Moby Grape

Moby Grape is an American rock group that was founded in the 1960s and that still meets sporadically for live concerts today. All five founding members were both songwriters and singers, who stylistically combined elements of folk rock , blues , country music and jazz in their songs. The band is one of the most influential formations on the San Francisco music scene of the 1960s. Her story is burdened with personal tragedies, bad business decisions and legal disputes that continue to this day.

history

1966-1967

The group was founded in late 1966 by Alexander “Skip” Spence and Matthew Katz. Spence had played drums on Jefferson Airplane's first album , Jefferson Airplane Takes Off . Katz had been the manager of the group who later encouraged Spence to form a band resembling Jefferson Airplane, in which he would play guitar and sing. The other members are Bob Mosley (bass guitar), former member of The Misfits from San Diego , Jerry Miller (lead guitar) and Don Stevenson (drums), who had both played with The Frantics, The Warlocks and The Bobby Fuller Four (Miller) as well Peter Lewis (guitar), son of actress Loretta Young and former member of The Cornells. After Spence and Mosley had given the band the name Moby Grape and a contract with the renowned record company Columbia Records was in prospect, the musicians separated from Matthew Katz, with whose management they were not satisfied early on. However, after Columbia Records insisted on a negotiating partner and Katz made himself available both as a liaison for concert promoters, he was able to return to his position.

Katz had also supported the group financially when it was founded. a. paid apartment rentals for Spence and Mosley and musical equipment for several of the musicians. Only Lewis was not dependent on such support thanks to his wealthy origins. For his support, Katz demanded written confirmation from the band that the band name should be his personal property. Due to their financially precarious situation, the musicians agreed. As a result, Katz continues to take legal action against the group's records and CDs if they appear under the name Moby Grape without his consent. The band members who are still alive today do not receive any royalties for their earlier work.

Much like the band Buffalo Springfield , which was active at the same time and whose members Stephen Stills , Neil Young and Richie Furay were friends with, Moby Grape had three guitarists who worked together in a form they called crosstalk . Jerry Miller mainly took on the lead role, Spence the rhythm and Lewis fingerpicking.

For their debut album Moby Grape , released in 1967, all five musicians contributed songs, with Mosley, Lewis and Spence usually composing alone, Miller and Stevenson together. The album was ranked 121 on the list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003 . The song Omaha by Skip Spence included on the album reached number 95 on Rolling Stone's 2008 list of 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time .

Columbia Records released, along with the debut album, all songs on the record in addition to five singles. The record company, which until 1965 was mainly focused on light music and jazz, achieved with this step that the band was viewed by critics as over-hyped. The album, however, received good reviews and sold satisfactorily. The following song Hey Grandma was soon covered by The Move on their first album, was part of the soundtrack of the film The Interpreter (with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman ) in 2005 and was reinterpreted by The Black Crowes on their album Warpaint Live in 2009 . The single Omaha was the only one to hit the charts (# 88 in 1967). Miller and Stevenson's composition 8:05 became the country rock standard and was covered by artists like Robert Plant , Guy Burlage and others.

In mid-June 1967 Moby Grape performed at the Monterey Pop Festival . Matthew Katz, who arranged the performance, charged film producer DA Pennebaker $ 1 million for the rights to film the band performance . This was refused and the group's performance took place on a date when only a small audience was present. In addition to this debacle, some of the musicians were sued for seducing underage girls. The lawsuits were later dropped, but the group's relationship with their manager had once again come to an end.

1968-1969

The second album Wow / Grape Jam , released in 1968 and produced by David Rubinson , peaked at number 20 on Billboard Pop Albums. It was a double album with studio recordings on Wow and improvised blues sessions with Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield on Grape Jam . The songs showed more maturity and were partly lavishly arranged with winds and strings. The group had developed their work on guitars and choral vocals, which was reminiscent of The Byrds . Outstanding compositions were Bitter Wind (Bob Mosley), He (Peter Lewis) and Can't Be So Bad (Miller / Stevenson). Murder In My Heart For The Judge (Miller / Stevenson) has become an integral part of the band's live repertoire and has been covered by several other artists. A specialty was the piece Just Like Gene Autry, a Foxtrot (Spence) in the style of ballroom music of the big band era and only playable correctly at 78 revolutions of the record player. Also in 1968 the band contributed with a guest appearance to the soundtrack of the film The Sweet Ride .

Skip Spence, who had also brought in the song Motorcycle Irene and had been the central figure of the band in live performances, took an overdose of LSD towards the end of the recordings for Wow in New York, with the result that he and his bandmate Don Stevenson and attacked other people in a hotel with an ax. After he was overpowered, the police took him first to Tombs Prison in New York, and later to the neighboring Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated for six months. During this time he wrote several songs that he recorded after his release in Nashville and which later appeared on his only solo album Oar . He had played all the instruments himself.

Spence was no longer a member of Moby Grape at the time. The doctors had diagnosed him with schizophrenia (as later also with Mosley) and the musician was no longer able to pursue a professional activity or make a living from regular music-making. The band without Spence began recording their new album Moby Grape '69 in 1968 , which was released in January 1969. Again contributions from all band members were there, with the outstanding songs It's A Beautiful Day, Today and Truckin 'Man (Mosley), Ooh Mama Ooh (Miller / Stevenson) and If You Can't Learn From My Mistakes (Lewis). Even a contribution from Skip Spence became possible, as the band together completed a recording of his song Seeing (also called Skip's Song ), which was unfinished by Spence in 1968 . At the end of the recording, Mosley left the band, so that the bass of Miller had to be played on Ooh Mama Ooh . To the shock of his bandmates, Mosley joined the U.S. Marines , but was released seven months later.

Miller, Lewis and Stevenson fulfilled the contractual obligation to Columbia Records for another album with the recordings of Truly Fine Citizen , released in late 1969. The songs were of the usual quality, but lacked the powerful soul voice and idiosyncratic bass guitar of Mosley had to be replaced by the Nashville session bassist Bob Moore . Also the work of the new producer Bob Johnston , who u. a. Bob Dylan , Simon & Garfunkel albums produced by Byrds and Leonard Cohen led to further irritation among fans. No doubt the musicians had matured further, which was made clear by songs like Right Between The Eyes and Changes, Circle Spinning (Lewis) and the instrumental Love Song, Part Two (T. Dell'Ara), the clear and transparent Nashville song produced by Johnston Sound with clearly separated electric guitar and acoustic guitar, however, had moved significantly away from the times of crosstalk. In addition, the band was meanwhile in a lawsuit that Matthew Katz had brought because of the naming rights. In order not to run the risk of Katz collecting the royalties for their songs, Miller and Stevenson published their compositions under the pseudonym T. Dell'Ara (the name of their road manager). The band finally broke up in late 1969.

After the split, Miller and Stevenson formed The Rhythm Dukes with John Barrett (bass) and John "Fuzzy" Oxendine (drums) , which Bill Champlin later joined. The band, in which Stevenson played mainly guitar, appeared mainly as opening act between 1969 and 1971 and their only album was released in 2005.

1970-1989

In 1971, all five band members and Gordon Stevens ( violin , dobro , mandolin ) came together to record the reunion album 20 Granite Creek , which appeared on Reprise Records in the same year and was again produced by David Rubinson. The band's sound was now more collective again, with intense guitar work and a lead guitar by Jerry Miller, which was more oriented towards jazz influences. Outstanding pieces were Gypsy Wedding (Mosley), Baby, I'm The Kind Of Man That You Can Trust (Miller), About Time (Stevenson), Apocalypse and Horse In The Rain (Lewis). Spence's contribution consisted of the instrumental Chinese Song , played by him on the Japanese string instrument Koto . In Ode To The Man At The End Of The Bar , Mosley celebrated his alcoholism.

During the last few days of the Fillmore East venue , Moby Grape made a number of appearances to introduce their reunion album. At these concerts, they also played songs that were not on the album, including When You're Down The Road and Just A Woman (Mosley), There Is No Reason (Lewis), We Don't Know Now and Sailing (Spence ). Sailing was last sung by Spence at a Moby Grape gig in Palookaville in 1996 . Mosley sang his Ode To The Man a cappella at the Fillmore East . When Spence left shortly afterwards, the group broke up again.

In the 1970s and 1980s, group members found themselves together again and again in various formations. Bob Mosley and Jerry Miller recorded, together with rhythm guitarists Michael Been (later with The Call ) and John Craviotto (drums), an album of the same name under the name Fine Wine in 1976, which was only released in Germany on Polydor Records . In 1977 Mosley was, together with Craviotto and the band's founder Neil Young, a member of the band The Ducks , which performed in the area of Santa Cruz , California , was very well known there and made some studio recordings that were never released. Today some of them can be heard on the Internet .

In 1978 the LP Live Grape was released on Escape Records with recordings of live performances with Jerry Miller, Peter Lewis, Skip Spence, Cornelius Bumpus ( tenor saxophone , vocals), Christian Powell (bass), John Oxindine (drums) and Daniel Spencer (drums). Spence was then heard for the first time again as a singer with his contribution Must Be Goin 'Now Dear . Lewis contributed one of the most memorable songs with That Lost Horizon and Miller proved with extensive improvisations that he had developed further in the direction of jazz. The country rock Here I Sit came from him at the same time , with the background vocals typical of Moby Grape.

In 1984 an album called Moby Grape , later unofficially called Moby Grape '84 , was released on the Matthew Katz record label, San Francisco Sound . Surprisingly, the band and manager seemed to have come closer again. The recordings, however, were mostly new songs by Bob Mosley, sung by him and accompanied by studio musicians such as keyboardist Richard Dean. Peter Lewis contributed two songs and Don Stevenson with Jerry Miller the song Too Old To Boogie , sung by Stevenson. Nor did Miller or Spence take part vocally or instrumentally. The sound of the recordings corresponded to the techniques typical for the 1980s and was Matthew's attempt to make Moby Grape sound contemporary. However, the lack of Miller's guitar, the ubiquitous keyboard, and the work of the studio musicians in general have made the album appear to fans as a pseudo-Moby Grape. Lewis' Silver Wheels and Mosley's Queen Of The Crow, on the other hand, reached the quality of earlier songs.

In the summer of 1987, Moby Grape appeared on a few shows along with It's a Beautiful Day , Fraternity of Man and Strawberry Alarm Clock . Miller, Lewis, Mosley, Spence and Stevenson played among others. a. at Marin Civic College and Cupertino's DeAnza College, especially the classics of their first two albums.

In the following years there were sporadic joint appearances in different compositions, with Spence being activated and involved by his colleagues whenever his state of health allowed it. The band appeared as Mosley Grape , Legendary Grape or The Melvilles , due to the court proceedings brought by Katz again regarding the band name .

In 1989 a music cassette with new studio recordings of all band members was released under the title Moby Grape . After Katz again sued against the use of the name, the cassette was taken off the market and re-released with new packaging under the name Legendary Grape, The Melvilles . The recordings have also been available on CD since 2003, including bonus tracks. In contrast to 1984, all band members except Skip Spence were actively involved, as well as Richard Dean on keyboards and vocals. All My Life, written by Spence, can be called an outstanding song.

1990-2005

Mosley, Miller and Lewis released solo albums in the 1990s and through 2006. Stevenson withdrew from active music life. Mosley and Spence were mostly homeless .

The double album Wow / Grape Jam was first released on CD in the late 1980s on Matthew Katz's San Francisco Sound Label. In 1993 Legacy Recordings released the sampler Vintage: The Very Best Of Moby Grape , on which the complete first album, the LP Moby Grape '69, almost completely, selected tracks by Wow and Truly Fine Citizen as well as studio outtakes are included. This CD gave the band new attention and access to a new audience.

In 1994 the band members in turn filed a lawsuit against Matthew Katz. They were able to prove that the then producer and manager of the group, David Rubinson, had ceded the rights to the musicians' songs to Katz in a secret agreement in 1973, at a time when Mosley and Spence had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and they were legally not were legally competent. The process, which lasted until 2006, meant that the musicians did not receive any royalties for the release of the CD Vintage: The Very Best Of Moby Grape .

2006-2011

After three decades of litigation with Matthew Katz, the Moby Grape musicians finally got their name back in 2006. In September 2007 the band played in front of 40,000 spectators in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on the occasion of the Summer Of Love 40th Anniversary Celebration. In October of the same year, Sundazed Records released the band's first five albums with bonus tracks on CD and vinyl. A month later, the company had to cease production of Moby Grape , Wow and Grape Jam after Matthew Katz had again sued the publication.

Sundazed Records , which pointed out in the proceedings that it had received the rights to the publications from Sony Records, as legal successor to Columbia Records, stopped further production as requested, but instead released the sampler The Place and the Time and in 2009 2010 the band's first official live album, Moby Grape Live . Sony Records had the sampler Cross Talk: The Best of Moby Grape in 2004 and Listen My Friends in 2007 ! The Best of Moby Grape published,

After decades of homelessness and suffering from mental illness and alcoholism, Alexander “Skip” Spence died of lung cancer in 1999, a few days before his 53rd birthday. In the last years of his life he had found shelter in a social institution.

Jerry Miller appears today both as a solo artist and with his Jerry Miller Band in the Washington area .

In 1995 Peter Lewis released a solo CD and in 2003, together with David West, the album Live in Bremen on the German record label Taxim . From 2000 to 2003 he participated in the reunion of the band Electric Prunes , on whose album Artifact he played in 2002.

Bob Mosley lives in the Santa Cruz, California area, where he occasionally performs with country music veteran Larry Hosford and, as a duo, with former Doobie Brothers keyboardist Dale Ockerman.

Don Stevenson, who still plays sporadically with his ex-music colleagues, works full-time as a real estate agent in Canada .

More recent concerts by Moby Grape are mainly performed by Jerry Miller, Bob Mosley and Peter Lewis, now also with the support of Skip Spence's son, Omar, on guitar and vocals, and Jerry Miller's son, Joseph, on drums.

In 2010, Stevenson, Miller and Omar Spence played together at the South by Southwest Music Festival , where Peter Lewis also performed solo.

In 2011 the first solo album by Don Stevenson was released, in which Jerry Miller also participated.

Discography

Singles

• 1967: Changes / Fall On You
• 1967: Sitting By The Window / Indifference
• 1967: 8:05 / Mister Blues
• 1967: Omaha / Someday
• 1967: Hey Grandma / Come In The Morning
• 1968: Can't Be So Bad / Bitter Wind
• 1969: If You Can't Learn From My Mistakes / Trucking Man
• 1969: Ooh Mama Ooh / It's A Beautiful Day Today
• 1971: Gypsy Wedding / Apocalypse
• 1971: Goin 'Down To Texas / About Time
• 1972: Gone Fishin '/ Gypsy Wedding

Albums

• 1967: Moby Grape
• 1968: Wow
• 1968: Grape Jam
• 1969: Moby Grape '69
• 1969: Truly Fine Citizen
• 1971: 20 Granite Creek
• 1978: Live Grape
• 1984: Moby Grape '84
• 1989: Legendary Graoe
• 2010: Moby Grape Live

In addition to many covers of Moby Grape songs by Robert Plant, The Move and others, several tribute albums have also been released since 2002, such as Mo'Grape (2000), Even Mo'Grape (2002), Still Mo'Grape , Forever Mo and Just Say Mo .

Jerry Miller Solo

• 1993: Now I See
• 1995: Life Is Like That
• 1998: Live At Cole's

Bob Mosley Solo

• 1972: Bob Mosley
• 1974: Never Dreamed
• 1974: The Darrow Mosley Band
• 1986: Wine and Roses
• 1989: Mosley Grape Live At Indigo Ranch
• 2005: True Blue

Peter Lewis Solo

• 1995: Peter Lewis
• 2003: Live In Bremen (with David West)

Alexander "Skip" Spence Solo

• 1969: Oar

Don Stevenson Solo

• 2011: King Of The Fools

Web links

Commons : Moby Grape  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Moby Grape discography and lyrics
• The story of Moby Grape: chaos and courtrooms, acid and white witches

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Levy, Joe (Ed.): Rolling Stone. The 500 best albums of all time . (Original edition: Rolling Stone. The 500 Greatest Albums of all Time . Wenner Media 2005). Translation: Karin Hofmann. Wiesbaden: White Star Verlag, 2011, p. 114