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).
You and My Old Guitar
Jorma Kaukonen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I could never be blue,
As I go to love if only,
Have my guitar and you.
Why should I ever worry,
Why should I feel sad,
Travel along in a hurry,
When ever I'm up you're near me,
Giving me happines,
When I'm down you cheer me,
Nothing is better than this.
Here we go just between oh,
How happy we will be,
Broke my ladder to a silver star,
Climb with me and my old guitar.
Over the land we wander,
Birds here and there,
I never stop to ponder,
Clowds of dark affair.
In one horse town or city
No matter where we are
I'm happy if I have with me,
You and My Old Guitar.
Travel the roads together,
Leading the lands afar,
Singing in all kinds of weather,
And strumming my old guitar.
The lyrics of “You and My Old Guitar” by Jorma Kaukonen paints a vivid image of a lone traveler with his old guitar, wandering the land and sharing everything with his trusty musical instrument. He declares that loneliness and sadness are alien feelings to him because he has his guitar with him. He sees his guitar as a companion that shares his joys and sorrows. When life is good and he is happy, he has his guitar with him to enjoy the moment, and when life presents challenges and he is down, his guitar lifts his spirit and makes everything better.
The lyrics use simple yet powerful imagery to convey a sense of freedom and adventure. The traveler and his guitar seem to have an unbreakable bond, which provides comfort and a sense of belonging. The lyrics suggest that it does not matter where they go, whether it’s a bustling city or a small village, they are happy together, and nothing can bring them down.
Overall, the lyrics of “You and My Old Guitar” paint a picture of a lone traveler on a quest for adventure and companionship. He sees his guitar as his only constant companion that shares every moment of his life. The lyrics celebrate the simple joys of life and remind us that happiness can be found in the company of the things that matter the most.
Line by Line Meaning
I could never be lonely,
I will never feel alone as long as I have my guitar and you.
I could never be blue,
I will never feel sad as long as I have my guitar and you.
As I go to love if only,
As I pursue love, I know that I have my guitar and you.
Why should I ever worry,
I have no reason to worry when I have my guitar and you.
Why should I feel sad,
I have no reason to feel sad when I have my guitar and you.
Travel along in a hurry,
We travel together quickly, with no worries or fears.
Sharing the good and bad.
We share both the good times and the bad.
When ever I'm up you're near me,
You are always there to bring me happiness when I am feeling good.
Giving me happines,
You bring me joy and contentment.
When I'm down you cheer me,
You lift my spirits when I am feeling low.
Nothing is better than this.
There is nothing better than having my guitar and you by my side.
Here we go just between oh,
Here we go, just the two of us, on a great adventure.
How happy we will be,
We will be full of happiness and joy.
Broke my ladder to a silver star,
I gave up material pursuits for something greater.
Climb with me and my old guitar.
Join me on my journey with my trusty guitar by my side.
Over the land we wander,
We roam from place to place, exploring the world together.
Birds here and there,
Birds can be seen flying around us.
I never stop to ponder,
I never pause to wonder or worry.
Clowds of dark affair.
We face difficult times, but we face them together.
In one horse town or city
Whether we are in a small town or big city.
No matter where we are
Wherever we go, we have each other and my guitar.
I'm happy if I have with me,
I am content as long as I have my guitar and you.
You and My Old Guitar.
Together, you and my guitar are all I need to feel happy.
Travel the roads together,
We go on this journey side by side.
Leading the lands afar,
We are exploring new lands together.
Singing in all kinds of weather,
We sing and play music together, no matter the weather.
And strumming my old guitar.
And all the while, I am strumming my trusty guitar.
Writer(s): ELSIE MCWILLIAMS, JIMMY RODGERS
Contributed by Taylor Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.