Does anyone else remember when Donovan was touted in the media as "Britain´s answer to Dylan" - as if Dylan were a question, or challenge that had to be replied to ?
For some reason, people are forever trying to reduce music down to a kind of binary system (
http://www.musicbanter.com/pop/49280...each-boys.html etc. )
Having got that grumble out of the way, I have to say that there really is some justification in calling
Skip Spence "America´s answer to Syd Barrett." There is a similar career trajectory from band member ( Quicksilver Messenger /Jefferson Airplane ) to mental illness and withdrawal. And both guys, in passing, produced solo albums that have some qualities in common; laid-back and unpredictable, they sound intimate but at the same time confound intimacy because the lyrics are so bizzarre.
So Skip Spence´s only solo album,
Oar , is worth investigating, I´d say, but like Syd´s solo albums, it´s a strange and sad listen, perhaps best saved for those late-night moments when you feel low yourself.