R.I.P. Jeff Airplane Drummer Joey Covington

Joey Covington

Joey Covington, a drummer for the rock band Jefferson Airplane in the early 1970s and a founding member of their bluesy spinoff Hot Tuna, died on Tuesday.

He was 67.  He died after crashing his car in Palm Springs, Calif., where he lived, according to the NYTimes.

Covington auditioned for Jefferson Airplane in 1969, when the other members of the group were considering replacing their drummer, Spencer Dryden, but did not join them immediately.

That year, he started playing with Hot Tuna, a side project formed by the band’s guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady, but was not on the group’s first record.

Covington replaced Mr. Dryden in 1970.

Joseph Edward Michno was born in Johnstown, Pa., on June 27, 1945. (He changed his name when he moved out to the West Coast because he thought the “no” in Michno was too negative.) He began teaching himself to play the drums when he was 10, then played with polka bands and later in strip clubs.

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