Customer Reviews

Moby Grape

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've followed Moby Grape from the beginning when my big brother brought home the album with the controversial cover. This is a must is anyone's collection. The music was new and innovative back then and stands up to today. Each track is performed with passion and fondly reminds me of how records were made in those days - loose and not so much emphasis on perfection. I even included my personal favorite, 8:05, on my own CD, http://www.CDBABY.com/cd/johnpalermo.

This may very well be the greatest San Fransisco rock album of all time. Moby Grape, from 1967, is a very even album that combines country, folk, rock, soul, and psychedelia into a brilliant statement. Many of the songs such as Fall On You, Omaha, Hey Grandma, and 8:05 sound like obvious hits. Omaha is great acid rock with a punk attitude and is one of 67's true classics. Fall On You has a tight compact guitar solo that nearly explodes off of the record (or cd). With Indifference, the Grape jam without losing focus and 8:05 is a solid gold folk rock gem. The band sings beautifully and the playing is very solid and professional. This album is a must own and Wow and 69' are very solid (underrated) as well.

I wondered why this re-issue was so expensive until I saw Matthew Katz' 'San Francisco Sound' label on this junk. Katz co-opted everything he ever touched and what he couldn't steal outright, he litigated out of existance.
Don't give this guy a dime. The out of print Vintage - The Very Best of Moby Grape by Columbia Legacy is the definitive Grape collection, and is probably available on Amazon's used list. Either that, or borrow someone's Moby Grape LP and burn your own copy. You'll be twenty bucks wiser & have a copy that sounds every bit as good as this lame effort.
Having this masterpiece hawked by Katz is like Sergeant Pepper being sold out of Allen Klein's car trunk.

The obvious work and passion that went into the making of this record were unfortunately ignored by the mainstream audience of the time... mainly because the band's record label thought it would be fun to push several radio songs at the same time, and none of them reached major chart success (as they got in the way of one another). No matter what the charts say, audiences then and now would appreciate "8:05", one of the ultimate rock/country break-up songs, and "Omaha", a brief but mighty rock n' roll splash, if they had the chance to enjoy each one at their own pace. Meanwhile, western and southern influences make themselves obvious from the beginning, with "Hey Grandma" and "Mr. Blues". It's brilliant to hear a band combine sounds from all over the country (let's not forget that many great rock n' roll bands have come from the north and the east).

But this isn't to cut the rest of the record short. Moby Grape's selftitled is 13 tracks of pure rock/country/pop bliss. It's the perfect length for a record of its type (31 minutes). The magical time, however, remains 8:05.

A top 5 "Desert Island Disk"! After almost 35 years, the songs and playing still sound fresh (the production is, sonically, not up to current standards; but all of the other production values still hold up). This album set the standard for brilliance: great songs; amazing guitar playing (three guitars interwoven like beautiful lace); solid rhythm section providing counterpoint to the guitars; four and five part harmony vocals that provided the road map for CSN, the Eagles and all of the other bands that came later; four distinctive and brilliant vocalists each with a unique and strong style - Bassist Bob Moseley was the Otis Redding style soul singer, Finger-picking guitarist Peter Lewis was the soft folk voice; Lead guitarist Jerry Miller was the solid mid-range vocalist and rhythm guitarist Skip Spence was the (heart of the group) unabashed inhibited emotionally charged wailer. This record changed my life! I will never forget the TV commercial that ran on WNEW-TV (Channel 5 in NYC) in the summer of 1966 advertising an upcoming show entitled "The Steve Paul Scene". It featured a guitarist (Skip Spence) wildly jumping into the air, hair flying everywhere, playing a song ("Omaha") whose intensity immediately grabbed my attention. Not only was I going to watch the show, but I had to find out right away who this group was and the name of that song. I bought this album and have worn out multiple copies over the years. I can't recommend it highly enough - should be like "Catcher in the Rye" - required listening for everyone!

Exprimidos, ordeñados y abandonados a su suerte, los Moby Grape, quizás la mejor banda de San Francisco de la época -y eso son "palabras mayores" - pergeñaron un debut extraordinario de cabo a rabo. Los ávidos buitres de la industria, a la búsqueda insaciable de nuevos Beatles,y la explotación sin miramientos de las ansias de ruptura de toda una generación identificada con la libertad artística, vital y económica de los músicos pop, acabaron con la alquimia que destilaba un grupo echo de buenos músicos, excelentes compositores y una indudable vena pop. Lanzados a bombo y platillo por la industria -anuncios pagados en las más influyentes publicaciones, innumerables objetos y gadgets de mercadotecnia, barra libre para Skip y compañía para ponerse ciegos sin desmayo, agotadoras giras y absurdos compromisos publicitarios...-, en apenas unos meses todos los freaks de la Costa Oeste estaban hasta el gorro de los Grape, considerados gracias a CBS unos hippies de pegote, unos farsantes. Hicieron unos cuantos buenos discos más, pero el agotamiento físico y mental (Skip ¿Donde estás?), y la superficialidad del show bussines los enterraron para siempre. O no?...

Moby Grape is a band about which one seems to be able to speak only in superlatives: Greatest sixties psychedelic band - One of the Greatest Debut Albums Ever - Most Disappointing Subsequent Career Ever - Most Forgotten Band of the Sixties - Most Mismanaged Band Ever. What they were was stunning. A quintet with drums, bass, and three slashing, dancing lead guitars, Moby Grape was an enormously talented band that managed to blend driving pop, hard rock and roll, folk, blues, and country into some wonderful new concoction. Although the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane became better known, neither at their best could come anywhere close to Moby Grape's virtuosity, drive, and passion. And neither group ever produced an album anywhere near as good as this great, great debut album.

The album is littered with great songs from beginning to end, and the best ones are incredibly exhilarating with their power, energy, and tight structure. If the Grateful Dead was loose, almost nonchalant with their songs, with long, rambling, unfocused instrumental breaks, Moby Grape worked hard to cut out all nonessentials. My personal favorite Moby Grape song "Fall On You, for instance, clocks in at a manic 2:21. The only question someone can asks after hearing such stellar songs as "Fall On You," "8:05," "Omaha," and "Hey Grandma" is: Why weren't these guys huge? Well, that question and "What happened?"

What happened was a series of problems that perhaps no band could have withstood. The band had legal problems, management problems, creative differences, personal problems, and a horrible relationship with their record company. Although they continued to make albums, some of them not at all bad, they never again reached the incredible heights of their debut. Worst of all, in 1968, one of their singer/songwriter/guitarists, Scott Spence, suffered a mental breakdown (not at all unlike Syd Barrett), and would spend the bulk of the rest of his life (he died in 1999) struggling with mental illness. Another member, Bob Mosley, suddenly joined the Marine Corps. In short, almost nothing went right for the band.

All the bad things that followed cast a bit of a pale on this awesome album. The knowledge that this was as good as it would ever get for the band generates a great sadness in me. Moby Grape should have been one of the great American bands of all time, and for a brief period of time, they actually were. The proof is contained on this album.

I was a teenager and well-versed in the music of my era when this album was released. I can't begin to convey how fresh and exciting Moby Grape sounded! They blended so many genres so well and so seamlessly. All five members wrote, arranged, played and sang as well as any of their peers. This CD is the perfect introduction for new listeners of all ages. Recommended without any reservations!

Moby Grape deserves a remastering of this album which is one of the best sets of music to come out of the sixties. This is on a label owned by Matthew Katz, one time Moby Grape manager and owner of much Moby Grape's licensing rights. Katz even owns the name and has locked horns with former members of the use of the name without approval. The retail asking price is outrageous, considering it is a low qaulity CD transfer that sounds like it was transferred from a second or third generation tape. You can get better quality recording of Moby Grape on the internet for free! Katz will continue to exploit Moby Grape name as long as there are people willing to shell out 20 bucks for his garbage.

If bands like Ultimate Spinach and Peanut Butter Conspiracy are significant enough to be accorded remastering, then Moby Grape deserves a well done box set of all of their releases. Don't buy this garbage from Katz's San Franscico Sound label which has all but destroyed the integrity of the original vinyl issue. If Katz can't peddle this overpriced trash, maybe he will relinquish the rights to the Moby Grape albums to the surviving members of the band and they can work to release a proper digitally remastered re-issue of their catalogue. I don't care if they individually release their albums or issue a Moby Grape Box. We've all waiting too long for Mr. Katz to put this great band's music into the hands of someone who will do justice to the Moby Grape legacy.

This is the ultimate SF sound record-every cut is a hit--great guitars, drums and vocals--what else is there?? If you never saw them live when this album came out, I feel sorry for you--you got chipped out of the best live performance in the sixties. I saw them for the first time in the summer of 1967 at a bowling alley in North Lake Tahoe --I was completely blow away-so much that I went to the local Safeway (they were selling records at the time) and paid $3.95 for a copy of this album with the poster included. I usually didn't buy records at Safeway but I did not want to wait til I got to Berkeley and pay the regular price of $2.55 for an album at Leopolds.. I still have this copy with the poster and saw them about 4 more more times after that-If you want one Moby Grape album-get this one-the vocals are great-Peter Lewis(son of Loretta Young) has a voice like Neil Young -everyone sings great and write excellent-Too bad it did not last thanks to the release of too many singles from it and bad management--LONG LIVE MOBY GRAPE