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Moby Grape | 
 enlarge | Artist: Moby Grape
Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
Category: Music
Buy New: $99.99
New (3) Collectible (1) from $95.00
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 125039
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.5
MPN: 11190
UPC: 090771119025
EAN: 0090771119025
ASIN: B000UVPJRI
Release Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Hey Grandma | | • | Mr. Blues | | • | Fall on You | | • | 8:05 | | • | Come in the Morning | | • | Omaha | | • | Naked, If I Want To | | • | Someday | | • | Ain't No Use | | • | Sitting by the Window | | • | Changes | | • | Lazy Me | | • | Indifference | | • | Rounder (instrumental)* | | • | Looper (audition rec.)* | | • | Indifference (audition rec.)* previously unissued | | • | Bitter Wind* previously unissued | | • | Sweet Ride (Never Again)* |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Few debuts are as initially powerful and permanently impressive as this 1967 set from San Francisco's Moby Grape. The triple-threat quintet (every member played, sang and wrote songs) serves up an utterly unique first course that mixes psychedelia, hook-filled pop, blues and country elements. The album tosses off diamond-delicate ballads and full bore rockers with equal soul and inspiration -- and more energy than any other band then on the scene. Without a single duff cut, here's an album that plays as fresh and strong as the day it was first released.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Amazing! September 27, 2008
Christopher J. Stanonis (Cobleskill, NY)
Triple guitars, great melodies, and great songs! Essential jem for anyone into psychedelic-acid rock! If you doubt this album on the first listen, you owe it to yourself to spend some more time with it. It has many interesting layers of sound. Although the vocal blends are kind of light and airy, the harmonies are solid. Great record!
I like this August 29, 2008
Bruce P. Barten (Saint Paul, MN United States)
I like these songs from way back when. It is incredible that I can still listen to the original album form that I bought then. I'm sorry I have not heard what was available recently. I never learned to play and sing these songs, but I like the high level of musicianship which shines in the recorded versions like few other collections. It was a miracle that these musicians found each other when they were able to do things so much better than anyone else. I have some other Moby Grape CD which was not the same for me. I feel the songs on this one like something that is part of my life forever.
Moby Grape: 100% Pure With No Artificial Sweeteners! May 26, 2008
M. McKay (Downey, CA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First things first. I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Matthew Katz, the Grape's original manager and the GREEDY TROLL who has done nothing but rob fans both old and new of one of rock's greatest groups. Katz could care about Grape's legacy as much as Terry Knight cared about Grand Funk Railroad, and it dosen't get any lower than that my friends! This reissue of Moby Grape's debut album, complete with bonus tracks, was released in October of 2007 only to be withdrawn the following month because of a lawsuit by Katz. The following two titles, "Wow" and "Grape Jam," were also pulled from production. It's such a shame because Sundazed did a stellar job of restoring this classic back to it's original sheen, only to have their time and efforts spit on by a money hungry jerk like Katz. So, if you already know about this album and are curious about one of the San Francisco music scenes hardest rocking outfits of the late '60s (seriously, The Grateful WHO? The Jefferson WHAT?), then put down the extra cash and pick up a copy of this reissue NOW!
"So is it really that good?" Yes it is! Moby Grape was an incredible band of collective talent and a very sad story of one of rock's could-have-beens. Their overall sound was not unlike a harder rocking version of The Dead but with many more elements in the mix. One minute they were folky (see "8:05") and the next they were prefiguring punk rock a decade ahead of schedule (see "Omaha"). Then you've got the whole "white boys loving black soul" thing going on sung at the top of bassist and vocalist Bob Mosley's white-soul pipes. Mosely was undoubtedly one of the most powerful vocalist of the era. However, with the Grape, the spotlight didn't just fall one particular individual. Every member of the band, including drummer Don Stevenson, could sing, play, and write. With the band's debut album released on May 29, 1967, and considerable press coverage, it seemed 1967 might be the year of the Grape. That is, before a few unfortunate happenings took place.
For starters, on June 1st, The Beatles turned the rock music world upside down with the release of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band," only a scant few days after the Grape released their debut. The band's performance at The Monterey Pop Festival, which should have propelled them into the stratosphere, was overshadowed by the likes of Janis Joplin, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix. Their record label, Columbia, sought to promote the band by issuing five singles off the L.P. (not one of them containing a non-album cut) all at once which confused the hell out of radio D.J.s! The only single to reach dry land was the fierce rocking "Omaha," which peaked at no. 88 on the charts (at least it made the Top 100).
Since this new, albeit limited edition, reissue has been remastered from the original master tapes, you'll get a few suprizes. "Omaha" runs at least 15 seconds longer now and comes to a complete stop instead of fading out like fans have heard all these years on their original L.P.s. "Hey Grandma" runs a wee bit longer too but it still fades. "Hey Grandma" opens up the album in fine fashion (and it isn't about a teenage boy having a sexual relationship with an older woman, it's an ode to all the S.F. hotties running around in granny dresses so says Jerry Miller). The song features their trademark horse-galloping beat, fierce guitar pickin' from Jerry Miller and the band's harmonies in place. "Mr. Blues" swaggers in like a drunk returning home from a night at the bar and showcases Mr. Mosley on lead vocals. Peter Lewis then takes the lead for "Fall On You" which is a rocker. "8:05" is a resting spot with feathery layered harmonies and acoustic guitar. It caresses you gently before it's time to get down and sweaty with the soul-shake of "Come In The Morning," another Otis Redding meets The Grateful Dead moment. "Omaha" follows like a wrecking ball hitting you upside the head one direction then back the other! Truly one of the band's finest rockers, it's hard not to bounce off the walls to this one! "Naked If I Want To" closes side one of the album. It's a short, harmony laden, acoustic ditty that lasts under a minute and tells the tale of the poor, misunderstood, free-loving hippie that just wants the older generation to understand and nothing more.
Side two starts out with "Someday." It's a laid back tune that will conjure up the image of early morning sunlight beaming in through an open window as you sit in a chair and take another hit off that lit joint in your hand. Don't get too relaxed though because you've got a barnyard dance to attend with the rollicking, countrified "Ain't No Use." The mood then shifts to not so much a gentle comedown as it does a completely depressing crash landing with Peter Lewis' plantive cry of lonliness in "Sittin' By The Window." Then it's back on the runaway horse for "Changes" (one track on the album that I wish would've ran a bit longer, it really starts building steam on the fade). For "Lazy Me" it's apparent that soul can be found in just being plain stoned as the lyrics suggest ("I'll just lay here, and decay here"). "Indifference" caps off an incredible album with an incredible rocking arrangement that captures all the best elements of the band featured on all the previous tracks. I've always found the song's ending quite hillarious. It seems right as the song is comming to a climax where the band will suddenly fire on all cylinders, the drugs they took earlier kick in and the band forgets exactly where they were going! "Moby Grape" closes on that one last, confused, tethered guitar note.
Phew! That was alot to write. Now onto the bonus tracks. "Rounder," recorded during the sessions, was to be included on the album but vocals were never layed down. Needless to say, the song succedes entirely on it's own as an instrumental. It's so good that it's hard to imagine it WITH vocals! Next up are two demos from their January '67 Columbia Records audition. "Looper" is another groovy harmony filled rocker while the early version of "Indifference" sounds tighter but no less heavy than the full blown assault featured on the actual album version. "Bitter Wind" which would be recorded again and featured on their second album in a complete overblown, overly ambitious arrangement, sounds much better here. The last track "Sweet Ride (Never Again)" was recorded in November of 1967 for the film of the same title. Featured here is the unedited version where the band proceeds to crack me up again like on "Indifference." Grape take off jamming and even though they begin to loose direction, they continue on until they cannot take it any further! It's great!
"Moby Grape" is an enduring classic and deserves a place in every serious rock fans music collection. It rocks and it lives up to it's reputation as one of the best, if not THE best, album to come out of the San Francisco music scene in the late '60s. It's a shame the Grape never got their due and it's even more upsetting that their former manager Katz does his best to keep it that way. If you can find this great reissue at a reasonable price then grab it as fast as you can. Chances are you're gonna have to pay a pretty penney from here on out to buy one. I'm happy to be a fan of this awesome group....The Moby Grape...they were a GREAT BUNCH.
The Grinch that stole Christmas ( again ) December 29, 2007
Smokey Lynx (Toledo, OH United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Thank goodness for record companies like Sundazed who do such a great job reissuing fine music for music lovers . They deserve our business and support . I own quite a few of their products and they are all very well done . Unfortunately the individual who stopped this reissue is reprising his sour role and delivering lumps of coal to every one's stocking again this year. What a shame .
A True Rock Classic December 26, 2007
Peter V. Giansante (Far Point Station)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
NOTE: If you already understand the place this album holds in rock music history and you haven't obtained your own copy of the remastered Sundazed CD, stop reading this review right now and go snag it from the iTunes Music Store while it's still available (...alas, Amazon's MP3 Downloads store doesn't have it, or I'd send you there).
For those who have never heard this album but are aficionados of the greatest examples of the rock genre, you have a treat in store. The fact that (as of this writing) there are only four used copies available on Amazon starting at a minimum price of $75.00 ought to tell you something about the degree to which it is highly prized by those who are familiar with it. The truth is that it's a masterpiece.
Yeah...I know--that's what everyone says about albums they really like, or to which they feel sentimental attachments. I do like this album and it does recall some fond memories, but my affection for it is grounded in more substantial stuff. Like the early work of The Byrds and The Beatles, Moby Grape's initial self-titled album is eclectic--there's something here for everyone. The beauty of this album is that its wide range of tempos, grooves, dynamics, and styles doesn't make the album unfocused; it makes it more interesting. Each song explores new territory.
The songs themselves are solidly crafted, a fine example of the allure of music that combines a sense of the familiar with the unexpected. Some of of the tunes are straight ahead rockers with incredible energy (Hey Grandma, Fall On You, Omaha, Changes, Lazy Me), but even those show many different influences. Changes has clear Motown roots; Lazy Me is...well, I don't know how to characterize it. I've never heard anything quite like it. The vocal phrasings are almost operatic, supported by a bed of three different guitars, each one of which is interesting enough to listen to in its own right, but all of which work together to form a sound that works.
The guitars are a key element of Moby Grape. Every song features them, and they're worth listening to. They're split wide enough in the stereo mix to enable you to hear them individually, but I sometimes listen to them in mono just to enhance the incredible blend they achieve. And speaking of blends, Moby Grape is exemplary of the impact of intelligently orchestrated vocal parts. It shows on many of the tunes, but it appears most masterfully on the poignant 8:05.
Unfortunately, this album has been plagued by spotty availability over the past few decades. Its recent (October 2007) re-emergence on the Sundazed label seemed to signal a long overdue renaissance, but apparently it has once again been yanked from distribution, leaving a relatively large demand chasing a small supply. I happened to luck into finding it on iTunes, and I acted quickly. If you're interested in this rock classic, you should do the same.
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