Psychedelic Rock's Oddball: The Story of Skip Spence
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
- Skip Spence was according to Allmusic one of the brightest lights of the world of Psychedelic Rock. An essential member of early Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, Skip Spence became known for his unorthodox solo album Oar. So join me as we explore the interesting life of the former Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape member.
Twitter/X: / joefikifiki
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:00 Part One: Early life and career beginnings
02:39 Part Two: Jefferson Airplane
04:18 Part Three: Moby Grape and fire axe incident
07:45 Part Four: Hospitalization and the making of Oar
09:42 Part Five: The end of Moby Grape and later days - เพลง
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I was in San Francisco when Skip Spence and Moby grape we're at their best. Such energy!
I lived in a dingy apartment in front of Skip's dingy apartment in downtown Los Gatos (right next to San Jose) in the late seventies. We shared a communal shower, along with some other tenants, where I'd bump into him every once a month or so . . . one of us waiting for the other to get out of the shower. Neither Skip nor I showered a lot in those days. We'd chat briefly, but never really had a significant conversation. He was quite clearly "out there" but he was quiet and polite and didn't seem to go out much, or have any visitors. After a couple of years I moved to Santa Cruz (to a place with a private shower ! ! !). I don't remember ever seeing him that area. All I can say is that he was a good neighbor and seemed like a nice man. RIP, Skip Spence.
Did he mention the lsd in the 60s as he said band s arnt taking it that s why there's not enough psych in the 90s
@@waynesilverman3048 No, he never talked about his past. I had heard he was once a rock star but it felt like it would be intrusive to bring it up. Our chats were occasional, brief and just about day to day stuff . . . like the pains of living across the street from a large high school, or what a greedy harpy the landlady was . . . Mrs. Ogilvy. Normally, I wouldn't name her but I'm sure she's in heaven now . . . charging rents.
I saw Skip walking down the street in San Jose a couple of times. Instantly recognizable. Couldn't be anyone else.
On the contrary Skip was very coherent with me when I met him in the’80’s. He was a caring and loving person who loved all of his band members in EPICENTER. He never hurt me or anyone else as far as the time I had known him. I had mental illness too but we looked after each other. He was a good friend and we all stuck together. Geez I miss him.
Moby Grape was a killer band!! Too much talent! Skip was the inspiration for the band!! Great work
In the summer of 1967, Moby Grape with Skip Spence, a musical energy source heretofore unknown, performed 3 nights a week at Winterland in San Francisco. These were epic performances. Bob Mosly, Jerry Miller, and Skip Spence presented a front-line that had the most astounding three-part harmonies and synchronous playing any of us had ever seen or heard. Loved and appreciated by the most discerning musical fans! That first Moby Grape album was in every record collection in California, North and South.
What a true classic. OAR is a masterpiece, and it (and the story of Skip) reminds me of the unsung masters that don’t get nearly enough credit-though they inspired so many more heralded musicians after them. I immediately think of Paul Kopaz (who I know was a fan of Skip), Jim Sullivan, Tav Falco, and Mark Lanegan (who is on the More Oar record).
Some get their dues after they die and some never truly do. What a heartbreaker.
Thank you for shining a light on a forgotten masterpiece and a misunderstood artist of the highest caliber!
Thank you for your kind words. It is a bit depressing that many great musicians, and projects are only truly appreciated after they've passed away, like it was the case with Oar. But at the end of the day the real tragedy comes from how Skip lived the rest of his life and not from whether he found success in his life or not.
I'm a major Grape fan. Oar sucks big time.
Some people just can’t handle the dopamine rush that comes with playing music and jamming for crowds, then the chemicals come in and it’s over and out.
Thank you to the people who pointed it out in the comments, that in 2:33 and 3:53 it is actually Jack Casady the bass player of Jefferson Airplane and not Skip Spence. I have no idea why I mixed them both up (they don't even look that similar to be honest). Anyway sorry for this, and I hope you can still enjoy the video in spite of this blunder. Thank you for watching.
Edit: The date in 3:24 is also supposed to be May 1966 instead of May 1965.
Hey Joe.........just to say thankyou so much for great music journalism in a world of just crap. I never got to focus on Skip Spence, being an Englishman living on the other side of the pond that band was allways a little out of reach somehow, but you have enlightened me. My 68 year old self is looking forward to soaking in the Oar album over the next 50 years of my life. Cheers mate.
You have made a wonderful documentary of Skip Spence's life, it did not detract from the story at all.
What a sad story. I was a Grace Slick fanatic in my teens after seeing Jefferson Starship. I only knew of Skip Spence's name because he was part of Airplane. Now I must listen to OAR. The painting of him that I clicked on to see this story looked like it was done by Grace. I read her book and she had a fling w/ him too. I was very touched by this story and will be looking forward to more.
I love Oar. Brilliant album
Oar is stunning! I love it so much. It’s original and honest.
Oar doesn't get enough credit. It's an amazing album.
It truly is.
OAR is an amazing look inside the mind of true artist, despite his many addictions and flaws. I would also suggest Scott Weiland 12 Bar Blues. He didn't play every instrument but it is a beautiful album and I would be interested in your view. Thanks
Definitely an enigma - unlistenable craziness mixed with sone lovely Melodie’s, interesting songwriting & glimpses of true brilliance.
To piss on!😅
Piss off paulie!
My man just keeps casually making videos about my favorite rockstars ever
Well, then you sir have got a great taste!
What a compassionate assessment of Skip's life and contribution to humanity.
Skip reminds me of Jaco Pastorius, or vice versa. Both were troubled, but connected to the universe as a beautiful, dangerous gift.
Remember that it only Takes a Few Weeks To what was in the Day a Drum Set Consisting of Two Tambourines and a Brass Plate To Bang Upon !!! But in Those Days Bands Could Rejuvenate Any Style Into A A Good Hit Album For The Hungry Youth , Many A One Hit Wonders Were Born in This Era of Artistic Wonder !!! Peace To All Souls !!!
Great work! I recall listening to Oar and then seeking out the tribute album. Listening to these two albums and hearing the new interpretations was a real pleasure. Learning about Skips life in the liner notes I was convinced this would make a great movie culminating in his bedside listening to the album made in his honor. Your video reminded me of this. I hope someday that can happen.
Awesome. Was just listening to moby grapes debut album today walking my dog.
Listen, my friends...
RIP. A sad story.
Thanks for the video. I did not know Skip's story. I was a big fan of his back in the Moby Grape days. I was lucky enough to see him live one night at The Filmore in 1968. I live in Santa Barbara, and Moby Grape teamed up with smoother noteable groups of the time, and played a concert between big shows in LA and SF. "Omaha" is one of my top three most listened to songs, though "Motorcycle Irene" is a great in its own way. I don't remember that he was the drummer when the Airplane took off. I was pretty much interested in Grace Slick, so no wonder.
Oar is an incredible album, I group it with Syd Barrett’s solo records. Both had turned into “acid casualties” but still managed to produce incredible solo works. rest in peace to both.
Shared an elevator with Skip at the Looking for Your Long Lost Mind show in Marin in the 80s. I did get kind of a lost soul vibe.
Can't wait to read the book being released about Skip next year.
What's the name of the book? I gotta read that
@@jasonsenator6144 Weighted Down-The Complicated Life of Skip Spence.
@sludge8506 yes I seen that. Just am very sick and very bored right now. Chances with heart condition I might not make it to then. Infective endocarditis. If I do ill come back and Comment.
I still got the music 👍
I’ve just only recently discovered “Oar” for myself… fascinating. Still absorbing it - even though I’ve listened to it multiple times…
Personally the best word that I can find to describe Oar is refreshing. It's not bogged down with heavy lyrics it just kind of flows. Kind of ambient but I mean this in a good way. If you have watched this video and then listen to Oar see if you agree with me that it sounds like Skip, who was a troubled man, felt relaxed and confident in the studio making that album and that at least during that time he found a place where he could leave his demons behind. R.I.P. Skip Spence.
I liked Skip, starting in 1965, Golden Gate Park.
I love that despite just trying to kill someone while in his pajamas and with an axe yet the cab driver was like "sure I'll take you"
OAR is a true Masterpiece! I luckily found an original vinyl copy at a record show many years ago. PLAY LOUD
Diana is my favorite song by skip
I love OAR.
Discovered OAR just weeks before Skip left us all here...been playing on a constant rotation for the last 24 years & it never gets old...absolute purity! Can't imagine my time in California without this record....bigger than Pet Sounds.....bigger than Da Capo.....total musical bliss & I wish I could've met him tomorrow!
Oar is one of my favourite albums
He WAS an original!!
David Rubinson’s words at the end…..sorry, bad pun, but wow. Choked me up a bit.
Spence was sadly one of the early acid casualties along with Syd Barrett. Whether his mental illness would have developed without the drugs will be a question that will never be answered. Mental illness and drugs aside some of the best of 60's psychedelic rock was by Moby Grape.
Those guys were just a few in a long, sad list of performers with early-onset mental illness - Peter Green and Danny Kirwan of Fleetwood Mac, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Mike Bloomfield, Roky Ericsson, Jim Gordon, Jaco Pastorius, etc. All would probably have been affected on some level with or without the drugs (or booze).
Funny I was just listening to the song Little Hands today in my school bus.
Just a note - the Neil Young album that was released the same week as "Oar" was the one with Crazy Horse, "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere." Enjoyed this video, nice job!
A man in pajamas with an axe goes into a bar… [the taxi driver: “Yea! Get in buddy” - it was a different time]
Good on you mate, thanks for this, love all that SF music of the late 60s and early 70s, good video.
Bob Mosley's solo album from 1972 is worth a listen too, it's actually pretty good. He sort of looks a bit lost on the cover,
Yes, this guy was the real deal
Thanks for this video
The first Neil lp is not jive!!
You should read up on Craig Smith/Maitreya Kali. He was a quintessential 60’s psych rock acid casualty.
New York will chew you up and spit you out
Capitola , santa cruz, lsd capitol
i lived in capitola for 3 years, my girl friend worked at the catalyst hotel above the catalyst bar....meant some really unique people there....most very skip like
He also spent a short time playing with Quicksilver Messenger Service
Never knew he was still in the band when grace slick joined
yes. very well done. you explain the lives of many from that era. it was the times and the drugs so ready available to be honest and folks such as Skip, already with head problems, just couldn't handle it. smart talented people trapped in that lifstyle. I lived it. how I was lucky to make it thru is beyond me. yr story made my eyes leak. I have all of Moby Grape and both Oar lps and I guess I'm still stuck in the 60's and 70's at times. many good memories and I'm grateful for that but many not so good as well. theres hardly any of us left. its folks like you that carry the story on...thanks..
While I'm very happy to see Alexander getting some more posthumous recognition. It's a bit insensitive to call a man with serious mental illness an oddball. Don't you think? Otherwise though, great work and thank you for making this.
@2:30 that’s Jack Cassidy you zoom in on. Spence already departed The Jefferson Airplane by that point (replaced with Spencer Dryden (second from left)) though original vocalist Signe Anderson appears to still be in the group so that pic was taken in a very short time frame of only a few weeks.
Love love love
Great album. I bought it in 94. If you like Spence’s work try the very best of moby grape as it contains demo songs with spence that are quite nice like skip song.
Of late, I've been introduced to many musical acts that I had NO idea even existed, and yet they are now getting huge attention and acclaim from, and are influencing, other artists: Skip, Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, and some wacky musical duo - brothers - Sparks! I feel like those kids who watch & listen to music from the 70s and 80s - before _their_ time - and can't believe what they've missed!
Very interesting thanks
Groovy!
thanks
Jack Cassidy (bassist) isn't Skip Spence (not pictured)
It's driving me crazy how this guy keeps showing the wrong pictures.
You're right! I pinned a comment correcting this, thank you for pointing it out.
Skip was connected to the Doobie Brothers in San Jose later but didn't join.
Man, you are into some cool shit.
You asked for it…3:24. The departure date should be May 1966 if he started in September 1965 as you stated earlier. Otherwise he left 5 months before he started.😊
lol you're right, thanks m8!
No one seems to mention the obvious: On Oar, Skip's voice is slowed down. That's what makes the album so effective, and what distinguishes it from his work in Moby Grape.
I did not know that!
@@ClaydenLee Just listen to "Cripple Creek."
Its highly possible there is some tape varispeed thing slowing it down slightly, but he also just had a deep ass voice to begin with so they wouldn't have needed to pitch it down much. Listen to the "After Gene Autry" demo version, as he counts the song in! Great stuff
@@duskfun9154 It's not slowed down on every song (and on some more than others where it is) It's slowed down selectively and to great effect.
Is OAR available on CD?
Yes
2:38 That’s Jack Casady, not Skip.
You keep zooming in on Jack Cassidy
This video keeps focusing on Jack Cassidy's face when mentioning Skip.
Sorry, that was an error I made, I had already pinned a comment regarding that issue.
Ah, so this was the dude who tried to kill someone with a pick axe in an NYC hotel. Yeahhh, don't do drugs people. Your mental health is everything.
Becoming the Airpane's drummer- you close upped on Jack Cassidy, Skip wasn't in the picture. dork
Uhhh...that guy you keep focusing on is Jack Cassidy, not Skip Spence. Fookin' ejits.
Who?? Way too deep. Thank you so much for the info!
Sad
It shows how amature things were in the 60's, he was picked to play drums because of what he looked like, and he did not even play the Drums, but was on TV a month later, (similar thing with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, he started playing when the Band started, zero previous drum experience, not even a interest in it until one was needed, and then he went Wild and got Super Good),
And leaving a tour to go get high should happen once and that's it, you don't get another chance with anyone established. You can start a garage band and rebuild your reputation as someone else.
Hence all the drummer jokes.
also known as 'rock's biggest pedarest'
(O)n (A)nother (R)eality.
Yet another example of Tavistock at work.
The substance abuse never fit, but it was part of the deal already in the Beat era that birthed hippies. Why wasn't being high on life, love and music enough?
They anointed themselves our ultimate visionaries and prophets, and that couldn't clash more jarringly with self-immolation by pills, blotters and hard liquor. Countless fans have followed them down the road to destruction.
America has been enamored and enthralled with “substance abuse” since the 1920s, well before the “Beat” era of the late 1940s and ‘50s.
@@fishtolizard3930 No "America" hasn't been enthralled with drug abuse -- only certain fringe elements. When I was a kid 99.999 or people didn't know anybody with a recreational drug habit. It was a stunningly different, better world.
“When I was a kid”
@@Nixo66 That's right, when I was a kid in the much-malighed 1950s. Any wokester from to day who could spend 3 days in that world would never want to come back to this one.
@@fishtolizard3930 I wouldn't say America had a monopoly on substance abuse. Opium in China, Gin in England, Beer in, well everywhere (why pick on the Irish), hashish in the middle east etc etc.
So... This is not about dude... Its all about you reading the book...Shame..!
So I assume you did some research before making this video. How could you possibly mistake Jack Cassidy for Skip? I mean they don't even look alike! 😂
Neeeeever heard of him
These CIA bands!
One more victim of the patriarchy
What a bunch of BS...
Great video, man.
Why does your video keep zooming into Jack Casady when mentioning Skip Spence?
Imagine getting kicked out of Jefferson airplane for using drugs???!!!