Moby Grape '69 | Moby Grape | Finally some reissue justice!

Moby Grape '69 | Moby Grape | Were only four............

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Moby Grape '69

	Moby Grape '69 Moby Grape Sundazed Music Inc., 2007 average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Moby Grape followed the expansiveness of 1968's Wow with an unadorned, back-to-basics sound on this, their fourth long-player. Bob Mosley's understated vocal makes the ballad "It's a Beautiful Day Today" one of the great Grape tracks, Peter Lewis' stately "I Am Not Willing" is still a stunner and "Trucking Man" and "Ooh Mama Ooh" show that nobody could rock a shuffle like guitarist Jerry Miller and company. Most of '69 was recorded as a quartet, with Skip Spence having just left the band. His parting gift, "Seeing," is an alternately tender and tough tab of psychedelia that prefigures his rightly touted solo album, Oar.

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Finally some reissue justice!

Moby Grape 69 is what most would describe as a return to form for the band. But what was their form in the first place? As any fan will obviously say, the beauty of their debut album was that they were all over the place--you name it: country, folk, rave-up rockers, even some jazz and blues inflections, they were all present in the songs on that album. Some would say that the tragedy of Wow/Grape Jam was that these elements were taken to some pretty cartoonish extremes (ie. "Funky-Tunk", "Just Like Gene Autry"). With 69, often called the band's country album, the boys may have mellowed out after Wow, but there are still a variety of speeds and styles to be enjoyed. If you are a Peter Lewis fan, then you will dig one of his best songs ever, "I Am Not Willing". Those who preferred the Jerry Miller rockers will love the opener, "Ooh Mama ooh", as well as the sardonic "Captain Nemo". My personal favorites, however, are the Bob Mosley tunes, especially the gorgeous "It's A Beautiful Day Today", a song about an outsider's wistful take on a nice day. "Hoochie" and "Trucking Man" are rocking opposites with the former sporting a killer bass, and the latter every bit as good as the Miller's opening song. Although only four members are featured on the cover, this was the last real grape album feature contributions from all five members. Skip Spence's scary and desperate "Seeing" closes the album: if you were mellowed by Lewis's "What's To Choose", this song will raise the hackles of even the most sedated house cat. The bonus tracks are shamelessly awesome. "Soul Stew" is a Buffalo Springfieldesque outtake (and part of a film soundtrack) that fits in between the debut album and Wow. It can also be found on the two-CD best of compilation. The demos are . . . well, demos. They are interesting for Spence's two contributions: "You Can Do Anything", another ditty that wouldn't have been out of place on their debut or a stripped down version of Wow; "Big" is a clever hoot. Again my favorite is Mosley's "It's A Beautiful Day"--listen to this and consider how such an amazing songwriter could end up homeless and all but ignored. Moby Grape 69 was an album long overdue for any kind of release. When I collected records, this was next to impossible to find. Until last year, you could have forgotten about finding it on CD, even as an import. Although it may not have had the electricity of their debut, 69 still holds up to a repeated listening-and then some!

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Were only four............

music stripped, inspired music, sincere music...after the madness, excesses reaches maturity,providing all the flavor of the grapes ....like an old and exquisite wine that is left to drink...from "ooh mama ooh" to "seeing" whole matter, it seduces, all excited...the extras (1967-1968, demos) complete a wonderful work, faithfully rescued by Sundazed.Ah!! .. .. lack skip...and who cares?

Great Driving Music

If you don't know the whole episodic story behind Columbia Records promotion of the debt Moby Grape album....It goes something like this. The brain trust marketing gurus at Columbia decide to launch their debut Lp along with ten singles.... Oh and did I mention, Columbia has to pull the first release because MG were flippin' the bird on the cover. Needless to say, it didn't provide Moby the same hype The Airplane. The Dead, The Doors or even The Mamas & The Papas did. I'm inclined to agree with the majority who consider Moby Grape a fine "second-tier" band, during the hey-day, of Height Asbury's Summer of Love.

Anyway...After two albums that met with marginal success, Grape put out '69....Without a doubt their best work. They were obviously picking up on a Byrds / Buffalo Springfield vibe at this time. And they were certainly hearing other bay area acts like Quicksilver Messenger Service, Country Joe & The Fish, It's A Beautiful Day, Santana, Spirit, James Gang and of course Arthur Lee's orginal Love. It all came together on this one for Moby Grape. Just as Love hit their stride with Forever Changes, Moby Grape had it all down and groovy on "69". Unfortunately, personal changes hurt them, leaving just one last effort, "Truly Fine Citzen" as a noteworthy entry into their short lived recording career.

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The Grape Find Solace Without Skip

By the time of late 1968/early 1969, the psychedelic influence of The Beatles "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" had pretty much run it's course. 1968 saw the emergence of a more scaled down style of rock music, groups were starting to turn away from the endless wonder of multi-track recording effects and going back to their roots. Examples of this would be The Band's "Music From Big Pink," The Byrds' "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo," Bob Dylan's "John Whesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline," and even The Beatles famed "White Album" was slight on psychedelic overkill. In late 1967, every recording band on the planet was trying to create their very own "Sgt. Pepper." Some stabs were successful, like The Jimi Hendrix Expierence's "Axis: Bold As Love" or Traffic's "Mr. Fantasy." And some bands went way over the top, like Moby Grape's second effort "Wow." Moby Grape's third L.P., "Moby Grape '69" which was issued January 30th, 1969 (the same day The Beatles gave their famous Rooftop Concert), was a concious attempt to get back to basics with good songs and subtle, down to earth production. The liner notes on the back of the album jacket speak the case.

On "Moby Grape '69" the band employed a horn and string section like on their previous outting, but with a ton more taste making for some breathtaking arrangements on a few tracks. One of the most notable things about " '69" is that it is missing a key member of the band, Mr. Skip Spence. Skip only appears on the final track of the record, which was bascially tackeled during the "Wow" sessions, the song "Seeing." It is a facinating song, not unlike Syd Barrett's final statement with Pink Floyd, his song "Jug Band Blues." Skip's plea for sanctuary is evident for all to hear in his repeated mantra of "Help me! Save me! Save me!" which takes place in the middle of the song and at it's coda.

The track sequencing of "Moby Grape '69" couldn't have been better. The songs flow seamlessly and the transitions between "rockers" and ballads work to the album's strengths, unlike the uneven jolts back and forth on "Wow." The album offers up some of Peter Lewis' finest songwriting and vocalizing. His songs featured here are especially tender and beautiful and even more so on the bonus track acoustic-only versions featured like "If You Can't Learn From My Mistakes."

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