Signe Toly Anderson was the first lead female voice of Jefferson Airplane, and she sang on the band’s 1966 debut before Grace Slick ever stepped to a microphone with the group.
She joined in the summer of 1965 at Marty Balin’s invitation.
She left just over a year later to raise her newborn daughter.
Her run was short, but her harmony work helped define the sound that San Francisco rock would carry into the decade.
This profile of Signe Toly Anderson covers her Portland roots, her one album with the Airplane, her farewell show, and the strange coincidence of her death.
Image Credit: KRLA Beat / Beat Publications, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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📋 Table of Contents [+]
Who Was Signe Toly Anderson?
Signe Toly Anderson was an American singer and a founding member of Jefferson Airplane.
She was born on September 15, 1941, and she died on January 28, 2016.
She sang lead and harmony vocals on the band’s first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Anderson was in the group for roughly 15 months, from mid 1965 to October 1966.
She then handed the female vocal role to Grace Slick and moved home to Oregon.
Her name sits at the start of the Jefferson Airplane member roster, ahead of every hit the band later scored.
Signe Toly Anderson’s Early Life in Portland, Oregon
She was born Signe Toly in Seattle, Washington.
Her parents divorced when she was three years old.
Her mother then raised her in Portland, Oregon.
In high school she sang with three male musicians in a group called Three Guys and a Gal.
That group performed at a John F. Kennedy campaign event in November 1959.
She later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and built a reputation on the folk and jazz club circuit.
By 1965 she was a respected working singer, known for a strong, clear contralto.
How Signe Toly Anderson Joined Jefferson Airplane
Marty Balin heard Signe Toly Anderson sing at a San Francisco club in 1965.
He was building a band and wanted a woman in the vocal blend.
He invited her to join the group that soon took the name Jefferson Airplane.
Her voice locked into a three part harmony with Marty Balin and Paul Kantner.
That male and female blend became the template for the band’s early records.
Soon after joining, she married Jerry Anderson, a member of Ken Kesey‘s Merry Pranksters.
The marriage lasted from 1965 to 1974 and gave her the stage name fans knew.
💡 Did You Know?
Anderson’s first name is pronounced “SIG-nee,” not “sign.” Interviewers on Portland radio often had to be corrected before the tape rolled.
Signe Toly Anderson on Jefferson Airplane Takes Off
Jefferson Airplane recorded their debut album between December 1965 and March 1966.
RCA Victor released Jefferson Airplane Takes Off in 1966.
Signe Toly Anderson took lead vocal on the blues standard Chauffeur Blues.
She shared the lead on “Let’s Get Together” with Balin and Kantner.
Her harmony vocals run through nearly every track on the record.
The album reached number 128 on the Billboard 200.
RCA forced lyric changes before release and pulled the song “Runnin’ Round This World” from most pressings over a drug reference.
The lineup on that album also included Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar and drummer Skip Spence.
The Manager Dispute and the Escape Clause
The band’s first manager was Matthew Katz.
Anderson did not trust him.
She refused to sign his management contract as written.
She held out until Katz added a special escape clause for her.
That clause freed her from the deal if she ever left the band for any reason.
Katz later sued the group for years, so her caution looks sharp in hindsight.
Biographer Jeff Tamarkin documented the standoff in his Airplane history “Got a Revolution!”
Why Signe Toly Anderson Left Jefferson Airplane
Signe Toly Anderson gave birth to a daughter in 1966.
The band was touring hard and starting to break nationally.
She decided that life on the road with a newborn was not workable.
In July 1966 she told promoter Bill Graham that she was quitting after a run of shows in Chicago.
Graham asked her to stay through the October dates so the band could find a replacement.
She agreed to that plan.
Her choice put family ahead of a spot in what became one of the biggest bands in America.
💡 Did You Know?
The band first approached Sherry Snow of the duo Blackburn & Snow to replace Anderson. Snow turned the offer down, which opened the door for Grace Slick.
The Farewell Show at the Fillmore
Anderson played her last two sets with Jefferson Airplane on October 15, 1966.
The shows took place at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
Near the end of the second set, Balin told the crowd she was leaving.
Her goodbye was simple.
She said, “I want you all to wear smiles and daisies and box balloons. I love you all. Thank you and goodbye.”
Fans called for her signature number, so the band played “Chauffeur Blues” one more time.
They closed the night with “High Flying Bird.”
Both sets were taped, and the late show came out in 2010 as “Signe’s Farewell.”
Signe Toly Anderson with Spencer Dryden, 1966. Image Credit: KRLA Beat / Beat Publications, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Grace Slick Takes Over the Microphone
Grace Slick made her Jefferson Airplane debut the very next night, October 16, 1966.
She arrived from a local band called The Great Society.
She brought two songs with her that changed everything for the group.
Those songs were White Rabbit and Somebody to Love.
Both became top ten hits in 1967 and pushed the band onto national television.
Anderson watched that breakthrough from Oregon with no visible bitterness.
She often said she had made the right call for her own life.
Signe Toly Anderson’s Life After the Airplane
After leaving the band, Signe Toly Anderson moved back to Oregon for good.
She sang for about nine years with a Portland group called Carl Smith and the Natural Gas Company.
She recovered from cancer in the mid 1970s.
In 1977 she married a local building contractor named Michael Alois Ettlin.
She kept performing around the Portland area for years.
She raised her family and stayed close to the regional music scene.
She rarely chased the spotlight, but local fans knew exactly who she was.
Health Struggles and Guest Appearances
The mid 1990s brought serious health problems for Anderson.
She broke her neck and later needed bypass surgery.
The medical bills caused real financial strain for her family.
She still returned to the stage when old bandmates asked.
She made guest appearances with the KBC Band and with Jefferson Starship.
Her husband Michael Ettlin died in February 2011 at age 62.
Through all of it she kept singing whenever her health allowed.
Signe Toly Anderson and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Jefferson Airplane entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
The Hall named six members in the performer category.
Those six were Balin, Kantner, Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Spencer Dryden, and Slick.
Signe Toly Anderson was not on that list, and neither was Skip Spence.
Fan campaigns have pushed for years to add the two early members who were left out.
At the 1996 ceremony the inducted members played together for the first time since 1970.
The omission remains a sore point for people who study the band’s history.
Oregon Music Hall of Fame Recognition
Her home state did give Anderson a formal honor.
The Oregon Music Hall of Fame inducted her with its class of 2014.
The ceremony took place at the Aladdin Theater in Portland on October 4, 2014.
Her daughter delivered the induction speech.
Anderson said the honor caught her by surprise.
She called it one of the highlights of her life.
Local musicians turned out to back her on stage that night.
💡 Did You Know?
Portland fans and DJs nicknamed Anderson “the High Flying Bird,” after the folk song the Airplane played at her final show.
The Death of Signe Toly Anderson and Paul Kantner
Signe Toly Anderson died at her home in Beaverton, Oregon, on January 28, 2016.
She was 74 years old.
The cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
She had been ill for some time and had recently entered hospice care.
Paul Kantner, a co-founder of the band, died the same day, also at age 74.
Her family held the news for two days so it would not be lost under the Kantner headlines.
Best Classic Bands and Rolling Stone both reported the twin deaths as one of the strangest days in San Francisco rock history.
The Legacy of Signe Toly Anderson
Signe Toly Anderson proved that the Airplane sound started before Grace Slick arrived.
Her harmony parts on the debut set the vocal blueprint the band used for years.
She also showed a rare thing in 1966 rock, a woman walking away from fame on her own terms.
Jorma Kaukonen called her “one of the strongest people I have ever met” and “our den mother in the early days of the Airplane.”
The 2010 release of her farewell concert brought her voice back to a new audience.
The Surrealistic Pillow era gets the fame, yet the foundation was laid on her watch.
For that reason, any honest history of Signe Toly Anderson starts the Jefferson Airplane story with her.
Key Takeaways
- Signe Toly Anderson was Jefferson Airplane’s first female vocalist, from 1965 to 1966.
- She sang lead on “Chauffeur Blues” and harmony across the 1966 debut album.
- She left to raise her newborn daughter and was replaced by Grace Slick.
- Her last show was October 15, 1966, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
- She was not named in the band’s 1996 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
- She died on January 28, 2016, the same day as Paul Kantner.
People Also Ask
Who was the singer before Grace Slick in Jefferson Airplane?
Signe Toly Anderson was the singer before Grace Slick.
She fronted the female vocal role from 1965 until October 1966.
What songs did Signe Anderson sing with Jefferson Airplane?
She sang lead on “Chauffeur Blues” and co-lead on “Let’s Get Together.”
She also sang harmony on the rest of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Why did Signe Anderson leave Jefferson Airplane?
She left because she had a newborn daughter and did not want to tour with an infant.
She gave the band notice in July 1966 and finished her commitments that October.
Did Signe Anderson and Paul Kantner die on the same day?
Yes.
Both died on January 28, 2016, and both were 74.
Is Signe Anderson in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
No.
The Hall inducted Jefferson Airplane in 1996 but named only six members, and she was not one of them.
Watch: Chauffeur Blues
This is Anderson’s lead vocal on the studio version from the 1966 debut.
Essential Jefferson Airplane Albums
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Jefferson Airplane Takes Off
1966 debut album
The only studio album with Signe Toly Anderson on vocals.
Features her lead on “Chauffeur Blues.”
CD reissue pairs the mono and stereo mixes.
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Surrealistic Pillow
1967, the first Grace Slick album
The record that replaced Anderson’s voice with Slick’s.
Home of “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.”
A direct A and B comparison with the debut.
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Crown of Creation
1968
Shows how far the band moved after the Anderson era.
Tighter songwriting and heavier arrangements.
Same core harmony idea she helped build.
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Volunteers
1969
The band’s political peak, four years after she joined.
Full flowering of the male and female vocal attack.
Good end point for the Anderson to Slick arc.
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The Airplane bassist who played alongside Anderson on the 1966 debut sessions.
The drummer who joined weeks before Anderson left, bridging the two eras.
Another woman whose voice sat at the center of a famous band’s harmony blend.
A band vocalist whose steady role was long underrated next to flashier names.
The story of Signe Toly Anderson is short, but it is the first chapter of Jefferson Airplane, and it deserves to be told on its own terms.