Artist · chart history · #254 in indie & aaa artist polls
Hot Tuna
Band San Francisco United States Formed 1969
Hot Tuna formed in 1969 in San Francisco, United States. Hot Tuna has 5 chart appearances on 5 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1997–2020. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Water Song”, which appears on 3 lists with a best position of #597. The station that charted Hot Tuna most often is WXPN (Philadelphia, PA), with 4 appearances.
Hot Tuna started as a blues outlet for two Jefferson Airplane men. Jorma Kaukonen on guitar and vocals and Jack Casady on bass started it in San Francisco in 1969, and the rest of the band has been a moveable feast ever since, with Marty Balin, Joey Covington and Paul Kantner passing through early on.
By Burgers, on Grunt in 1972, the lineup included Papa John Creach and Sammy Piazza on drums, and the music had started to swing and stretch out. "Water Song" is the gem, a reverie that flows like its title, all shimmer and patience.
Players kept coming and going over the decades, Michael Falzarano, Pete Sears, Barry Mitterhoff and Skoota Warner among them, but the heart of Hot Tuna has never moved: Kaukonen and Casady, still trading licks like two old friends finishing each other's sentences.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Hot Tuna on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Water Song | 3 | #597 | – | – | |
| 2 | Watch the North Wind Rise | 1 | #311 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1043 | Water Song | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time |
| 2009 | 849 | Water Song | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) |
| 2006 | 257 | Artist ranking | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Artists (2006) |
| 2004 | 597 | Water Song | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) |
| 1997 | 311 | Watch the North Wind Rise | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) |
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