ALEXANDER SPENCE -Oar- 1969, CBS S63919 Psych Folkysh

$ 75

$ 75 Sold For

Jun 4, 2007 Sold Date

May 25, 2007 Start Date

$ 30 Start price

2 Number Of Bids

Portugal Country Of Seller

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Description

ALEXANDER SPENCE
-Oar-
Holland original press 1969, CBS S63919
(Recorded in 1968)

His voice sounds like someone between Leonard Choen and Kevin Ayers, but with a Syd barret's "Madcap laughs" atitude. Alexander (Skip) Spence were in Moby Grape and in Jefferson Airplane, but lays bare his soul on his real-life rapid descent into schizophrenia.
This is an american Syd Barret, but much more deep, serious and psychedelic. If there was something called "The beyond within" in the 60's, its all in this record. Completly Mushroom Folk, very well composed and played, with a perfect vinyl quality sound pressing...but in a weird personal way. Here's a record you cannot understand at first spin because, unless you are on acid, you take a long time to find out how to classified this LP...psych folk sounds good, but Underground maybe's better. I wonder why he sings about a lot of things at the same time giving us the feeling he's not there? Is it possible to edit a record of an artist which is not completly present in his own work? And the drummer...is allways playing a diferent rythmn??...Well, if you listen the song "Grey/Afro", after a few minutes you cannot decide about anything...or where to is this music is going...or if is just here to stay, moving all around the same place...I cannot write about this anymore...I feel I'm melting over my computer...do I really own this record? Does music really exists? Is the guitar transforming in drums? Anyway, when you think about music style's symbols, here's what comes to your mind: Classic music means Beethoven; Rock music means Stones; Folk music means Joan Baez; Soul music means Aretha Franklin and Underground music means someone so outsider and obscure that only a few freak heads admire...here's Alexander Spence! Underground in the top late 60's. Cannot find better freak symbol on psychedelic lonely artist.
Read This article about him:

"April 19, 1999 News: | Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence, former member of the Jefferson Airplane, co-founder of the sludgy psychedelic band Moby Grape and one of the most enigmatic and bizarre figures from the rock era of the '60s, passed away last Friday in Santa Cruz, Calif. Spence had been suffering from lung cancer, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Sunday would have been his 53rd birthday.

Skip Spence's tragic life story parallels -- and his death might serve as a cautionary parable of -- the turbulent San Francisco rock scene of the late '60s. Like Jerry Garcia, who later became the scene's figurehead, Spence gravitated to San Francisco after a stint in the military. And like so many others, he began playing folk music in the Bay Area. He was sitting in San Francisco's folk mecca, the Matrix, in 1965 when Marty Balin spotted him and his then almost-unheard-of Beatles mane, and asked Spence if he'd consider drumming for his nascent band, the Jefferson Airplane. Balin said later, "I was struck by the way he looked." Spence had never drummed in his life outside of the high school marching band, but he agreed. Spence lasted through the band's debut, "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off," before his already bad rehearsal habits and erratic behavior got him fired. He did, however, contribute to the Airplane the first single from their breakthrough album "Surrealistic Pillow," "You're My Best Friend."

Spence then hooked up with Peter Lewis and Bob Mosely, two Southern California bar-band vets, and Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller, two former members of the Bobby Fuller Four, and Moby Grape was born. Unlike the generally inept and sloppy psychedelic bands of 1966 San Francisco, the Grape was a tight and powerful unit, with five-part harmonies and short, punchy songs. Their debut in 1967, "Moby Grape," ranks with the greatest discs of that time, but the insane over-hype of its promotion (five singles released at once, grape-colored elephants trodding down Sunset Boulevard heralding the group) ruined the band's credibility, and its follow-up album, "Wow," was a dud.

During the recording of "Wow," Spence, who was by now injecting massive doses of speed to bolster his confidence, snapped in New York, and tried to attack Stevenson with a fire ax ("I thought he was possessed by Satan and I had to save him," Spence said later). He landed in Bellevue, and was out of the Grape.

Upon his release, Spence made his masterpiece, "Oar," in Nashville. This solo disc, on which Spence plays every instrument, is perhaps the strongest psyched-out legacy of the time -- dark, harrowing and mad, the American answer to Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd's similarly crazed first guitarist). "Oar" sank like a stone upon release and became the quintessential cult disc. A tribute to "Oar" will be out sometime this year, featuring Beck, Tom Waits, REM and the Grape's biggest booster, Robert Plant, doing numbers from it.

Skip Spence never lived to see its release. For the last 30 years, he was indigent and drifted in and out of institutions, a diagnosed schizophrenic who basically disappeared. But even though he was difficult to communicate with, his spirit remained undimmed, and his muse never left him."

....Huau! My album critic was correct! I knew this smells Syd Barett a lot...another Psych Freak genious...

Catalogue Nº:

CBS S63919

MEDIA:

PRESS:

Holland

CONDITION VINYL:

CONDITION COVER:

M-

COMMENT:

too good to be true

Shipping Costs:

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Weight:

(vinyl250 g + 155g pack)= 455g

Check the Record grading condition here:

MINT (M): The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

EXCELLENT (EX): The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

VERY Good Plus (VG+): Between (EX) and (VG)

VERY GOOD (VG): The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

GOOD Plus (G+): Between (VG) and (G)

GOOD (G): The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

FAIR (F): The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump.
The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

POOR (P): The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

BAD (B): The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

This record is 455g heavy (with pack), so please choose your best shipping costs from the below board:

SHIPING COSTS FROM PORTUGAL / WEIGHT IN KILOS / MONEY EUROS

Inside PORTUGAL

Normal

Registred

Economic Surface mail

50g – 100g

1.55 Euros

2.70 Euros

100g – 500g

2.25 Euros

3.35 Euros