Moby Grape – Wow / Grape Jams / Moby Grape ’69 / Truly Fine Citizen
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Posted On November 1, 2007
If it weren’t for speculation, our cultural imagination would be a far darker place. Moby Grape’s debut appeared in 1967, and their final album came in 1969 (they reformed briefly two years later, and continued to do so with varying personnel over the decades). What if they’d gestated for a longer period of time, coalescing as a committed group of individuals finding common ground with one another, rather than the six months they had from formation to next-big-thing accolades? What if bad management had not reared its ugly head? What if their most mysteriously creative spark was not also their most fragile member?
Their self-titled first album remains one of the most stunning debuts by any band of the rock era. Overhyped by Columbia, it failed to generate significant hits, though the album reached the top 25 and stayed on the charts for half a year. As with many great bands, the players’ individual inclinations would seem to be a fractious mix, as R&B, folk, psychedlicized rave-ups and roadhouse rockers came together. All those facets are apparent and expansive, but the entirety flows like a perfect organic whole. With a three-guitar lineup and all five members writing and singing, Moby Grape’s potential seemed limitless.
Nothing that followed was like the debut. Which is not to say they are failed albums — just that each has its own character. Four decades of distance removes the expectations that greeted each new offering. Wow is full of the ambitious arrangements and production flourishes that tromped across the land after Sgt. Pepper. It is actually an impressive set of songs, though the band’s sonic character gave way to efforts that sound separate and driven by the individual writers. The album’s careful studiocraft was contrasted by Grape Jams, which showcased them on a series of blues workouts with guests Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. It was separately packaged but sold with Wow.
Moby Grape ’69 was made without the ever more troubled Skip Spence but has a solid footing largely within the realm of country-rock. Truly Fine Citizen, at the time ignored or maligned, can be heard now as an honorable set of well-crafted songs.
