Country Joe McDonald (born Joseph Allen McDonald, January 1, 1942 in Washington, DC) was the leader and lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe & the Fish.

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter, and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their lead singer. Their 1968 album Cheap Thrills is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco; it reached number one on the Billboard charts, and was ranked number 338 in Rolling Stone's the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success. Throughout the late 1960s Jefferson Airplane was one of the most sought-after and highly-paid concert acts in the world. Their recordings were internationally successful and sold in great quantities, and they scored two US Top 10 hit singles and a string of Top 20 albums. Their 1967 record Surrealistic Pillow is still widely regarded as one of the key recordings of the so-called Summer of Love period and brought the group international recognition. Successor bands to Jefferson Airplane include Jefferson Starship and Starship while spinoffs include Hot Tuna and KBC Band. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an English/American rock band that formed in London in 1966. Originally comprising American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until 1969, in which time they released three successful studio albums. Redding left the band in June 1969, after which Hendrix and Mitchell stayed together through other projects. After the band split up, Hendrix and Mitchell teamed with bassist Billy Cox and other musicians to form the short-lived Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, who played at the famous Woodstock Festival. After a short spell with another band, the Band of Gypsys with Cox and drummer/vocalist Buddy Miles, Hendrix re-formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience with Mitchell and Cox. Nowadays, however, this 1970 trio is distinguished from the original Experience group as The Cry of Love.

The Mamas & the Papas (credited as The Mama's and the Papa's on the debut album cover) were a vocal group of the 1960s. The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and ten hit singles. They have sold nearly 40 million records worldwide.

Iron Butterfly is an American psychedelic rock and early heavy metal band, well known for their 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". They are considered an early heavy metal band as a result of this song and others like it, as well as the title of their debut album, Heavy (the term "heavy," slang for things of a deep or thoughtful manner, was an important element in the initial conception of heavy metal, a form of music dealing with war, environmental destruction, drug addiction, and other things of a "heavy" nature). Their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated several times with various members. VH1 ranks them as number 19 on their list of top 100 "one-hit" wonders. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is the 31st best-selling album in the world, selling more than 25 million copies.

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. They were considered a controversial band, due mostly to Morrison's cryptic lyrics and unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death on July 3, 1971, the remaining members continued as a threesome until disbanding in 1973. Despite a career that barely totaled eight years, The Doors still enjoy a huge cult following as well as status in the mainstream music industry as being hugely influential and original. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32 million albums in the US alone.

The Electric Prunes are a rock band who first achieved international attention as an experimental psychedelic group in the late 1960s, and contributed two tracks to the soundtrack of Easy Rider. After a period in which they had little control over their music, they disappeared for thirty years, reforming as a recording and touring band in 2001.

Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York) is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style. Many of her songs are topical and deal with social issues. She is perhaps best known for her hit "Diamonds & Rust" and her covers of Phil Ochs' "There But For Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and to a lesser extent,"We Shall Overcome," "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word" and "Farewell Angelina," "Sweet Sir Galahad" and "Joe Hill" . She remains known for her long relationship with Bob Dylan and her lifelong passion for activism, notably in the areas of nonviolence, civil, human rights and, more recently, the environment. Baez has performed publicly for over 50 years, released over 30 albums and recorded songs in at least eight languages. She is considered a folk singer although her music has strayed from folk considerably after the 1960s, encompassing everything from rock and pop to country and gospel. Although a songwriter herself, especially in the mid-1970s, Baez is most often regarded as an interpreter of other people's work, covering songs by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and myriad other artists. In more recent years, she has found success interpreting songs of diverse songwriters such as Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant and Ryan Adams. She has a three-octave vocal range and a distinctively rapid vibrato.

Moby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music. Due to the strength of their debut album, several critics consider Moby Grape to be the best rock band to emerge from the San Francisco music scene in the late sixties. The group continues to perform occasionally. As described by Jeff Tamarkin, "The Grape's saga is one of squandered potential, absurdly misguided decisions, bad-luck, blunders and excruciating heartbreak, all set to the tune of some of the greatest rock and roll ever to emerge from San Francisco. Moby Grape could have had it all, but they ended up with nothing, and less."

Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco and is considered one of the leading acts on the city's psychedelic scene in the mid-to-late 1960s. Essentially a jam band, Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe. Many of their albums ranked in the top 30 of the Billboard Pop charts. Though not ultimately as commercially successful as their contemporaries Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, the band was integral to the beginnings of their genre. With their jazz and classical influences, as well as a strong folk background, the band attempted to create a sound that was individual and innovative. Member Dino Valente drew heavily on musical influences he picked up during the folk revival of his formative musical years. The style he developed from these sources is evident in Quicksilver Messenger Service's swung rhythms and twanging guitar sounds. After many years, the band has attempted to reform despite the deaths of several members. With the modest success of these ventures, many members have also attempted solo careers including Gary Duncan, former guitarist of Quicksilver Messenger Service, who has enjoyed a prolific career after leaving the group.

Phillip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940 in Berkeley, California) is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with side project Phil Lesh and Friends, which pays homage to the Dead's music by playing their originals, common covers, and the songs of the members of his band. Phil and Friends have helped keep a legitimate entity for the band's music to continue, and is viewed by many fans as the premier post-Dead band.

Marty Balin (born Martyn Jerel Buchwald, January 30, 1943, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of Jefferson Airplane, the pioneering rock band from San Francisco. Born and raised in Ohio, Marty suffered from a mild form of autism as a child that he struggled with growing up. It would affect him into his adulthood as well. During his late teens, Martyn became interested in being an artist and musician. In 1962, Martyn renamed himself Marty Balin and began recording with Challenge Records, releasing the singles "Nobody But You" and "I Specialize in Love". They garnered little attention, so he went to work with his father and got married. His interest in music did not wane and by 1963-64, Balin was leading a folk music quartet called The Town Criers, with fellow band members Larry Vargo, Jan Ellickson and Bill Collins. Balin was the founder and a featured vocalist for Jefferson Airplane from 1965 to 1971. He appeared with the group during their performances at Monterey and Woodstock in 1967 and 1969, and less successfully at the disastrous Altamont Speedway concert, where he was knocked unconscious by a biker from the Hells Angels motorcycle club .In 1971, he departed Jefferson Airplane, recording an album under the group name Bodacious D.F. in 1973, producing an album for the group Grootna, and contributing one song, "Caroline", to Dragon Fly from Jefferson Airplane's followup group, Jefferson Starship. Marty joined Jefferson Starship permanently in 1975. In late 1978, after several major hits with Starship, Balin left the group.In 1979, he produced a rock opera entitled "Rock Justice," about a rock-star who was put in jail for failing to produce a hit for the record company. The cast recording, produced by Balin, but not featuring him in performance, was released on EMI America. EMI then approached him about doing a solo album of his own.In 1981, he released his first solo album, Balin, featuring two Top 40 hits, "Hearts" and "Atlanta Lady." This was followed in 1983 by a second solo album, Lucky, along with a Japanese-only EP called There's No Shoulder. Lucky did not match the performance of Balin on the Billboard charts, and Balin's contract with EMI ended.In 1985, he teamed up with Paul Kantner and Jack Casady to form the KBC Band. After the breakup of the KBC band, a 1989 reunion album and tour with Jefferson Airplane followed. Balin recorded his third solo album in 1991 for GWE Records, Better Generation.In 1993 Balin reunited with Kantner in Jefferson Starship - The Next Generation, and in 1997 he recorded a fourth solo album for Solid Discs, Freedom Flight.In 1999, Balin recorded the cover album Marty Balin Greatest Hits with Jefferson Starship guitarist Slick Aguilar and other musicians not associated with the band. It was the last studio album he recorded with a record label. Balin recorded two more studio albums and released them on his own, selling them on his website and Jefferson Starship's website using the imprint "JB Records".He is also an accomplished painter.As of 2008 Balin continues to perform part-time with Jefferson Starship and had intended to record lead vocals for two tracks for their latest album, Jefferson's Tree of Liberty. However, his art touring schedule conflicted with studio sessions and instead the track "Maybe for You" from the German release of Windows of Heaven was included.On July 2, 2007, music publishing firm Bicycle Music, Inc. announced that it acquired an interest in more than 70 songs written or performed by Balin, including hits from his days with Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.

Paul Lorin Kantner (born March 17, 1941 in San Francisco, California) is an American rock musician, most noted for co-founding the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.