Buried Treasures & Peter Lewis of Moby Grape
Jim and Greg are always on the lookout for buried treasures - newly released music that is flying underneath the critical and commercial radar. They're back this week with some exciting new songs. Jim and Greg also talk with a member of a somewhat buried treasure act from the past, Peter Lewis of Moby Grape. They discuss ways the 1960s San Francisco group turned convention on its head and some of the bad luck that befell the band.
Buried Treasures
Jim and Greg listen to loads of music each week and don't always have time to talk about it all. They share some new music aka buried treasures that they think you need to hear!
Greg
- Mini Meltdowns, "I Wanna Die"
- Jade Jackson, "City Lights"
- Altin Gün, "Leyla"
- Joan Shelley, "Coming Down For You"
Jim
- Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquesta, "Popular Lips"
- Future Silence, "Kansas Plains"
- Reunion Island, "Rokka"
- Sasquatch Turf War, "The Conversation Piece"
Peter Lewis of Moby Grape
When Moby Grape formed in San Francisco in 1966, some critics saw them as America's answer to The Beatles. Their line-up was stacked with three talented guitarists (Skip Spence, Peter Lewis and Jerry Miller) and all five band members sang lead and wrote songs (bassist Bob Mosley and drummer Don Stevenson rounded out the band). They could play radio-friendly music as well as psychedelic experimental music. Columbia Records was excited to support them and it seemed there was nowhere to go but up. But before they could ascend to the top of the music industry, a string of bad luck got in their way.
This week, guitarist Peter Lewis explains to Jim and Greg how a bad manager, an overzealous publicity strategy and mental illness combined with a drug cocktail relegated Moby Grape to "buried treasure" status, even 52 years after their debut album was released. He also talks about how they developed their three guitar approach, their friendship with Buffalo Springfield and Skip Spence's solo album Oar, which he wrote over his six months in Bellevue psychiatric hospital.
Featured Songs
- Altin Gün, "Leyla," Gece, ATO, 2019
- Moby Grape, "Omaha," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Mini Meltdowns, "I Wanna Die," I Wanna Die (Single), Good Land, 2019
- Clive Tanaka 7 Su Orquesta, "Popular Lips," Pre-Sunrise Authority, Gotta Groove, 2019
- Jade Jackson, "City Lights," Wilderness, ANTI-, 2019
- Future Silence, "Kansas Plains," Future Silence, Half a Cow, 2019
- Lady Lamb, "Even in the Tremor," Even in the Tremor, Ba Da Bing!, 2019
- Reunion Island, "Rokka," Collapse, Tall Corn Music, 2019
- Joan Shelley, "Coming Down For You," Like The River Loves The Sea, No Quarter, 2019
- Sasquatch Turf War, "The Conversation Piece," Sasquatch Turf War, Cavetone, 2018
- Temples, "Hot Motion," Hot Motion, ATO, 2019
- Moby Grape, "Omaha," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Moby Grape, "I Am Not Willing," Moby Grape '69, Columbia, 1969
- Moby Grape, "805," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Moby Grape, "Hey Grandma," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- The Golden Palominos, "Omaha," Visions of Excess, Celluloid, 1985
- Moby Grape, "Changes," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Moby Grape, "Someday," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Jefferson Airplane, "Blues From An Airplane," Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, RCA Victor, 1966
- Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth," Buffalo Springfield, Atco, 1967
- Moby Grape, "Come In The Morning," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Moby Grape, "Changes (Live)," Vintage: The Very Best of Moby Grape, Columbia, 1993
- Moby Grape, "Fall On You," Moby Grape, Columbia, 1967
- Moby Grape, "Seeing," Moby Grape '69, Columbia, 1969
- Neil Young and Crazy Horse, "Down By The River," Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Reprise, 1969
- Skip Spence, "Little Hands," Oar, Columbia, 1969
- Peter Lewis, "Only A Fool," The Road To Zion, Omad, 2019
- Wilson Pickett, "634-5797 (Soulsville, USA)," The Exciting Wilson Pickett, Atlantic, 1966
- Merle Haggard, "Big City," Big City, Epic, 1981
- Stevie Wonder, "Do I Do," Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I, Tamla, 1982
- The Meters, "Cissy Strut," The Meters , Josie, 1969
- Duran Duran, "Rio," Rio, EMI, 1982
- Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship, "A Child Is Coming," Blows Against the Empire, RCA Victor, 1970
- King Curtis & The Kingpins, "Memphis Soul Stew," King Size Soul, Atco, 1967
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