Editing Hot Tuna (section)

=== Origins within Jefferson Airplane (1969–1970) ===

By the late 1960s, [[Jefferson Airplane]] had become one of the most commercially successful 
acts in American rock, but internal tensions were mounting. Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady 
had developed a shared interest in acoustic blues that sat apart from the band's increasingly 
political and psychedelic direction under Paul Kantner and Grace Slick.

The two began performing informal acoustic sets, often as a warm-up or afterthought at 
Airplane shows. The name ''Hot Tuna'' was chosen partly as a joke — an alternative to 
the more obscene name initially considered. Their first official recording emerged from 
a live performance at the New Orleans House in Berkeley, California, which became their 
self-titled debut album.