Friday, July 23, 2010

The Professor and Moby Grape

The Professor
It's hard to keep on speaking out to the peeps without mentioning the man responsible for our mission and the reason Dominguez and I can so easily cut straight to the cool.  Now when we left our planet in the Space Caddy it was 1984 here on Earth.  We had a bit of time out there in the cosmos to study The Teachings of The Professor, it was his personal catalogue of books, music, and film...it made up over 60 years of intensive study. 

 The Professor, a.k.a. T.L. or Big Fish, likes to fly low 'cause he's one of the last remaining soldiers of his generation and has his P.H.D. in celluloid and rock 'n roll.  You see, he was able to read the writing on the wall way before it all went down back home.  He tried to pass onto me all the love he had for the sounds and images that make the world...any world that is...go 'round.  But we were runnin' outta time ya dig.  The evil oppressor was startin' to pull all the strings behind the curtain.  The Professor knew if he didn't pack us up in his Vintage Space Ride and send us off with The Teachings that the whole universe might fall into some kind of drone like existence - a sheep herder's paradise, a Jonas bros. highway to hell without the influences of art history.  So Dominguez and I set the dial for Hollywood, CA knowing it would take over 26 years to get here.  What we thought would be an impossible mission has turned out to be a monumental adventure.  All Dominguez and I have done is join a united front that is already reppin' the fresh and the cool.

So in honor of The Professor I give you Moby Grape.  One of his all time favorites and one of the most obscure rock bands to come out of the Haight/Ashbury district in the late sixties.  They had all the pieces: Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson, Peter Lewis, Bob Mosley, and the immortal Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence, a rock enigma who's story cannot be told in less than 16 chapters.  His guitar playing and song writing are historic but his personal struggles were both tragic and legendary.  It is rumoured the day after his release from a six month stint in Bellevue Mental Hospital, where he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic, he rode his motorcycle dressed in his pajamas strait to Nashville to record the incredibly hard to understand solo album, Oar.  There are also rumors of Skip's LSD trips in NYC leading to Shining-esque fire axe episodes in classy hotels.  But enough about the Skip man for now.


Moby Grape - Wow Album Cove
Moby Grape was not just another acid fueled, love fest band from San Francisco.  They had three electrics blasting away, gritty but with some southern melodies as well.  5 guys writing, singing and contributing.  Their debut album is on a thousand top 100 must own lists.  If you dig on some Doobies, Allmans, and The Black Crowes you can hear some Moby Grape in there somewhere.  Songs like "Omaha", "8:05", and "Hey Grandma" are critical favorites but as I learned from the Professor "Motorcycle Irene" and "I Am Not Willin" is Moby Grape at the peak of their game and the apex of Sixties Rock 'n Roll! 

If you are a collector, and can find it, pick up Wow and Grape Jam (simultaneously released but separately packaged full length vinyls).  If you're just a curios cat then at least download "Murder In My Heart For The Judge" and for God's sake "Motorcycle Irene"...Can ya dig it?

-Mr. World


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2 comments:

  1. Dear Mr. World,
    Great review of the band Moby Grape. It is a shame more people don't listen to the vinyls of the sixties. There is more creativity just in the album cover than in most new music today. Don't forget one of my favorite cuts is "Murder in My Heart for the Judge". Any of the Moby Grape songs illustrate great lyric writing. Also don't forget the famous philosophy of Mr. Gregory Hines who said, "white people can see Jimmy Hendrix but they can't hear him." As you and Dr. D travel through your vinyl history don't forget what anonymous said, "you can catch the devil but you can't keep him."
    Love,
    The Professor

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Mr. World,

    Great article. I wonder what spare parts you need to get home? I play with THECOOLTV.. check us out.. thecooltv.com

    We're looking for a proper guest writer to get into it about music. Would you want to chat sometime? If so hit me up at megan.marini@coolmusicnetwork.com

    Thanks brother!
    m

    ReplyDelete

The Professor Moved On..

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