Born in Washington, D.C., the son of Beatrice Love (née Levine) and Jorma Ludwig Kaukonen, Jorma Kaukonen had Finnish paternal grandparents and Russian Jewish ancestry on his mother's side. Kaukonen was a founding member of the popular psychedelic San Francisco-based band Jefferson Airplane, which scored two Top 10 radio hits in 1967 with "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit."
Kaukonen learned to play guitar as a teenager in Washington, D.C. But before moving to the D.C. area, Jorma and family lived in the Philippines and other locales as he followed his father's career from assignment to assignment before returning to the place of his birth. As a teenager in Washington he and future Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady (who at the time played six-string guitar) formed a band named The Triumphs. Kaukonen departed Washington for studies at Antioch College where friend Ian Buchanan taught him fingerstyle guitar playing. Buchanan also introduced Kaukonen to the music of Reverend Gary Davis, whose songs have remained important parts of Kaukonen's repertoire throughout his career.
In 1962 Kaukonen moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and enrolled at Santa Clara University. During this time he taught guitar lessons at Benner Music Company in San Jose. As a self-described blues purist, Kaukonen never had any ambition to play in a rock band. He played as a solo act in coffee houses and can be heard accompanying a young Janis Joplin on acoustic guitar on an historic 1964 recording (known as "The Typewriter Tapes" because of the obtrusive sound of Kaukonen's first wife, Margareta, typing in the background). Invited to attend a Jefferson Airplane rehearsal by founding member Paul Kantner, Kaukonen found his imagination excited by the arsenal of effects available to electric guitar and later said, "I was sucked in by technology.
As a member of Jefferson Airplane, Kaukonen's primary guitar was a Gibson ES-345, noted for the visible Varitone dial on his guitar and the signature 345 logo on the headstock. Jorma presently endorses Martin Guitars. In 2010, Martin Guitars released the Martin M-30 Jorma Kaukonen Custom Artist Edition. This guitar was designed by Jorma using ideas from 2 Martin guitars that he had previously been playing - a David Bromberg Custom Artist Edition and an M-5 prototype.
Jorma also uses and endorses the Fishman Loudbox amp.
In 1984, Kaukonen appeared on Robert Hunter's Amagamalin Street. This was the third album released by Relix Records, a label, founded by Les Kippel, that specialized in bands from the San Francisco Bay Area. Relix also released Splashdown, featuring a rare performance by Hot Tuna on WQIV, a now-defunct radio station in New York. Kippel was instrumental in reuniting Kaukonen and Casady in 1985 for a Hot Tuna theater tour. Relix Records remained Hot Tuna's record label until 2000, and also released Classic Hot Tuna Acoustic, Classic Hot Tuna Electric, Live at Sweetwater, and Live at Sweetwater Two.
Two notable projects featuring Kaukonen were David Crosby's debut solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name, on Atlantic (1971) and Warren Zevon's Transverse City on Virgin in 1989. In 1993, he collaborated with ex-Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten in recording numerous arrangements of "Embryonic Journey". The resulting tracks were released as Embryonic Journey, the album, in 1994 on the Relix label. In 1999, he played several gigs with Phil Lesh and Friends. In 2000, he appeared with jam band Widespread Panic during their summer tour.
With his wife Vanessa, Kaukonen currently owns and operates the Fur Peace Ranch, a 119-acre (0.48 km2) music and guitar camp in the hills of southeast Ohio, north of Pomeroy; complete with a 32 track studio. He is currently under contract as a solo artist to Red House Records and still records and tours with Jack Casady and other friends such as Barry Mitterhoff as Hot Tuna. His 2002 album Blue Country Heart, also released as a 5.1 single layer SACD, was widely acclaimed by critics as one of the definitive examples of American "Depression Era " music and features Kaukonen backed by an all-star Nashville bluegrass band. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Recent solo albums include Stars in My Crown (2007) and River of Time (2009).
Rock Me Baby
Jorma Kaukonen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rock me baby, honey, rock me all night long
I want you to rock me mama,
Like my back ain't got no bone
Roll me baby, like you roll a wagon wheel
I want you to roll me baby,
Like you roll a wagon wheel
Lord, don't know how it makes me feel
Rock me baby, honey, rock me slow
Yeah, rock me pretty baby, baby rock me slow
Want you to rock me baby, till I want no more
There are many interpretations of Jorma Kaukonen's song, "Rock Me Baby." On the surface, it is a simple blues tune in which the singer asks his lover to rock him all night long. However, the lyrics may also reflect a deeper longing for connection and intimacy. By asking to be rocked, the singer is submitting himself completely to his lover, letting go of his inhibitions and allowing himself to be vulnerable.
The second verse furthers this interpretation, as the singer asks to be rolled "like a wagon wheel." This could be interpreted as a desire for movement and change, a need to experience new and exciting things with his lover. Alternatively, it could represent the cyclical nature of relationships, the ups and downs that come with intimacy and connection.
The final verse is perhaps the most poignant, as the singer asks to be rocked slow and thoroughly, until he wants no more. This could be seen as a plea for lasting intimacy, a desire for a relationship that lasts a lifetime. Whatever the interpretation, there is no denying the power and emotion of Kaukonen's words.
Line by Line Meaning
Rock me baby, rock me all night long
Please hold me and sway with me throughout the night without stopping
Rock me baby, honey, rock me all night long
My dear, please continue to embrace me and move to the beat of the music throughout the entire night
I want you to rock me mama,
Like my back ain't got no bone
Please hold me so close that I feel as though I have no spine and can fully relax and let go
Roll me baby, like you roll a wagon wheel
Please move me like a wheelbarrow gently being pushed over a smooth surface
I want you to roll me baby,
Like you roll a wagon wheel
Please move me gently and steadily like you would handle a wheelbarrow rolling over a smooth terrain
Want you to roll me baby,
Lord, don't know how it makes me feel
I desire for you to move me so much that I can't explain the intense feelings that it creates in me
Rock me baby, honey, rock me slow
Slowly and gently sway with me to the music, my love
Yeah, rock me pretty baby, baby rock me slow
Beautiful darling, hold me and move slowly to soothe me
Want you to rock me baby,
till I want no more
Please continue to sway with me until the point at which I don't have the desire for you to stop
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jorma Kaukonen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind