Isn't the Sundazed release in mono? I didn't see much wrong with the stereo mix, though it was a bit "bright." The drums were a bit thin, but that sounded like a musical choice to me.
I've told both of these stories here on the Hoffman forum, but I'll repeat them again for anyone who hasn't read them before. A friend of mine (now deceased) was friends with Peter Lewis, and he introduced me to Peter a few times. The first time I asked him about the song "Ain't That a Shame," and he looked like he didn't know what I was talking about. I even sang a bit of it for him and he just shrugged his shoulders. I was so embarrassed that when I went home I pulled out my copy of Moby Grape '69 to see if perhaps he hadn't written it, and merely forgot about the song's existence. Turns out he co-wrote it, so I have no idea why he didn't recall at least the title. Another time we were talking more in depth, and he told me about how Stephen Stills copped the lick from "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" for "For What It's Worth." He said that the Springfield played with the Grape a few times in '66, and that's where Stills heard the riff. When he used it for the Springfield number, the Grape decided they'd been beaten to the punch, so they didn't emphasize the lick when they recorded it for the Wow album because folks would assume they got if from Buffalo Springfield.
That’s odd about “What a Shame.” I’d have guessed that song would be in his set list. I saw a partial reunion of Moby Grape (with Lewis) in the late-80s and they did that number.
Yeah, I've learned that artists aren't always the most reliable when it comes to songs they've written, or how successful said songs were on the charts. I really haven't met all that many famous musicans, at least not enough to hold conversations with them, but another encounter I had was with Joey Covington, the drummer who replaced Spencer Dryden in the Airplane. He was at Barney's Beanery here in LA, and I saw him there a couple of times before working up the nerve to talk to him. I don't know how we got on the subject of Airplane-charting songs but I told him that "Pretty as You Feel" never made the Billboard top 40, but was a hit. He informed me that it was indeed a top-40 hit. Now, I wasn't going to argue with him, since he co-wrote the tune - so I just let it go. I think sometimes this stuff is more important to us as fans than it is for the actual guys who performed it. We're the ones obsessing over these facts and tidbits, when to them it's just part of their life.
Slightly Off Topic, but Edsel put this comp out in 1986 that cherry picks the best songs off the other albums. Plays like the great lost 2nd Grape album.
Well, the context is that there were a number of bands at the time with a similar vocal style. In your opinion.
One thing to consider regarding Grape’s harmonies is that they are a hybrid of folk and R&B because of Mosley’s power. His phrasing and approach is a hybrid. Many times he would anchor the song then swoop above to punch it to the next level, most of their LA and San Fran peers didn’t have that ability other than the Airplane with Grace and Sly with himself and Rose.
It’s a great debut. It’s a pity that they couldn’t match it and Columbia idiotically released five singles all at the same time.
Although the lead vocal (Stills not Young) is similar, I don't think the vocal harmony style is the same at all. That's why I prefer Buffalo Springfield. Musically some of Buffalo Springfield's stuff has enough similarities to the first Moby Grape album, at least to my ears. Soulful rock with a touch of psychedelia.
Trainspotting I was with Joey Covington, the drummer who replaced Spencer Dryden in the Airplane. He was at Barney's Beanery here in LA, and I saw him there a couple of times before working up the nerve to talk to him. I don't know how we got on the subject of Airplane-charting songs but I told him that "Pretty as You Feel" never made the Billboard top 40, but was a hit. He informed me that it was indeed a top-40 hit. Now, I wasn't going to argue with him, since he co-wrote the tune - so I just let it go. Well, Joey was right. Maybe not top 40 on Billboard, but in several cities it was top 30.
I love the stereo mix of this album and agree that the thin sounding drums seem to be a musical and production choice. Not much rock or pop music around that time or prior to Moby Grape had a big or heavy drum sound. I also agree that Buffalo Springfield and Moby Grape weren't doing the same thing, even if they did have some or even a lot of similarities. I'm a big Buffalo Springfield fan, but they didn't play as fast as Omaha or Can't Be So Bad. I feel that Moby Grape had more intensity to them on record.
I love the Buffalo Springfield too but what they lacked was a mercurial catalyst like Skip Spence. IMHO, of course.
Next to Electric Music for the Mind and Body (Country Joe & The Fish), Moby Grape is my favorite debut album of all the SF Bay area bands during that period 1966-1968.
Not sure what you mean by this? What is a "generic west coast vocal sound"? CSNY (who, you may have noticed, have two members of Buffalo Springfield in the their ranks and zero members of Moby Grape)? The Mamas and Papas? The Eagles? Dan Fogelberg?
I've already been corrected on this. There isn't a generic west coast vocal sound. There's just a certain vocal sound from some American bands of the era spanning late sixties to early seventies that doesn't much appeal to me. I know it when I hear it. I hear it here.