Tag: Moby Grape

Moby Grape – Omaha

I did a San Francisco music week a few months ago and featured this band for the first time. I’ve been wanting to come back to them and today is the day. They came out of the San Francisco scene in the 60s along with The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and others. They were never as big as those bands but I’ve heard many of their songs that I liked.

It comes back to some bad luck and some self-sabotage. They had it all…including five members who could all write, sing and play. Record labels were lining up for them. They have since fought for decades between each other and especially their manager Matthew Katz. Other bands like Buffalo Springfield said that Moby Grape was one of the best bands from San Francisco.

One of their problems was hype. CBS was their record company and they decided it would be great to release FIVE singles at once by the band. The label was convinced that each of the 10 sides had the potential to make it to the top of the national charts. The thinking was that a shot-gun approach would ensure that at least one of the five would hit and garner maximum airplay and revenue. It failed miserably.

Nowadays an album is released and different songs are played… every song on an album can chart. That is why it’s almost impossible to compare the charts now to any other time in history before downloading. I guess CBS was ahead of their time but way too far ahead and the market wasn’t ready for it. You couldn’t just download it in 1967 with your love beads and patchouli oil…although I do like patchouli oil!

This song was one of the five singles released and it did better than the others. It did chart in the top 100 so there is that. It peaked at #88 on the Billboard 100 and #87 on the Canadian Charts in 1967. It’s a good song and I think it deserved to do better than that but with a glut of songs it was probably doomed to fail. It was on their debut album Moby Grape which peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts.

They are still together with some of the original members. Peter Lewis, Jerry Miller, Bob Mosley, and Don Stevenson. Skip Spencer died in 1999 of lung cancer. His son Omar Spence is now with Moby Grape…singing his dad’s songs. There is a cult following of this band and they had the talent to do much more. This is a case of a record company really hurting them.

Omaha

Listen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friends

Listen, my friends, you thought never butListen, my friends, I’m yours foreverListen, my friends, won’t leave you ever

Now my friendsWhat’s gone down behindNo more rainFrom where we came

Listen my love, get under the covers, yeahSqueeze me real tight, all of your lovin’Into the light, beneath and above yaSo out of sight, bein’ in love!

Listen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friendsListen, my friends

…

Moby Grape – Hey Grandma

This week I’m hitting the San Francisco sound of the 1960s. This is one area that I haven’t touched on much since I’ve been blogging besides The Dead and Janis Joplin. Those two I’ve talked about quite a bit so I’ll probably leave those off this week. I can’t tell you how much fun this is. The whole point of blogging for me is to find new songs that I haven’t heard…whether old or new.  I hope you enjoy this week as we visit an area that I’m not familiar with very much.

I’ve read about this band but never heard their music. They really blew me away! They were very tight and their harmonies were great. I will post something else by this band in the future. So far I’ve found out that they are very much a song band. Not a band who will extend a song to 15 minutes…they got to the point and got out.

Alright, buckle up for a trip back to the groovy 60s! Moby Grape was this super cool band from San Francisco that rocked the scene with their unique blend of psychedelic rock. They were formed by Canadian Skip Spence and Matthew Katz. Katz was the former manager of the Jefferson Airplane and Spence was the Airplane’s original drummer. Katz asked Spence to form a band like The Jefferson Airplane.

I listen to this band and I think..how did they not make it? It comes back to some bad luck and some self-sabotage. They had it all…including five members who could all write, sing and play. Record labels were lining up for them. They have since fought for decades between each other and especially their manager Matthew Katz. Other bands like Buffalo Springfield said that Moby Grape was one of the best bands from San Francisco.

They faced more drama than your favorite soap opera. From internal squabbles to management mishaps, it was like they couldn’t catch a break. And for the icing on the cake…they were overhyped by CBS Records.

This next bit of info took me by surprise. CBS actually released 5…yes FIVE singles at once by the band. The label was convinced that each of the 10 sides had the potential to make it to the top of the national charts. The thinking was that a shot-gun approach would ensure that at least one of the five would hit and garner maximum airplay and revenue. It failed miserably. Rock magazines, underground newspapers, and the mainstream press viewed the ploy as a cynical way to move products. Having your record company behind you is good, but who could live up to that? Their reputation suffered greatly.

This was the last single of that batch to be released. It peaked at #127 on the Billboard 100 and #94 on Cashbox. The highest charting single was Omaha, another really good song and it peaked at #88 on the Billboard 100 and #87 in Canada in 1967. The album did much better. The self-titled album Moby Grape peaked at #24 on the Billboard Album Charts.

Moby Grape was formed in 1966 with Peter Lewis as rhythm guitarist. Jerry Miller on lead guitar, Bob Mosley as the bassist and vocalist. Skip Spence on rhythm guitar and experimental drummer, and Don Stevenson on drums and he did some vocals. Their debut album, simply titled Moby Grape was released in 1967. It featured tracks like “Omaha” and “Hey Grandma” became instant Moby Grape classics, showing off the band’s killer harmonies and eclectic sound.

I really like the guitar work in this. Their harmonies sound like the future Grateful Dead would in the early seventies. Things took a darker turn with Skip Spence, one of their star members, battling personal demons. His struggles with mental health and substance abuse led to him leaving the band in 1969. He would return in 1971 and later as they disbanded and came back together.

They are still together with some of the original members. Peter Lewis, Jerry Miller, Bob Mosley, and Don Stevenson. Skip Spencer died in 1999 of lung cancer. His son Omar Spence is now with Moby Grape…singing his dad’s songs. There is a cult following of this band and they had the talent to do much more. This is a case of a record company really hurting them the opposite way they usually do.

Peter Lewis:  “We were so young. All we wanted to do was be free. What made us feel worse was that Buffalo Springfield seemed to be getting along fine. They didn’t like Katz at all. Neil Young was up there at the Ark, sitting right there when we were told we had to sign this paper giving away rights to the name. I remember him sitting there, playing this orange Gretsch he had and staring down at his feet. He didn’t say anything. But after that meeting, he told us not to do it. Don’t ask me why, but we did. When Rubinson came along, he said that if we signed with Columbia he’d get rid of Katz for us. Then after he got us signed [in February 1967] he came back and said that the Columbia lawyers couldn’t do it, that they’d made a deal behind our backs. Then we were really screwed.”

Hey Grandma

Hey Grandma, you’re so youngYour old man’s just a boyBeen a long time this time (pow-pow-pow)Been a long time this time (pow-pow-pow)Been a long time this time round, this time roundEverything is upside down, upside downSure lookin’ goodYou’re lookin’ so goodYou’re sure lookin’ good

SF freak scene was on my mindFillmore Slim is just a-wasting timeWell I got high this time (pow-pow-pow)Well I got high this time (pow-pow-pow)Well I got high this time round, this time roundEverything is upside down, upside downCause your lookin’ goodYou’re lookin’ so goodYou’re sure lookin’ good

Robitussin make me feel so fineRobitussin and Elderberry wineHey GrandmaHey GrandmaHey GrandmaHey Grandma