Skip's Oar

When I picked up the 1999 re-issue of Alexander "Skip" Spence Oar I had no idea what I was up for.  I also picked up the tribute to the album with people like Robyn Hitchcock, Robert Plant, Flying Saucer Attack, Beck, Tom Waits and many others.  Oar was an album I heard about in certain music circles and they talked about it like a Holy Grail of music.  For me I only knew one thing about "Skip" Spence and I knew that he was in Moby Grape one of the coolest band of the 60's.  I will talk about them in another post in the future.  What I did not know he made one one solo album.  This album was being re-issued and I needed to get it.  I was a fan of good old Psychedelic Rock and needed to know more about this one and only solo album.

He performed and produced every sound on the album himself at Columbia studios in Nashville in the space of less than two weeks. This burst of creativity was directly preceded by a six-month incarceration in New York City's Bellevue Hospital. (AM)  That's quite amazing for anyone and Skip was one of the best.

I learned more and more hearing Oar and it made me think about his past, and what he was thinking. His band Moby Grape was one of the best Psychedelic Rock bands of the 60's. Their debut was more then a breath, it fit the time of the 60's.  Their two albums the self titled and Wow are ones I visit all the time.  It is sad that the record company kinda screwed them on their debut album, but that is for another day.  Their payed guitar work was stuff of legend and richly layered.  It was their signature sound.  As I said above, he did all the instruments himself and made use of what he did with Moby Grape.

A common motif to this album is the presence of saints and demons. Even the straightforward narratives such as the love ballads "Broken Heart" and "Cripple Creek" -- which feature vocal treatments reminiscent of folkie Fred Neil -- are bathed in unusual chord sequences and lyrical double-entendre. (AM)  I see comparisons to Syd Barrett, but I see more exploration without any help from other musicians and Skip doing it himself is an achievement.  Even his lyrics have something to say.  Below is the lyrics are to "Little Hands"  it is one of my favorite tunes on the album.  

Little hands clapping
Children are laughing
Little hands clapping all over the world

Piper is piping
Drummers are drumming
Little hands clapping all over the world

Little hands clapping
Children are sharing
Little loves loving, all little boys and girls

Children are singing
The truths that they're bringing
Freedom is ringing all 'round the world

Come let us meet them
Ah, yes, we will greet them

Little hands clapping
Children are caring
Piper is calling all over the world

Out in the street
The sick that you meet
How many friends do you call your own?

Come let us meet them
Yes, we will greet them

Children are clapping
Children are caring
Children are shattering records and rules

Little hands caring
Little hands sharing
The old ones and the gold ones and the family jewels

Come let us meet them
Yes, we will greet them

Little hands clapping
Children are happy
Little hands loving all 'round the world

Little hands clasping
Truth they are grasping
A world with no pain for one and all

And they are learning
Their souls, they are yearning
A nice place to play and no place to fall

Come let us meet them
Ah, yes, we will greet them

If there is one comparison to one musician I would put him up there with Roky Erickson who was also a genius.  This album deserves a repeated listen to catch everything that Skip wants to say.  It still a strong influence on many artists.  Beck made a whole tribute album to Oar with some of his friends.  I watched the videos for it the other day and this is what brought me to write about it.  This album also recently got the deluxe treatment and expanded to three CD's with rich and insightful liner notes that could tell a better story then myself. It is an album that is got a cult following this it it.  The majority of the sounds on this long player remain teetering near the precipice of sanity.(AM)  That might be the best explanation, but it is a a must own and for me it's a true keeper.