Alexander "Skip" Spence - Cripple Creek

From his only solo album, "Oar"
----
Wikipedia:
Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (April 18, 1946 -- April 16, 1999) was a musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Spence was a guitarist in an early line-up of Quicksilver Messenger Service before Marty Balin recruited him to be the drummer for Jefferson Airplane. After one album with Jefferson Airplane, their debut Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, he left to co-found Moby Grape, once again as a guitarist.

During the recording session of the group's second album, Wow in 1968, Spence allegedly attempted to break down a bandmate's hotel room door with a fire axe while under the influence of LSD. Spence was committed for six months to New York City's Bellevue Hospital, where he was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Upon his release, he recorded his only solo album, the now-classic psychedelic/folk album Oar (1969, Columbia Records). However, mental illness and alcoholism prevented him from sustaining a career in the music industry, and he spent most of his later life homeless in and around San Jose and Santa Cruz, California. He died in 1999, from lung cancer. He was 52.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Alexander
• Skip
• Spence
• Cripple
• Creek
• Oar
• Moby
• Grape
• Jefferson
• Airplane
• psychedelic
• country
• blues

[WDockery]

Reminds me of some demented wedding of JWH era Dylan and Captain Beefheart...

[fatcatbuzz]

This is my favorite song off of Oar. I like how you can hear the compressed tape hiss in quite portions of the song. This is because he recorded this on a 3 track and most likely bounced tracks such as the bass and drums.

[tashlosung]

You know what sucks? I had a Skrillex ad before this.

[fatcatbuzz]

@Sandbagger300 Exactly, CDs are still a great format. Don't get me wrong, I love having MP3s on my computer. But, when I'm at home and have my stereo on, I prefer the vinyl or CD. Downloading music is OK, but it's still not that great of a medium and doesn't have the personally feeling of having the physical medium like vinyl or a CD. But, that's just me. I think there is a giant disconnect between the music and the fans these days, especially in mainstream music. 

[Sandbagger300]

@fatcatbuzz Wow that sounds like something I would say, People today are like why do you still buy CD's when you can get songs online? #1-You get liner notes where you learn a lot about the music and groups, #2 I like "non mainstream" 60's garage music which good luck finding most of it on MP3, and #3 I like hearing a entire album not just the 2 good songs out of 13 that most groups put out today! Most music "fans" today know nothing about the groups they listen too!

[ioriorioriorio]

Too high a price to pay, but definitely a demented genious, and all- around '60's character

[fatcatbuzz]

@Alwaystuned I think the worst thing about music and the culture today is that no one reads the history of rock or music for that matter. I still get vinyl and CDs (I actually have this one on both formats) and the thing I use to love about even CDs is that at least they had liner notes. That's how I knew that bit of information about Skip leaving a New York hospital and not San Francisco. I read this before they even had the Internet because of music magazines. I miss those days.

[fatcatbuzz]

@1smokie1 Yes, but only for the first album. He also wrote "My Best Friend" for Surrealistic Pillow.

[Alwaystuned]

@fatcatbuzz Finally someone who knows their rock history. He requested the motorcycle from the record company after being released from Bellevue Hospital in N.Y.---then went to Tenn. and recorded this gem of an album.

[spadge321]

deep shit baby

[1smokie1]

Wasn't Skip Spence the drummer for the Airplane, early on?

[hugatag]

@worldwarlego7 My father was your Grandfathers recording engineer. Not sure if he did Oar but he did a MobyGrape album.