Skip spence

All are paying tribute to skip spence man whose last meaningful music was made 30 years ago but whose legacy still burns bright.

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

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In the same year, he released his only solo album, Oar , and then largely withdrew from the music industry. He had started his career as a guitarist in an early line-up of Quicksilver Messenger Service , and was the drummer on Jefferson Airplane 's debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. He has been described on the AllMusic website as "one of psychedelia's brightest lights"; [2] however, his career was plagued by drug addiction coupled with mental health problems, and he has been described by a biographer as a man who "neither died young nor had a chance to find his way out. His father, Alexander Lett "Jock" Spence — , [4] was a machinist, a salesman, and played Route 66 as a solo singer-songwriter and piano player. In the late s, the family relocated from Windsor to San Jose, California , based on Spence's father finding work in the aircraft industry. At the age of ten, he was given his first guitar by his parents.

For a six month stay, all he had to show for it were the pajamas on his back, a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and a head full of songs. The music was devouring him, and it needed to be let out. The music was all he had left. At one time, Skip Spence had the whole world wrapped around his finger. He started out as an early member of Jefferson Airplane before going on to become the founder and principal songwriter of Moby Grape, one of the most promising young bands of the San Francisco psych rock scene. This would-be rock god was barely old enough to buy alcohol. Sadly, by , it all started falling apart. But Spence was well on his way towards becoming another acid casualty.

Skip spence

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. Dissatisfied with the drummer Jerry Peloquin, who was only in so the group could use his apartment in Haight Ashbury, the frontman offered the drumming stool to Spence, who looked the part. Further personnel changes saw Anderson quit to have children and Grace Slick, formerly lead vocalist with the Great Society, take over, bringing with her "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love", two seminal compositions which became the Airplane's first hits and true flower-power anthems. By the time these million-selling singles reached the US Top Ten in , Spence, who felt his songwriting was being eclipsed by the other members' though his "My Best Friend" was included on Surrealistic Pillow, the group's second album , had stopped attending rehearsals and was dismissed in favour of Spencer Dryden. At the same time, the Jefferson Airplane switched their management to a local concert promoter Bill Graham, leaving Matthew Katz in the lurch. Katz kept Spence on his books and hatched a plan to form a band around him in San Francisco.

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Music was mostly beyond him, although in he did record demos for a proposed X-files soundtrack with former Airplane colleague Jack Casady. View all albums. December 3—12, [1]. Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. Don Stevenson an original Moby Grape member also performed. They'd played a Fillmore East gig without me, and Skippy took off with some black witch afterward who fed him full of acid. Retrieved March 17, Like most San Francisco bands, the Grapes' stage-set revolved around extended jams - the highlight of which was Spence's dreamy rock-raga, Dark Magic - that would not transfer to vinyl. He was the Brian Jones figure of the band. And Spence's guitar—once unbridled during Moby Grape sessions—is understated, yet ethereal enough to echo the pained state of his soul. Tuesday 21 November Moby Grape. It was like that scene in The Doors movie. Read Edit View history.

In the same year, he released his only solo album, Oar , and then largely withdrew from the music industry. He had started his career as a guitarist in an early line-up of Quicksilver Messenger Service , and was the drummer on Jefferson Airplane 's debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. He has been described on the AllMusic website as "one of psychedelia's brightest lights"; [2] however, his career was plagued by drug addiction coupled with mental health problems, and he has been described by a biographer as a man who "neither died young nor had a chance to find his way out.

Thursday 7 December Most viewed. Thursday 30 November She and Skip had been living in Greenwich Village, ingesting all manner of hallucinogens. Rubinson met him at the gate, took him uptown, bought food and fresh threads, then booked him into a hotel. Authority control databases MusicBrainz release group. Monday 16 October Due to his deteriorating state and notwithstanding that he was no longer functioning in the band, Spence was supported by Moby Grape band members for extended periods. That was the whole point. Regular contributor to Uncut magazine for over 20 years. Sunday 18 February Thursday 19 October