Moby Grape Wow

Wow, the sophomore album by multi-talented Moby Grape, brims with ambition, adventure and a determination to show the world the San Francisco quintet could do it all. Firmly in the post-Pepper spirit of the day, the set, first issued in 1968, features everything from taut rockers and blistering blues to touching melodic ballads, country waltzes and the outright unclassifiable. The band's guitar-heavy sound is augmented in spots with piano, brass, string orchestration and, in its original vinyl incarnation, one track made to be played at 78-rpm.

Moby Grape '69 is the third album by the psychedelic rock band Moby Grape. It is the first album after the departure of co-founder Skip Spence. Spence nonetheless is heard on one song, "Seeing", presumably from the Wow/Grape Jam sessions, and positioned as the final song on Moby Grape '69. As Peter Lewis describes the album, "We made Moby Grape '69, in an attempt to rebound from the Wow album, which was over-produced. And it's a cool album. Although we could have rehearsed it a little more, we still believed in it. But I think we were waiting for Skippy to come back, and he never did." The album peaked at a disappointing number 113 on the Billboard chart. While it did not sell well at the time of its release, in a recent (2008) review, it is pointed out that the album would be particularly appreciated by persons who like the music of Poco and The Eagles. For Moby Grape fans at the time, the album was perhaps too country in musical orientation. In some respects, the album was ahead of its time, predating the more popular first country rock releases by Poco and The Eagles.

Originally issued as a companion album to Moby Grape's sophomore set Wow in 1968, Grape Jam remains one of the more adventurous artifacts of late-'60s rock. As much as Wow demonstrated the San Francisco quintet's awesome scope and songcraft, this improvised studio set showed the band's chops. Months before the acclaimed Super Session, Grape Jam let contemporary pop musicians stretch, experiment and cook to their hearts' content. "Boysenberry Jam," "Black Currant Jam" (Al Kooper guests on piano) and the 14-minute "Marmalade" (Mike Bloomfield guests on piano) are juicy instrumental maneuvers, while "Never" is a tough vocal blues, and the effects-laden psychedelia of "The Lake" reminds you just what coast the band comes from.

Few debuts are as initially powerful and permanently impressive as this 1967 set from San Francisco's Moby Grape. The triple-threat quintet (every member played, sang and wrote songs) serves up an utterly unique first course that mixes psychedelia, hook-filled pop, blues and country elements. The album tosses off diamond-delicate ballads and full bore rockers with equal soul and inspiration – and more energy than any other band then on the scene. Without a single duff cut, here's an album that plays as fresh and strong as the day it was first released. In 2003, the album was ranked number 121 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.