Craig Chaquico

Craig Clinton Chaquico (or Chaquiço, /tʃəˈkiːsoʊ/ chə-KEE-soh; born September 26, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and composer. From 1974 to 1990 he was lead guitarist for the rock bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. In 1993, he started a solo career as an acoustic jazz guitarist and composer.

Chaquico was born and raised in Sacramento, California and attended La Sierra High School in the suburb of Carmichael. His mother Muriel was a state government employee, and his father Bill owned an upholstery business. Both were of Portuguese descent. He had an older brother named Howard. The household was a musical one; Chaquico recalls, "My mom and dad were musicians and played around the house all the time. I thought everybody played the piano and organ like Mom and the sax and accordion like Dad together after dinner." He began playing the guitar as a young boy, when his parents bought him his first guitar at the age of ten.

When Chaquico was twelve, the car he and his father were traveling in was hit head-on by a drunk driver. Both of his arms were broken, as were his leg, ankle, foot, wrist, and thumb. During physical therapy, his father told him that guitarist Les Paul had been in a car accident and had played guitar to help himself heal. His father promised to buy him a Les Paul guitar when he got better. Although he could play only the high E string of his acoustic guitar due to his casts, he benefited from playing, and his father kept his word about the Les Paul.

Chaquico began performing in clubs in his teens. His English teacher Jack Traylor asked him to join the band Steelwind, which performed in Sacramento and San Francisco Bay, and Traylor introduced him to Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane. Kantner invited him to a series of recording sessions. At 16 he recorded for the first time with Kantner and Grace Slick on their albums Sunfighter and Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun. He played on Slick's solo album Manhole in 1973. He played alongside Jerry Garcia, David Crosby, David Freiberg, and Carlos Santana.

After Jefferson Airplane broke up, its remaining members formed Jefferson Starship. Chaquico joined the band in 1974. Jefferson Starship released nine platinum and gold selling albums between 1974 and 1984, including Red Octopus, which was certified double-platinum in 1995. He wrote or co-wrote "Fast Buck Freddy", "Love Too Good", "Rock Music", "Jane", "Find Your Way Back", and "Layin' It on the Line".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.