During the summer of 1965, singer Marty Balin saw Kantner perform at the Drinking Gourd, a San Francisco folk club, and invited him to co-found a new band, Jefferson Airplane.
When the group needed a lead guitarist, Kantner recommended Kaukonen.
As rhythm guitarist and one of the band's singers, Kantner was the only musician to appear on all albums recorded by Jefferson Airplane as well as Jefferson Starship.
Kantner's songwriting often featured whimsical or political lyrics with science fiction or fantasy themes, usually set to music that had an almost martial rock sound.

Although the band retained a relatively egalitarian songwriting structure, Kantner became Jefferson Airplane's dominant creative force from 1967's After Bathing at Baxter's onward, writing the chart hits "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", "Watch Her Ride" and "Crown of Creation"; the controversial "We Can Be Together"; and, with Balin, "Today" (an earlier effort from Surrealistic Pillow) and "Volunteers".
He also co-wrote the song "Wooden Ships" with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, but was not credited initially due to pending litigation with Jefferson Airplane's first manager.
According to Balin, "He was a hard-headed guy to get along with and wouldn't do anybody else's music.
We had to do what he could do, so that's what we all did eventually.
We pretty much just did Paul's music.
That's all he wanted to do.
But it was unique.
It was part of that era, part of that time.
A lot of those songs still exist, still live on, still are good."

With Jefferson Airplane, Kantner was among the performers at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
Recalling Woodstock 40 years later, Kantner stated: "We were due to be on stage at 10pm on the Saturday night but we didn't actually get on until 7.30am the following day."
Later in 1969, the group also played at Altamont, where Balin was knocked unconscious during their set by a Hells Angels member originally hired as security for the concert.
Kantner appears in the documentary film about the Altamont concert, Gimme Shelter, in a tense on-stage confrontation with a Hell's Angel regarding the altercation.

Despite its commercial success, the Airplane was plagued by intra-group fighting, causing the band to begin splintering at the height of its success.
This was exacerbated by manager Bill Graham, who prodded the group to do more touring and more recording.
During the transitional period of the early 1970s, as the Airplane started to come apart, Kantner recorded Blows Against The Empire, a concept album featuring an ad hoc group of musicians whom he dubbed Jefferson Starship.
 This earliest edition of Jefferson Starship included members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (David Crosby and Graham Nash) and the Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart) alongside some of the other members of Jefferson Airplane (Grace Slick, Joey Covington and Jack Casady).

In Blows Against the Empire, Kantner and Slick sang about a group of people escaping Earth in a hijacked starship.
The album was nominated in 1971 for the Hugo Award, the premiere prize awarded by science fiction fandom.
Although it received a plurality of the vote in the Best Dramatic Presentation category, this was superseded by a majority that elected not to award the prize that year.
A sequel (Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra) including several Blows Against the Empire participants was released as a Kantner solo album in 1983.

Kantner had been in love with Grace Slick for some time, but she was involved in a relationship with the band's drummer, Spencer Dryden.
After their two-year affair ended, he finally had a chance with Grace.
In 1969, they began living together publicly as a couple.
Rolling Stone called them "the psychedelic John and Yoko."
Slick became pregnant, and a song about their child's impending birth, "A Child Is Coming," appeared on Blows Against the Empire.
Kantner and Slick's daughter China Wing Kantner was born in 1971.

Kantner and Slick released two follow
During the summer of 1965, singer Marty Balin saw Kantner perform at the Drinking Gourd, a San Francisco folk club, and invited him to co-found a new band, Jefferson Airplane. When the group needed a lead guitarist, Kantner recommended Kaukonen. As rhythm guitarist and one of the band's singers, Kantner was the only musician to appear on all albums recorded by Jefferson Airplane as well as Jefferson Starship. Kantner's songwriting often featured whimsical or political lyrics with science fiction or fantasy themes, usually set to music that had an almost martial rock sound.
Although the band retained a relatively egalitarian songwriting structure, Kantner became Jefferson Airplane's dominant creative force from 1967's After Bathing at Baxter's onward, writing the chart hits "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", "Watch Her Ride" and "Crown of Creation"; the controversial "We Can Be Together"; and, with Balin, "Today" (an earlier effort from Surrealistic Pillow) and "Volunteers". He also co-wrote the song "Wooden Ships" with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, but was not credited initially due to pending litigation with Jefferson Airplane's first manager. According to Balin, "He was a hard-headed guy to get along with and wouldn't do anybody else's music. We had to do what he could do, so that's what we all did eventually. We pretty much just did Paul's music. That's all he wanted to do. But it was unique. It was part of that era, part of that time. A lot of those songs still exist, still live on, still are good."
With Jefferson Airplane, Kantner was among the performers at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Recalling Woodstock 40 years later, Kantner stated: "We were due to be on stage at 10pm on the Saturday night but we didn't actually get on until 7.30am the following day." Later in 1969, the group also played at Altamont, where Balin was knocked unconscious during their set by a Hells Angels member originally hired as security for the concert. Kantner appears in the documentary film about the Altamont concert, Gimme Shelter, in a tense on-stage confrontation with a Hell's Angel regarding the altercation.
Despite its commercial success, the Airplane was plagued by intra-group fighting, causing the band to begin splintering at the height of its success. This was exacerbated by manager Bill Graham, who prodded the group to do more touring and more recording. During the transitional period of the early 1970s, as the Airplane started to come apart, Kantner recorded Blows Against The Empire, a concept album featuring an ad hoc group of musicians whom he dubbed Jefferson Starship.  This earliest edition of Jefferson Starship included members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (David Crosby and Graham Nash) and the Grateful Dead (Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart) alongside some of the other members of Jefferson Airplane (Grace Slick, Joey Covington and Jack Casady).
In Blows Against the Empire, Kantner and Slick sang about a group of people escaping Earth in a hijacked starship. The album was nominated in 1971 for the Hugo Award, the premiere prize awarded by science fiction fandom. Although it received a plurality of the vote in the Best Dramatic Presentation category, this was superseded by a majority that elected not to award the prize that year. A sequel (Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra) including several Blows Against the Empire participants was released as a Kantner solo album in 1983.
Kantner had been in love with Grace Slick for some time, but she was involved in a relationship with the band's drummer, Spencer Dryden. After their two-year affair ended, he finally had a chance with Grace. In 1969, they began living together publicly as a couple. Rolling Stone called them "the psychedelic John and Yoko." Slick became pregnant, and a song about their child's impending birth, "A Child Is Coming," appeared on Blows Against the Empire. Kantner and Slick's daughter China Wing Kantner was born in 1971.
Kantner and Slick released two follow
Paul Kantner