| Name: | Bill Thompson. |
| Children: | Tyrone Thompson |
Biography:
In early 1965, Bill Thompson, a copy boy at the San Francisco Chronicle, shared an appartment with former dancer and aspiring musician Marty Balin. When Balin formed Jefferson Airplane, he became a general helper and P.R. person for the band, managing to attract Chronicle music critic Ralph J. Gleason to an early performance at the Matrix. When the band began touring, he became their road manager before receiving a field promotion to acting manager following the firing of Matthew Katz the month before "Takes Off" was released. At the beginning of 1967, when the band appointed Bill Graham as manager, he reverted back to being the road manager/assistant manager. In January 1968, the band decided to split with Graham, and appointed Thompson as full-time manager. Besides handling the Airplane and, later, Jefferson Starship, he also oversaw the activities of Hot Tuna and the various Kantner and Slick solo outings. When Jefferson Starship fragmented in 1985, Thompson sided with Starship, but retained ties with Paul Kantner. While not officially connected with the band any longer, he still rated a mention in the sleeve notes for "Deep Space / Virgin Sky".
Trivia:
His only appearance on a record comes at the end of "A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You Shortly" on "Baxters", when he shouts "He's a peninsula!"
He has also appeared in the video for "No Way Out" where he plays the priest taking Mickey Thomas' confession.