The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (PERRO) is a nickname given to some artists who recorded together in the early 1970s. They were predominantly members of

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

, the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young .''If I Could Only Remember My Name....'', Related releases, on DeadDisc.com
/ref> Their first album together was for Paul Kantner/

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...

's ''

Blows Against the Empire ''Blows Against the Empire'' is a concept album by Paul Kantner, released under the name Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship. It is the first album to use the "Starship" moniker, a name which Kantner and Grace Slick would later use for the band ...

''. Starship founder Paul Kantner came up with the term "Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra", a label of reference to the San Francisco musicians that played on David Crosby's '' If I Could Only Remember My Name''. During the sessions for Crosby's album at Wally Heider Studios, the musicians of each band (who were working in other rooms) dropped in to the sessions and improvised hours of music, and everything was recorded. Some of the basic tracks played during these recorded sessions in 1971 were used for Crosby's album. Engineer Stephen Barncard and David Crosby made rough mixes of some of the session tapes, and in 1991 Graham Nash sent a DAT tape to Paul Kantner which later showed up in the tape trading markets as a 'pristine' digital copy. Barncard came up with the PERRO abbreviation when he needed to identify the 2 inch wide tapes on sides, standing vertically. The "PERRO Chorus" is credited on Crosby's song, "What Are Their Names") and several other solo albums after Crosby's (see discography). The name

was later used for Paul Kantner and Grace Slick's new band formed in 1974. Paul Kantner recorded a solo album in 1983 as a tribute to this time, '' Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra''.

Rehearsal Tapes Personnel

* David Crosby – guitar, vocals * Graham Nash – guitar, vocals * Paul Kantner – guitar, banjo, vocals * Grace Slick – piano, vocals * Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar * Jack Casady – bass *

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

– guitar, vocals *

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American 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 ...

– bass * Bill Kreutzmann – drums *

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

– percussion * David Freiberg – viola, vocals *

Stephen Barncard Stephen Quinn Barncard (born January 24, 1947) is an American record producer and sound engineer. He is best known for his work producing rock albums of the 1970s, including the Grateful Dead's '' American Beauty'' and David Crosby's ''If I Could O ...

- producer, engineer, archivist

Rehearsal Tapes Personnel

Discography

Notes

See also