Deceased--Joey Covington

Joey Covington
June 27th, 1945 to June 4th, 2013

Joe E. Covington's Fat Fandago

Left to right: Jack Pendergast, Joe E. Covington, Patrick Craig, and Stevie Midnite

"Joey Covington, Rock Drummer, Dies at 67"

by

Daniel E. Slotnik

June 7th, 2013

The New York Times

Joey Covington, a drummer for the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane in the early 1970s and a founding member of their bluesy spinoff Hot Tuna, died on Tuesday. He was 67.

He died after crashing his car in Palm Springs, Calif., where he lived, said his companion, Lauren Taines.

Mr. Covington auditioned for Jefferson Airplane in 1969, when the other members of the group were considering replacing their drummer, Spencer Dryden, but did not join them immediately. That year, he started playing with Hot Tuna, a side project formed by the band’s guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady, but was not on the group’s first record.

Mr. Covington replaced Mr. Dryden in 1970. He recorded with the band on the 1971 album “Bark” and helped write “Pretty as You Feel,” one of the album’s more popular songs.

In an interview on Friday, Jeff Tamarkin, the author of “Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane,” described Mr. Covington as “a hard-rock pounder-type player” who had the stamina for long jams.

To his dismay, Mr. Covington was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with other Jefferson Airplane members in 1996.

Joseph Edward Michno was born in Johnstown, Pa., on June 27, 1945. (He changed his name when he moved out to the West Coast because he thought the “no” in Michno was too negative.) He began teaching himself to play the drums when he was 10, then played with polka bands and later in strip clubs.

Mr. Covington was kept out of the military after he was injured in a car accident. He headed west at 22.

In addition to Ms. Taines, Mr. Covington is survived by her sons, Sean and Peter Stogel; three sisters, Sandra Dostal, Patti Ann Sciskowicz and Angela Burke; and a brother, James Michno.

His last gig was on June 1 at an 87th-birthday celebration for Marilyn Monroe in Palm Springs.

 

"Joey Covington, Jefferson Airplane Drummer, Dead at 67"

Musician was involved in car accident in Palm Springs
by

Dan Reilly

June 5th, 2013

Rolling Stone

Joey Covington, a drummer who played with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, died yesterday in a car accident in Palm Springs, California. He was 67.

According to a local CBS news station, Covington's sedan slammed into a wall on the side of the road, shutting down traffic for several hours. Police reported that he was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene following attempts to revive him. He was the only passenger.

A self-taught drummer, Covington helped found Hot Tuna in 1969 with Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen and Paul Kantner while Airplane singer Grace Slick was recovering from surgery. That same year, he provided percussion for Jefferson Airplane's Volunteers album; he took over full-time drumming duties in 1970 when Spencer Dryden quit the group.

Covington later played on the albums Bark, for which he co-wrote "Pretty as You Feel," and Long John Silver, though he quit halfway through the recording sessions. In 1976, he co-wrote Jefferson Starship's "With Your Love," a single that peaked at No. 12 on the charts.

Somebody To Love

Jefferson Airplane

1970

Joey Covington [Wikipedia]

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