Hi lemonade kid, Love your thread. What about those songwriting credits for 'Changes' in your post? Cheers, Sq.
One of my top ten all-time albums and has been since I bought it in '68. They have a unique way of layering sound. This is true of both their guitar work and their vocals. It sometimes sounds as if two or three guitars are playing lead but each guitar is playing something different from the others. Oddly I don't remember why I bought the album. The only single I heard from it was Omaha, and I probably heard it less than 10 times. I remember the excitement I had when their second album came out. After I purchased it, it was a total disappointment. So much so I never bothered to try anything else they released. They may have accomplished the biggest drop off in sound between their initial album and the second album. Perhaps a good subject for a thread if it doesn't already exist.
Didn't know about this thread until now. Awesome debut - they never bettered it! Most every song is great. I've seen Peter Lewis with Arwen several times in the last few years. He still does Grape songs too.
Back cover of the debut. Every time I see that pic I see the guy with the tan pants (Mosley I think) looks like he’s wearing a sideways winter hat or something but it’s actually part of the rear projection image
Just like I said, no background vocals on the mono fold down because they're out of phase on the stereo mix.
...I still tend to think of Grape in terms of the critical backlash they received initially from the rock press...Aside from the general hype and the five singles, do you think the factor of them not " really ' being a San Francisco band but a San Jose/" Valley Of Heart's Delight " band (There wasn't " Silicon Valley " yet!!!!!!!!!) got some turf-war jealousy going?
The background vocals are out of phase on the stereo mix. I believe (think I read it somewhere a long time ago but I don't remember) they were recorded that way. How the mono mix was engineered I don't know - but the background vocals are not present on the mono mix (sometimes a remnant of them can be heard). They aren't on the Edsel LP and they are not in the mono YouTube videos posted above. If you fold down the out of phase background vocals on the original recording, they cancel each other out. But maybe whoever mastered the mono just made a mistake with the background vocals and didn't realize it (which I have a hard time with because if it's your job, how could you not hear that the background vocals are missing?)
Not anywhere but San Jose maybe. If they were hailed as a San Fran band, who knew back then, really? We only had rock mags (to tell us they hailed from the SanFran scene...which was the truth, though not always reliable) and liner notes to tell us their "story". We loved them in Iowa City, a small university town that swelled from 60,000 (summer break) to 90,000 (U of I in session). A lot of bands claimed SF as home that weren't originally from there (Texas's Fever Tree was a SF band by all rights, as were Linn County, from Iowa who became a San Fran band too...after they broke up their drummer Joined Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie band...San Fran all the way). Most of San Fran icon Jefferson Airplane were born far east of that psych mecca.
This was written for mom Loretta by son Peter: Pictures Of The Past...love Peter's songs Favorite 1940's holiday film with Loretta: "The Bishop's Wife"
Their album Moby Grape '69 comes close and I love that...we'll cover that and you can sample for yourself. They also close the album with a brilliant Skip song, "Seeing", with Skip on vocals...seems it is from the WOW sessions and the best song. Wonder why it fell through the "tracks "until '69. It's A Beautiful Day Today from "69 Seeing...it has that Skip Spence magic..the full band still intact here is brilliant Moby Grape- Seeing
That is weird, yes. Copied without reading. Here is the proper credit: Songwriters: Miller, Stevenson!
...That actually reminds me, I recall reading some ways back of a planned " Peter Lewis Story " movie - I guess?? an acted biopic about Grape? I may've looked that up again.recebtly but found neither byfe not Nsir(C) of it...Was such a movie ever made? And what about, while my memory's going, that movie about Spade Cooley, with Dennis Quaid, " Shame On You "?
Great thread, Lemonade Kid. When you get a chance, could you list the lead vocalist(s) for each song? It’s obvious on some songs because of the videos, but sometimes I’m not quite sure, especially on “Wow.” Many thanks.
If You Could Name Just One Album...? Many of you who have been reading my articles over the past almost-ten years also follow my Facebook page, Americana and Roots Music Daily. I started it up about three years ago and it can best be described as an aggregation of news stories, art and photography, historical notations, my own writing, and music videos, as well as a place where people can connect and have conversations about music. It’s not a business venture, but just a hobby that has slowly grown from some of my friends to a couple of thousand people from all over the world. Earlier this week, on a slow news day when I really couldn’t find much to post, I decided to put up a picture of a 51-year-old album that has meant a lot to me and posed this question: If you could name just one album that has had a major impact on your musical interests and appreciation … damn this is hard. Go. (For you youngsters who don’t recognize my choice, it’s the first Moby Grape, in mono.)... Read on...by the Real Easy Ed.... http://www.therealeasyed.com/if-you-could-name-just-one-album/
Sure...if you check the songwriting credits, the author of the song was on the lead vocals. If it was Miller/Stevenson, it would be likely Jerry Miller on the vocals. I'll see if I can confirm. ...see credits below
Tracklist Hide Credits A1Hey Grandma Written-By – D. Stevenson*, J. Miller*A2Mr. Blues Written-By – B. Mosley*A3Fall On You Written-By – P. Lewis*A48:05 Written-By – D. Stevenson*, J. Miller*A5Come In The Morning Written-By – B. Mosley*A6Omaha Written-By – S. Spence*A7Naked, If I Want To Written-By – J. Miller*B1Someday...sounds like Skip on lead vocals for sure Written-By – S. Spence*, D. Stevenson*, J. Miller*B2Ain't No Use Written-By – D. Stevenson*, J. Miller*B3Sitting By The Window Written-By – P. Lewis*B4Changes Written-By – D. Stevenson*, J. Miller*B5Lazy Me Written-By – B. Mosley*B6Indifference Written-By – S. Spence*
Well, I'm taking a controversial stand here, I guess. I consider myself to be a great Grape fan and I have been eversince my teens. But...... the 1st album never grabbed me like Wow and '69 did. I do think it's a truly exquisite debut album and probably 'pivotal' (as we should say these days) in the history of rock music. It's just that I hardly ever play it. Looking forward to discussing the next album.....
Thanks! When we get to “Wow,” I’ll note the songs that seem to be sung by someone other than the composer - if you haven’t already pointed it out.
Methinks you should go back and listen to it, perhaps in the last of a string of three with the albums you enjoy more!?