Bentley's Bandstand
The rap sheet on this seminal ‘60s band is extensive, but can be summarized something like this: assembled for greatness in the midst of the San Francisco psychedelic rock explosion, their 1967 debut was the perfect album that died a horrible death due to corporate idiocy and band misbehavior. The follow-up was a confused attempt to break down boundaries, but wasn’t really very good. Album number three was a semi-return to form, but by then one primary member was lost to the ozone so that by album four no one really cared, including what was left of the band. Still, the group’s best musical highlights have rarely been equaled, and this 24-song collection of demos, live recordings, outtakes and alternative versions is a stellar peak inside the Moby Grape goldmine. And while there are no show-stopping surprises, to hear the audition recording of “Indifference,” the steamy live stomper “Miller’s Blues” and all the other glimpses of greatness is to realize exactly what got away: a rock band with more potential than just about all their contemporaries. Each of the five members were singer-songwriters of equal stature, and even better, no two were alike. Jerry Miller’s screaming lead guitar was also rooted in Barney Kessel sophistication, and Bob Mosley’s rhythm & blues-inflected voice could blast souls across a sold-out auditorium. Drummer Don Stevenson was as good playing on double shuffles and subdued ballads as he was singing the classic songs he co-wrote, and Peter Lewis’ sensitive folk voice was equal to anyone in the Byrds or Buffalo Springfield. That leaves Alexander “Skip” Spence, the soon-to-be eccentric whose “Omaha” and “Indifference” on the first Grape release are on anyone’s Top 20 songs of the ‘60s list, never mind that he went on to record Oar, the first album where all the vocals and instruments were performed by the artist alone. He then disappeared into the streets of northern California, where he died in 1999. It has been often said that bad luck killed the Grape, but in reality it was an excess of riches. Perfection came too easily to the band, and when the keys to the kingdom weren’t forthcoming quick enough they didn’t know what to do. The Place And The Time is probably best appreciated by fans who already know their music, and for them it’s like a treasure map leading to many hidden delights. And once again rubbing in what should have been.
