Skip spence

Skip Spence, who has died of lung cancer aged 52, played a seminal role in the Skip spence Francisco psychedelic rock scene of the late s as a member of two of its most influential bands, Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape.

All are paying tribute to a man whose last meaningful music was made 30 years ago but whose legacy still burns bright. For the past three decades the man in question has been in declining physical and mental health, living on the streets or in care. Now things have deteriorated further. The doctors have also diagnosed lung cancer. His son Omar arrives with a promo pressing of More Oar , the aforementioned benefit album, and plays it at his bedside. Despite his condition, Skip manages a weary smile.

Skip spence

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At the age of ten, he was given his first guitar by his parents.

It was recorded over seven days in December in Nashville, and features Spence on all of the instruments. Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made", [6] the album was recorded after Spence had spent six months in Bellevue Hospital. Spence had been committed to Bellevue following a delusion-driven attempt to attack Moby Grape bandmates Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller with a fire axe. At the time of Spence's release from hospital, he had written a number of songs that he wanted to record. Producer David Rubinson suggested that Spence record at the Columbia studios in Nashville, where there was a particularly patient recording engineer, Mike Figlio. Rubinson instructed Figlio to keep the tapes running at all times, to record everything that Spence did.

Skip Spence, who has died of lung cancer aged 52, played a seminal role in the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene of the late s as a member of two of its most influential bands, Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape. He also became its most notorious acid casualty, spending the last 30 years in and out of mental hospitals. Spence was always weird. At the age of 11, he rang up Little Richard to complain about him deserting rock 'n' roll for religion. Weird things happened to him. Born in Windsor, Ontario, he was a singer-guitarist on the mids San Francisco coffee-house circuit and an electric guitarist with an embryonic Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Skip spence

It was recorded over seven days in December in Nashville, and features Spence on all of the instruments. Described as "one of the most harrowing documents of pain and confusion ever made", [6] the album was recorded after Spence had spent six months in Bellevue Hospital. Spence had been committed to Bellevue following a delusion-driven attempt to attack Moby Grape bandmates Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller with a fire axe. At the time of Spence's release from hospital, he had written a number of songs that he wanted to record.

245 kilos to pounds

Saturday 27 January Archived from the original on May 20, Instead, Rubinson had the demo recordings released by Columbia. Add image 10 more photos. Monday 25 December Oar , Rubinson says, was his way of sharing it. Rob Hughes. If anything could be done wrong, Moby Grape did it. Even when Spence builds his songs around a familiar sound primarily minimalist country-folk unsettling oddities and ominous modulations creep in. Wednesday 25 October Friday 9 February Similar To Moby Grape. More Love this track Set track as current obsession Get track Loading.

He was born Alexander Spence in Canada in , and was given a guitar by his parents at the age of A precocious talent, he also played the drum in his school band, a skill which would come in handy when, having moved to California in the mid-Sixties, he dived into the burgeoning hippie scene of the Bay Area. Spence had already been approached to join Quicksilver Messenger Service as a guitarist when he bumped into the singer Marty Balin at the Matrix, a San Francisco club also used as a rehearsal room.

It was like that scene in The Doors movie. Social Links Navigation. They just take you out of the game. Spence had been committed to Bellevue following a delusion-driven attempt to attack Moby Grape bandmates Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller with a fire axe. Skippy kind of disappeared for a little while. Monday 23 October Wednesday 1 November Vocals guitar drums. Saturday 13 January Saturday 21 October Friday 10 November Voluminous consumption of heroin and cocaine resulted in a further involuntary committal for Spence. He was dismissed by the band after taking an unannounced vacation to Mexico. His former bandmates in Moby Grape , the Bay Area group he co-founded in the 60s, felt it deeply.