Moby Grape (album)

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Moby Grape
Moby Grape cover
Studio album by Moby Grape
Released June, 1967
Recorded 1967
Genre Rock, folk rock, garage rock
Length 29:23
Label Columbia
Producer David Rubinson
Professional reviews
Moby Grape chronology
Moby Grape
(1967)		 Wow/Grape Jam
(1968)

Moby Grape is the rock band Moby Grape's eponymous 1967 debut album. Coming from the San Francisco scene, their reputation quickly grew to immense proportions, leading to a bidding war and contract with Columbia Records. Skip Spence, ex-drummer of Jefferson Airplane, traded his drum kit for guitar and between the five band members, thirteen songs emerged.

Contents


Columbia chose to release ten of the thirteen songs on five singles: "Fall on You"/"Changes", "Sitting By the Window"/"Indifference" (2:46 edit), "8:05"/"Mister Blues", "Omaha"/"Someday" and "Hey Grandma"/Come in the Morning". Columbia's decision may have diluted the power of the entire album. By the time of their 1968 follow-up, Wow/Grape Jam, the group had begun their disintegration.

Nevertheless, as Gene Sculatti and Davin Seay write in their book San Francisco Nights (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985 and out of print), Moby Grape "remains one of the very few psychedelic masterpieces ever recorded," while the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said their "debut LP is as fresh and exhilarating today as it was when it exploded out of San Francisco during 1967's summer of love." In 2003, the album was ranked number 121 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

On the front cover of the original release, Don Stevenson is flipping the bird on the washboard. It was airbrushed out on subsequent pressings, but the UK re-issue on Edsel/Demon restored the photo to its original state.

"Omaha" was covered by The Golden Palominos in 1985 on their Visions of Excess, with Michael Stipe on lead vocal. The song has also occasionally been performed live in concert by Bruce Springsteen.

On October 9, 2007 Sundazed Records released a remastered CD version of the album's stereo mix containing bonus tracks, some of which were previously unreleased. In addition, Sundazed also released the album's mono mix on LP, but with no bonus tracks. Both the CD and LP versions were taken out of print, along with Wow and Grape Jam, on November 3, 2007 for reasons not officially stated. It has been widely circulated among the Moby Grape mailing list that former manager Matthew Katz, whom the band has been in legal battles with since the late 1960s, threatened to file a lawsuit against Sundazed claiming ownership of the album artwork.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Side one

  1. "Hey Grandma" (Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson) – 2:25
  2. "Mister Blues" (Bob Mosley) – 1:55
  3. "Fall on You" (Peter Lewis) – 1:50
  4. "8:05" (Miller, Stevenson) – 2:17
  5. "Come in the Morning" (Mosley) – 2:04
  6. "Omaha" (Skip Spence) – 2:19
  7. "Naked, If I Want To" (Miller) – 0:51

[edit] Side two

  1. "Someday" (Miller, Stevenson) – 2:30
  2. "Ain't No Use" (Miller, Stevenson) – 1:33
  3. "Sitting by the Window" (Lewis) – 2:38
  4. "Changes" (Miller, Stevenson) – 3:13
  5. "Lazy Me" (Mosley) – 1:39
  6. "Indifference" (Spence) – 4:09

[edit] Bonus tracks on 2007 CD edition

  1. Rounder (instrumental)
  2. Looper (audition recording)
  3. Indifference (audition recording)(previously unissued)
  4. Bitter Wind (previously unissued)
  5. Sweet Ride (Never Again) (long version, previously unissued)

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard

Year Chart Position
1967 Pop Albums 24

Singles - Billboard

Year Single Chart Position
1967 "Omaha" Pop Singles 88