graphic by Greg Volpert
On Skip's legacy- there is more to it than most people have seen or heard. It didn't end with "Oar". It is well known that he re-emerged with Moby Grape in 1971 on "20 Granite Creek" & at around that time he was also helping the Doobie Brothers get launched into a successful career. The Doobies were influenced by Moby Grape (I learned this from Skip, Peter Lewis, & also from talking to Tiran Porter one time).
Skip also did various gigs in the early '70(s), which included at least one (maybe more?) with Dr. John. Skip also was house musician at the Chateau Liberte up in the Santa Cruz mountains at one time. The Chateau was frequented by the Doobie Brothers & Hot Tuna (among others). To many who may read this, it's not news, but I myself didn't know about that scene until about 1995(!). Skip told me about a bit of this & I have also gotten to know other people who knew Skip back then. One individual in particular is an artist named Paul Berenson. We were put in touch in late spring / early summer of 1999, approx. 2 months after Skips' death by Lynn Quinlan, Skip's publisher.
Paul knew Skip in the early to about mid '70[s] (that is how I got confirmation I was living in the same apartment building Skip & his mother lived in during that period). Paul informed me that it was Skip who influenced him to get into the arts, Skip had actually been into painting before the music carreer took over. Paul saw some of Skip's work, it was good, it inspired Paul. He had a choice to keep getting involved with the music scene, but Paul prefered to pursue the art of painting. His art is excellent, I really like the use of colors & the otherworldly quality of his visions.
Paul was around during another musical project Skip had from this time period. It included the original recording of his song "All My Life" & a great instrumental rock piece called "The Space Song"- it was spacey & hard driving all at once. A great undiscovered classic. If it had been released back in 1972 or 1973, no doubt it could have influenced a lot of people. Skip's band with these recordings was called The Yankees. Skip & I have recorded different versions of those 2 tunes (very different. Our version of "The Space Song" is an ambient soundscape type of thing). "The Space Song" was inspired by the original Star Trek T.V. show. Another thing in common, we both liked Star Trek. Skip's original inspiration for "All My Life" was The Beatles (I never found out which song in particular).
Another fellow I know who knew Skip back in the Chateau days was introduced to me by Michael Kelly (who also introduced me to Skip, as mentioned in part one of this interview.) Michael introduced me to Louis Zamora (Lou for short), who had a Mexican restaurant at or around the Chateau. Lou is into making videos, works at the public access cable T.V. station in Santa Cruz & has a business called Rock Mountain Video in Felton. He is the producer of & does filming for the the "Musician's Weekly" T.V. show at public access channel 27 (formerly channel 71).
What about the live Moby Grape reunions that Skip played at?
The various Moby Grape re-unions are pretty well documented, from what I can tell. From what I have learned from Skip & about him, he never stopped trying to do his music. Even during the "lost years" of the '80(s), he still wrote songs. When I met him in '94, he was in a band called Epicenter. Skip invited me to play with them, but the one time I could, Skip wasn't feeling up to it. I told Skip I would rather hang out with him & cheer him up than go play without him- I could jam some other time.
Skip's last live performance was with Moby Grape on 8-9-96 at Palookaville in Santa Cruz. Another talented musician friend of mine from that time (Rob Nugent) helped with transportation, he had a nice camper-type van that Skip, Terry & myself all travelled in to the gig at Palookaville.The show was dedicated to Jerry Garcia (an announcement from Jerry Miller on stage), who died the same day a year before (very unfortunately, I am among those who miss Garcia). They did a whole set together- about an hour. I had brought my white Stratocaster (Skip's favorite guitar of mine) with a purple cable & a Pignose Hog 20 amp (which is bigger than the original Pignose, with 2 inputs & 1 headphone / line out jack, decent little amp, actually) for Skip to play. While watching a video after this all happened, my girlfriend Morgan joked about me being upstaged by my guitar(!)- my Strat has been onstage with Moby Grape, but I never was! I had a good laugh at that one. You had to be there. Strangely, the sound tech couldn't find an input on the mixer to plug in Skip's guitar(!), so he ended up playing Peter's red Strat.
Skip never lost his magic. When you saw him on stage it was obvious he belonged there. He did everything from playing guitar to singing, working the crowd & greeting his bandmates with hugs- raising their spirits as well. Bob Mosley was doing some amazing stuff, too, a sort of talking blues (blues "rap" if you will), & a sort of dance best described as the "Chicken Walk" because of his motions. He also played some guitar when Skip handed him Peter's Strat. This concert also featured a first live band performance (I believe it was the first time) of another un-released song from Skip, a tune called "Sailing". One thing I thought was cool (besides the fact it's a good song) is that it was a request I had. Peter was visiting us sometime before the gig & I had said to him I thought it would be great if they played it (something to that effect). He had asked for some suggestions. Thanks for listening, Peter! That was cool. fans coming to talk with him & get autographs. When everything was over & we were sitting in the van chilling for a bit before going home, Skip said "Man, that was fun! We're going to have to do this again before long."
How do you feel about the Oar and More Oar albums?
1999's re-release of Skip's original "Oar" sessions on Sundazed Records & the tribute album "More Oar" on Birdman (masterminded by Bill Bentley of Reprise Records) are a nice reminder of how rich Skip's legacy is. The re-mastered original "Oar" sounds incredibly beautiful & more detailed, though I was surprised the song "Diana" was faded out before the jam part at the end could be heard much. That should not have happened. The tribute album is truly fine too- the best tribute I've heard to date. I've heard that both albums are still selling well.
I'm grateful that Skip & I became friends & musical partners. Of all the friends I've had, Skip is the only one who never wanted me to leave when I had to go back home. He would always ask when I could come back again. Even if I had been around for several days. He was also my biggest fan (besides Morgan)- he always liked hearing me play. The studio project we shared was something he looked forward to. All of us used to have this dream of him, Terry, Morgan & me sharing a large house.
Those of us who were close to Skip & any who are inspired by what he created & offered are the living part of his legacy here on Earth. This experience has shown me once again that while Skip & the rest of us are all unique individuals, we are all part of something much bigger than all of us, in a spiritual sense.
A lot of the published material on Skip seem to compare him to Syd Barrett and Roky Ericson. Having known Skip, what are your feelings on the "acid-fried" tag so common in magazines and reviews?
One thing that has bothered me to no end is all of the irresponsible "journalism" (I have another word for it!) about Alexander Spence. It went on before he died & still goes on to this day. After his death in 1999, I was mad enough to pulverize all the robotic fools who "dutifully" put out unresearched tabloid trash just to do a story on him- people who had no idea who or what they were writing about. I'm educated enough to know that you must research your subject as completely as possible before publishing anything about it. To be specific on what I'm ranting about: There have been numerous stories of Skip just being an "acid casualty" who never did anything after "Oar" (that myth has been blown up already), other writers have printed stories not intended to damage but were loaded with inaccuracies & confused information. If they do their research I'm sure they will find the truth is far more rewarding than any of the recycled trash that has been done about him at times. They should put themselves in the other person's shoes- how would they feel if someone didn't tell the right story about them, giving readers a completely distorted picture of what they are? To be accurate, I admit that there is much about his past I still don't know, there are also a few other details I do know that didn't make it to print, but I can't put it all in one article. I mostly wanted to uncover some of the significant lesser known facts about Skip , a glimpse of the real person behind the media distortion.
And what do you think of Moby Grape ?
Moby Grape is the only well known rock band with which I've known each member personally. I've mostly seen them at gigs, but had the occasion to hang out with different members at various times since I've known Skip. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet Don Stevenson until Skip's funeral & memorial concert. I think that they are one of the best bands of all time & hope they will continue to make music together as well as do their own solo projects. I think their influence is needed by new generations of rock musicians.
It's been a shame how the Grape, David LaFlamme, & others have been plagued by all the pointless "legal" battles with Mathew Katz. That is my opinion, there is nothing I could say to defame his character, it's all a matter of public record now (in case he ever reads this). People will know the musicians for all the good music they did in spite of any oppression. But, because of oppressive deeds from oppressive people, we should all stick together & help each other out.
What are your thoughts on 60's music and psychedelia?
The 60(s) were a time of evolution on many different levels- artistically, spiritually, politically, etc. The music from the mid- 1960(s) on to the '70(s), in my opinion, was the "big bang" that resulted in the current modern musical universe as we know it . It was a renaisance & age of experimentation. While drugs, psychedelics in particular, played a part in influencing changes, they could not give anyone something they didn't have inside of them already ( specifically the ability for new artistic expression of a revolutionary nature). The psychedelics, despite their potential dangers, were an accessable method of quickly changing your perspective & perception of reality, discovering new worlds. Ancient spiritual practices can do the same thing in a better, more stable fashion (meditation & other practices)- with permanent gains & no bad side effects. The media tends to focus more on the sensational side of things, so I think drugs have gotten too much press & other valid elements of the time have been largely neglected.
In the '60(s) eastern spiritual philosophies were also becoming more popular & there were an increasing number of people practicing meditation, yoga, buddhism, etc. It is my belief that if drugs didn't exist, there would still have been a revolution in creative expression- these things have happened periodically through time. I also believe it is true that the constructive use of psychedelics opened certain channels faster & provided an almost certain way of seeing beyond the illusion of "ordinary" reality- many have attested to the fact that experiences with L.S.D. & other psychedelics gave them a lot of ideas & visions for their work. The abundance of psychedelic music & art is living proof. I have always liked psychedelia & think it is some of the best modern art. Much of my own music is psychedelic. Another thing is that "psychedelic" means "mind manifesting" ( the term was coined by Dr. Humphrey Osmond.)
Most of the genres of music we still recognize also came from the later half of the '60(s). Space music, the heavy rock that became "metal", the basic, raw hard rock that became "punk", many fusions of styles linking rock with blues, jazz, folk, classical, country, funk, etc. Of course blues plays a huge part & is a pervasive ingredient / influence in most rock music, especially since rock mostly came from blues. Even though there were no digital samplers or looping devices in the '60(s), the precursor of looped electronic music also arose in that era, with the use of echoplexes, Binson echo machines, & other tape loop recorders (I later learned that the Binson machines were actually recording on *wire*, the precursor of tape recording).
More archive recordings from various bands ( Soft Machine is one) have come out in the '90(s) & now, since some experimental music is more popular currently. Psychedelic music is a living art form- there are a lot of newer bands around today that are great ( I could probably write a book about this). Nick Solomon of Beavis Frond & Joe McDonald have performed & recorded together. Nick is a newer artist from England (though he's been around, so he's not new in the strictest sense). It seems most of the trans-cultural influences became more prominent in the '60(s), too, with the interest in east Indian music, Chinese, Middle Eastern, African & others. The current phenomenon known as "world music" probably is rooted in the decade of the '60(s) as well.
In many ways, the explosion that started around 35+ years ago is still happening- even if mostly in the "underground". The Internet has been showing us another big bang, it appears. Even with all the failures of the Dot.Com vapor "businesses" since the last half of 2000, most of the real music websites are still going, there are plenty of sites for independent artists to put up a page & showcase some tunes to promote what they do.
[ Brian Vaughan - Part Three ]