DC: Yeah‚ it may just be reacquainting with somebody you already know‚ not meeting up with them after a long period of time.
PL: That's it. That's all it ever is. But when we were together in the beginning‚ there was this really intense energy thing that you had to sort of make sure you didn't think too much in the grip of that. And so that's good. It's like a raw energy‚ and turning that into a good performance is really the job. And that's going to be the best part of it.
Moby Grape/ Moby Grape
The ebullient optimism of 1967 may never be more redolent than on this eponymous debut. Every track is worth equal attention-as their label agreed by releasing five 45-rpm singles?! An impeccable fusion of blues and rock with country overtones balanced by the baroque that would keynote its successor-and absolutely none of it sounds dated in the least (catch the finger on the washboard in the cover portrait!).
Moby Grape/Wow
Originally released as a twofer 12-inch vinyl LP set‚ The Grape's experimentalism was tempered by their chemistry as a band as well as a reliable producer in David Robinson. No doubt too the lack of stability in the group kept them from indulging themselves too much: Moby Grape's music has always been a safe haven‚ and rightly so‚ as the blues drive and euphoric harmonies here will attest.
Moby Grape/Grape Jam
If there is one dispensable album in the bunch‚ this may be the one. Wow's companion piece is comprised of a set of often lengthy bluesy jams peopled by future Super-Sessioners Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper‚ intermingled with spoken word segments and more formal horn arrangements. It's testament to the musicality of the band and of a piece with the more formal recordings.
Moby Grape/Moby Grape '69
With a far less visible profile than their kindred spirits Buffalo Springfield‚ Moby Grape followed the same path of begrudging dissolution. Yet it's Lewis‚ Jerry Miller‚ Bob Mosley and Don Stevenson's loyalty to themselves as musicians that holds the vivid material together: nothing sounds forced‚ but on the contrary‚ equally vivacious as the debut album.
Moby Grape/Truly Fine Citizen
The original quintet reunited for another album on Warner Bros. two years later‚ but here Moby Grape was down to a trio on their last for Columbia. Lyrically and melodically incisive songs continue to depict their real-life drama‚ all of it produced by Bob Johnston‚ the man who ushered Dylan and The Byrds through Nashville.