CoronaVinyl Day 461 (H): Hot Tuna by Hot Tuna

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "H," and my choice was Hot Tuna's self-titled live debut album from 1970.

Hot Tuna started as a side project for Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady, while lead singer Grace Slick recovered from surgery on her vocal cords.  Kaukonen, Casady, and occasionally harmonicist Will Scarlett played a week of acoustic live shows at the New Orleans House in Berkeley in September 1969.  They used recordings from those shows to compile their debut live album, which was released in May 1970.

The album is mostly covers of early acoustic Delta and country blues songs, with a couple Kaukonen original instrumentals thrown in.  It's very intimate and stripped down -- just Kaukonen on the acoustic guitar (and vocals), Casady on an acoustic bass, and Scarlett on harmonica.

Despite not having a radio-friendly single, the album reached #30 on the Billboard album chart.  Other members of Jefferson Airplane, including Marty Balin and Papa John Creach, would join Hot Tuna (while also being in Jefferson Airplane), and Hot Tuna ended up having legs of its own.  Once Jefferson Airplane broke up in 1972, Hot Tuna carried on, releasing four studio albums in the '70s, another one in 1990, and yet another one in 2011.  They have had various "side" members over the years, but Kaukonen and Casady have been in the band the entire time.  They are still touring, with a bunch of dates this summer.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Uncle Sam Blues"
This is one of the songs with Scarlett on harmonica, which always gives songs a bluesier feel.  It's a traditional blues song that Jefferson Airplane played at Woodstock, also with Kaukonen singing, though electric.  I also like this one because you can hear a bottle break just before the one-minute mark.  That's how intimate the shows were and how apparently quiet the audience was during the songs.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Know You Rider"
Another traditional blues song, this one was first known to be recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1927 as "Deceitful Brownskin Blues."  It's another one with Scarlett on the harmonica, and it's a little bit peppier than some of the other songs.