From the September 24, 1971 issue of LIFE
THE ROCK FAMILY AFFAIR
Photography by
JOHN OLSON
GRACE SLICK
Grace Slick, 31, grew up in this house in Palo Alto, Calif., went to schools that were
right for the daughter of a San Francisco investment banker, and married a film
maker named Jerry Slick when she was 21. In a few years she was a star with
Jefferson Airplane and an outspoken symbol of rock counterculture. Her mother,
Virginia Wing, a dignified, soft-spoken suburban matron who once had a short
career as a night club singer, takes neither credit nor blame. "I always knew
grace would do something spectacular, with her energy, and talent, and
stubbornness." The way Grace chose to be spectacular could not have pleased her
parents, but she is their daughter, and they have learned to talk across the gap.
"You can't ignore an interesting person or a vital art form," says Mrs. Wing.
"Grace and I have different sets of moral values, but she's her own person, and
we understand each other." "I don't imagine my parents are too excited about
my kind of life," Grace says. "The surrounding weirdness bothers them. Still, I
think they're pretty good. I mean their lives are based on what their friends
think, just like ours are."
Eight months ago Grace, since divorced from Jerry
Slick, had a highly publicized daughter by Paul Kantner, of the Airplane. The
Wings, who would have liked a more conventional arrangement, are proud
grandparent nonetheless. Of her daughter, who seems to be happy to be dangled by
her feet, Grace says, "Things change so fast, you can't use 1971 ethics on
someone born in 1971. Whatever she does is going to look far-out to me. I hope
I'll either like it or keep my mouth shut."
Click on a name below and see these rock legends with their parents back in 1971
FRANK ZAPPA ELTON JOHN ERIC CLAPTON
THE JACKSON FIVE GINGER BAKER JOE COCKER
GRACE SLICK DAVID CROSBY RICHIE HAVENS
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