100.
Track Listing
1.) Little Hands
2.) Cripple Creek
3.) Diana
4.) Margaret-Tiger Rug
5.) Weighted Down (The Prison Song)
6.) War In Peace
7.) Broken Heart
8.) All Come To Meet Her
9.) Book of Moses
10.) Dixie Peach Promenade
11.) Lawrence of Euphoria
12.) Grey/Afro
13.) The Time He Has Come
14.) It's the Best Thing For You
15.) Keep Everything Under Your Hat
16.) Furry Heroine
17.) Givin' Up Things
18.) If I'm Good
19.) You Know
20.) Doodle
21.) You Know
22.) Fountain
Psychedelia, folk, and experimentation are definite themes on
Oar, the only solo album release by former Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape musician Alexander 'Skip' Spence, and the combination of the three sounds has the potential to be typical and utterly unremarkable and fail. It was, in fact, at the time of release the lowest selling album ever released by Columbia Records. While these themes are certainly the frame work of the album, however, the listener is treated to a great deal more than the typical, verging on extraordinary in points.
The best way I can think of to describe Spence's fragmented and bizarre effort is this:
Oar is an aural exploration of psychosis, teetering on the brink of madness and peppered with delusions, fear, and melancholy. It's very human and sincere, yet clouded with schizophrenic tangents which can make it unrelatable if you don't allow your mind to open to its bizarre brand of charm. If listened to with an open mind, it can intrigue, excite, and truly resonate; it only gives as much as you're willing to take.
Do yourself a favor and take as much as you can. The experience will be overwhelmingly rewarding.
The version I have chosen to include is the re-release, full of over twenty minutes of extra recordings from the master tapes, recorded by Spence over a week-long period. On this recording, Spence is the sole composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist, making this an even more interesting exploration of his mind-state at the time of recording.
Interesting and worth note when listening to the album are the events which led up to its recording. Spence, after having ingested LSD, attempted to attack Moby Grape bandmates with a fire axe, and was committed to a psychiatric institution. He stayed there for a period of six months, during which time he wrote the songs which appear on the recording, and upon his release was eager to record the tracks.
Such tracks as "Margaret-Tiger Rug" and "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" seem easily to reference Spence's time at the psychiatric facility. In the former, Spence sings, "It appears I sent you off to treatment / With the tiger by the tail / If he could be free / He wouldn't have stripes on him, like jail."
Other tracks on the offering, such as "Broken Heart" appear as more typical songs, enjoyable as such. The pleasant light psychedelia of the opening track, "Little Hands," is also enjoyable as a stand alone track without knowledge of the album's background. The folky goodness of such offerings as "Cripple Creek" also fit into the album beautifully, adding variation and interest to an offering which can tend to fall into repetitive, muddled psychedelia with little regard for accessibility.
At worst, this album is disjointed, fragmented, and rambling. At best, it is a diverse offering from one of the most talented musicians in American psychedelia, and a true window into his mind. While not for everyone, I'm in the camp who feel it falls closer to brilliance than inane self-indulgence. Give it a listen or two, open your mind, open your ears, and experience the album for yourself. What have you got to lose?