Oar (Skip Spence album)

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Oar
Studio album by Skip Spence
Released	May 19, 1969
Recorded	1968
Genre	Rock/Folk
Length	44:38 (original album) ; 65:13 (1999 reissue)
Label	Sundazed
Producer	Alexander Spence
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Crawdaddy! (favorable) link
Skip Spence chronology
Oar (1969)

Oar is a 1969 album by Skip Spence. It was his first and only solo album. It was recorded after he had spent six months in Bellevue Hospital. The majority of the tracks were recorded on a three-track recorder.

Subsequent reissues have added ten more songs, in different stages of completion, to the original dozen. The original release ended with a fade out of "Grey / Afro". The 1999 Sony/Sundazed reissue appends "This Time He Has Come" to a fade-less "Grey / Afro", which reflects how the two songs appeared on the master tapes.

In 1999, the Birdman label of Burbank, California released a tribute album titled More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album. It featured covers of the original record's tracks by artists which included Robert Plant, Robyn Hitchcock, Tom Waits, Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan, Ryan Mendoza, Wafic Omran, and Beck.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Little Hands" – 3:44
2. "Cripple Creek" – 2:16
3. "Diana" – 3:32
4. "Margaret/Tiger Rug" – 2:17
5. "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" – 6:27
6. "War in Peace" – 4:05
7. "Broken Heart" – 3:29
8. "All Come to Meet Her" – 2:04
9. "Books of Moses" – 2:42
10. "Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin for Yang)" – 2:53
11. "Lawrence of Euphoria" – 1:31
12. "Grey/Afro" – 9:38
    • tracks 1-12 are the original album
13. "This Time He Has Come" – 4:42
14. "It's the Best Thing for You" – 2:48
15. "Keep Everything Under Your Hat" – 3:06
16. "Furry Heroine (Halo of Gold)" – 3:35
17. "Givin' up Things" :59
    • tracks 13-17 are extra tracks
18. "If I'm Good" :47
19. "You Know" – 1:47
20. "Doodle" – 1:02
21. "Fountain" :34
22. "I Think You and I" – 1:14
    • tracks 18-22 were added in the 1999 reissue