1969
January - Slick is hospitalized with a suspected throat growth, undergoing a csecond operation for nodes on her vocal cords.

April - Live album, Bless Its Pointed Little Head, recorded at the Fillmore West on October 24-26th, 1968, and the Fillmore East, November 28-30th, 1968, makes #17 in the US.

May - Casady is arrested for possession of marijuana, in New Orleans, and will receive a 2 1/2 year suspended sentence.

June - Bless Its Pointed Little Head becomes the group's first UK chart entry, spending a week at #38.

August - The band performs at the "Atlantic City Pop Festival", Atlantic City, NJ, before an audience of 110,000.
The group headlines a concert in Tanglewood, Lenox, MA with B.B. King and The Who.
Airplane headlines the second day, by now early Sunday morning, of the "Woodstock Music & Art Fair", Bethel, NY.

October - Kantner is busted for marijuana possession in Honolulu, HI, found guilty of a misdemeanor and fined $350.

November - The group plays at the Fillmore East, with Slick dressed as Hitler and actor Rip Torn making an appearance as Richard Nixon.

December - Volunteers, the band's most overtly political work, reaches #13 in the US.
The band takes part in the Rolling Stones' ill-fated concert at Altamont Speedway, CA. Balin is attacked halfway through a song, by one of the Hell's Angels "handling" security.
The extracted title track, Volunteers, makes #65 in the US.
The group plays a New Year's Eve show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.