Dr. Rock's Blog & Roll

Hard core fans of psychedelic rock know Moby Grape was one of the premier bands of the era, despite the fact that they really weren’t a psych-rock outfit in a strict sense. Regardless of their genre label, the Grape had a terrific series of albums between 1967 and 1972, including their fourth, Moby Grape ’69, which came out on January 30, 1969. While their 1967 self-titled debut album is widely acclaimed as one of the best 60s albums of the psych-rock era, Moby Grape ’69 was no slouch.

Never prone to the drawn out, self-indulgent, often pretentious instrumental improvisations of some of their San Francisco brethren, Moby Grape featured a five-man, three-guitar lineup with roots in Canada, the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. With all five musicians sharing the songwriting, the Grape produced a wide variety of sounds, blending elements of blues, rock ‘n roll, country and folk into a rootsy mix with just enough spacey, acid-rock to put them in the realm of psychedelia. Moby Grape ’69 found the band honing their sound with deeper country and folk influences, presaging the mellow country-rock of the 70s. Fans of Poco (click here) and the Eagles (here) in particular will enjoy Moby Grape ’69 and its predecessors, Truly Fine Citizen (July 1969) and 20 Granite Creek (1971).

Moby Grape ‘69 is available as downloads for iPods and mp3 players on iTunes (click here) and can be purchased as a CD or mp3 downloads from Amazon (click here).

Labels: album of the day, Eagles, Moby Grape, Poco, psychedelic rock