not enough on the My Music portion, unless you count endless pages of lyrics as Music...-? I don't....Now, about the writing on relationships, he writes endlessly how he did or didn't get along with his parents, his non-relationship with his brother Peter, his crazy 20 year marriage with his troubled first wife, his life-long friendship with Jack Cassidy..and on & on & on...It got to the point where I didn't really care, it could have been anyone's life..I wanted to hear more about playing at Monterey, or 6:00 am at Woodstock, or details about Marty Balin getting his ass kicked at Altamont, etc...Jorma mentioned all this, but that's all you got, no substance...The only music detail he dove into was how he developed his right finger-picking hand...so, I'm sorry Jorma fans, of which I am one, to give a bad review...but other than his way with words, or prose, I was disappointed, it fell flat...barely 3.0 outa 5.0....