The 2nd edition of Beck's Record Club ended a few weeks back. Devendra Banhart, members of MGMT, Andrew from Wolfmother, Binki from Little Joy and Brian Lebarton and Bram Inscore from the first edition all joined Beck in the studio to record in one day, Leonard Cohen's 1968 debut album "Songs Of Leonard Cohen". Which you can download [...]

Filed under: News , New Music Beck 's Record Club continues to astound music fans . After tackling 'The Velvet Underground & Nico ' and 'Songs of Leonard Cohen ' over the past several months, rock's favorite chameleon has announced his club's third installment: Skip Spence 's 1969 album 'Oar'. If that's not enough, he's lured Wilco , Feist and Jamie Lidell to assist him with his rendering of the late Moby Grape founder's cult favorite. The [...]

1967 Columbia Moby Grape *'Omaha' * found this track on a compilation in the Rasputin used bin tonight. There's still lots of plastic for sale if you go the stores. I was looking for a Harry Nilsson record and then I ran into this. 18 solid numbers from various artists for $5.95. I will defer to Robert Christgau for the proper respect, " Moby Grape was that good - a pop-smart whirl of blazing white R&B, country twang and psychedelic balladry." Tap in. [...]

"Ever since you walked right in, the circle's been complete, I've said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street, To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun, I love you more than ever and I haven't yet begun..." Thanks for that, Bob, could not have said it any better myself. As it happens to be my - umpteenth - wedding anniversary today, here´s a tenpack of songs about that weird phenomenon called marriage. Married man may be a fool, Ry, and granted Tom, I [...]

In the late 1960s Columbia Records tried to be really hip because, after all, they had nothing to lose. This is the oldest recording label - founded in 1888 to sell Thomas Edison's new-fangled recording machines - and in the Sixties this label was really suffering from a "credibility gap." With one huge exception: Columbia (by this time they were owned by CBS) stumbled onto the burgeoning folk craze in the early 1960s and signed Bob Dylan. Dylan went on to change popular music virtually singlehandedly (the Beatles helped a little) but even so Columbia had very few [...]
Today is Victoria Day in Canada, a statutory holiday to celebrate the long reign of Queen Vicotria and the current reigning monarch's official birthday. Since the current reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is of the House of Windsor , I thought today would be a perfect day to link to a great post I read last week on the music scene of Windsor, Ontario. This link is from a new music blog called North by East West , a blog about all thinks music related in Canada which I very occasionally contribute to. [...]
If you're not convinced Moby Grape were one of the hippest, baddest, realest, and rawest bands of the late 1960s then grab this new outtakes and live cuts compilation from Sundazed and try to explain otherwise. The Place and the Time collects unissued recordings by Moby Grape and presents them more or less chronologically from 1967 to 1968 over 2 LPs. Side One combines auditions...
Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest -and most successful (see above)- rock bands of all time, everyone knows this. What everyone does not (necessarily) know is just how many of their songs -especially some of their most popular songs- they covered and/or flat out stole from other artists without giving any credit. In an interview with Trouser Press , Jimmy Page responded to the suggestion that Led Zeppelin used a lot of traditional and blues lyrics and tunes and called them their own: The thing is they were traditional lyrics and [...]

This Mix Tape was inspired by my trip out to San Francisco this summer. SF just oozes with an energy and feel that makes you understand how the psychedelic rock movement originated and blossomed there. Anyone that has seen a show at The Fillmore can attest to that, that room's just filled with the ghosts of the past. So with that in mind, I thought we'd take a trip back to the '60s for some tunes from the some of the bands from that era... We kick things off with [...]

“ Fleeting, like smoke. (No.2) ” 01. The Hollies - King Midas In Reverse Butterfly (1967) 02. The Dead Science - Black Lane Villainaire (Constellation, 2008) 03. Can - Vitamin C Ege Bamyasi (1972) 04. Bert Jansch - Poison Birthday Blues (Castle Music UK, 1969) 05. Moby Grape - 8:05 [...]

20 Granite Creek was another comeback disc that Moby Grape issued in 1971 (Reprise). Just like other comeback efforts 69 and Melvilles, this one delivers the goods in a more subdued, laidback country-rock fashion. The five original members who played on the 1967 debut are all present though Skip Spence only contributes one fascinating original, the instrumental Chinese Song. Chinese Song is incredible, completely unlike anything the Grape would record again and more proof of Skip Spence's genius. While Spence provided the Grape with an undefinable magic, Mosley, Lewis, Stevenson, and [...]
Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart She May Call You Up Tonight - The Left Banke Tonight I'm Gonna Go Downtown - The Flatlanders Omaha - The Golden Palominos w/ Michael Stipe (Moby Grape cover) Sitting By The Window - Moby Grape Boogie Stop Shuffle - Charles Mingus [...]
The Exclusive Company celebrates Record Store Day.

This post is inspired by an e-mail from reader Tom who took issue with my off-the-cuff comment in an earlier post that Gram Parsons “wrote the book” on country rock . I had been referring to Parsons' work with The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, & as a solo act, and wrongly implied that Parsons invented country rock. Tom, who knows his stuff, rightly pointed out that several country rock songs were released before The Byrds put country-rock on the map in the Summer of 1968 with Sweetheart of the Rodeo . [...]

Time for a quickie post. Here is the original version of Omaha by Moby Grape from 1967 and a cover version by The Golden Palominos (featuring Michael Stipe on vocals) from 1985: Moby Grape – Omaha (mp3) ( buy album ). The Golden Palominos – Omaha (mp3) . The Golden Palominos' track comes from the star-studded album Visions of Excess which is out of print. The players on this Golden Palominos track are: [...]
The Move have to be the greatest cover band ever (besides being one of the best "originals" bands ever). Every cover I've ever heard them do is just about as good as the original or maybe even a little better. Here they are covering Moby Grape, along with the original. Hey Grandma-Moby Grape.mp3 Hey Grandma-The Move.mp3 Buy The Move music on iTunes Buy Moby Grape music on iTunes

" Retro '60 " 01. Moby Grape - Sitting By The Window Moby Grape (Sundazed Music Inc, 1967) 02. The Hollies - Elevated Observations? Butterfly (1967) 03. Bert Jansch - The Bright New Year Birthday Blues (Castle Music UK, 1969) 04. Chuck Berry - Havana Moon ( wiki ) The Definitive Collection (Chess, 2006) 05. Bo Diddley [...]

As part of their Nuggets series, Rhino Records has just released Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970, a four-cd box set that features songs by Bay Area pre-hippy garage bands as well as some post-1967 bands like the Great Society, Janis Joplin and Santana. This is not a set I will be buying. After a brief infatuation with San Francisco music as an adolescent, when I happily bought into the myth of a rock music-led revolution, I got the hippy ethos out [...]

SIDE A 1. Something To Say - The Action 2. Snowblind - Judy Henske & Jerry Yester 3. Morning Sunshine - The Idle Race 4. Love Came Tumblin' Down - The Monks 5. Little Baby - The Blue Rondos (Joe Meek) 6. The World Ain't Round, It's Square - The Savages 7. White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground 8. Gather 'Round - Love 9. [...]

Moby Grape - " Someday " from Moby Grape (1967) There are several different things going on in this song at once and they're all perfectly executed. It's hard to believe that it's fewer than three minutes long. All those other San Fran bands can take a hike. Buy Moby Grape here but you may want to wait another month for Sundazed Records to release cheaper, remastered CDs of the groups first three records. Posted by Jordy