Editing Grace Slick (section)

=== The Great Society ===

In 1965, Slick found musical inspiration after watching [[Jefferson Airplane]] perform at a San Francisco nightclub. She soon started her own group, calling it the Great Society — a name chosen to poke fun at the term used by President Lyndon B. Johnson to describe his social reform programs. The band consisted of Jerry on drums, Grace's brother-in-law Darby on guitar, David Minor on guitar and vocals, Peter van Gelder on saxophone, and Bard Dupont on bass. 

Although Slick was an equal contributor to the Great Society's original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area.  It was during this period that Slick composed two of her most enduring songs. "White Rabbit", a combination of a Spanish bolero rhythm and psychedelic lyrics drawn from Lewis Carroll's ''Alice in Wonderland'', was an instant favourite among the band's live audiences.  "Somebody to Love" was written by Darby Slick and sung by Grace, and had already become a Bay Area hit before Jefferson Airplane adopted it.

Between October and December 1965, the Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sly Stone. One single emerged — the Darby Slick-penned "Somebody to Love" backed with "Free Advice" — on the locally-based North Beach label.