Wow/Grape Jam

Wow/Grape Jam
Cover art for Wow.
Studio album by Moby Grape
Released	April 3, 1968
Recorded	1967-1968
Genre	Rock
Length	38:23 ("Wow") LP, 37:31 ("Grape Jam") LP
Label	Columbia Records LP CS 9613 (Wow) MGS 1 (Grape Jam) Sundazed Records CD
Producer	David Rubinson
Professional reviews
Wow Allmusic link Grape Jam Allmusic link
Moby Grape chronology
Moby Grape (1967) Wow/Grape Jam (1968) Moby Grape '69 (1969)
Cover art for Grape Jam.

Wow/Grape Jam is the rock band Moby Grape's second album. It was unusual and significantly different from most double-album releases. It was released in 1968 as two completely different albums in separate covers but packaged together and sold for the price of a single LP.

Grape Jam was originally intended to be a free bonus album to be given away with Wow. Each album was later released as an individual CD with bonus tracks. Wow originally had a color gatefold sleeve, while Grape Jam had a color non-gatefold cover. This was Moby Grape's highest charting release in the U.S., peaking at #20 on the Billboard album chart.

The albums

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Wow has a more heavily produced sound than the first Moby Grape album. String and horn arrangements were added to many of the songs by producer David Rubinson. Recording started in Los Angeles in late 1967, but most of the album was recorded in New York City in late 1967 and early 1968. Murder In My Heart For The Judge is a thumping blues rock tune written by drummer Don Stevenson that was later recorded by Lee Michaels and Three Dog Night. Bitter Wind, written and sung by Bob Mosley, has has remained one of the group's most popular songs. The acoustic version heard here contains an ending that includes harsh wind noises and backward vocal. Other standout tracks include Jerry Miller's rocking shuffle Can't Be So Bad, Skip Spence's darkly comedic roots rocker Motorcycle Irene and Peter Lewis's lush ballad He. Naked, If I Want To is an electrified re-recording of the acoustic track from the first album. Just Like Gene Autry: A Foxtrot is the most unusual track, a 1930's style tune written and sung by Spence. It was given a spoken introduction from Arthur Godfrey and cut onto the LP record at 78 RPM with added scratchy sound effects to give it an authentic period effect. (As a note to collectors, some copies of Wow omit the band's name from the record label, for unknown reasons.)

Grape Jam was criticized for its rather loose and mostly improvised performances which contrast sharply with the heavily produced material on "Wow". This studio album was recorded in New York City in January and February 1968. Skip Spence is mostly absent and Peter Lewis does not appear on the album. Never has often been cited as a probable source for Led Zeppelin's song Since I've Been Loving You: the opening lyrics, the bluesy arrangement and some melodic elements are almost identical. "The Lake" is a strange combination of poetry submitted by a fan and avant-garde psychedelic Musique concrète sound effects somewhat like side four of Freak Out! or Revolution 9. Grape Jam is also notable in that it features a guest appearances on piano by Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield. The album was the inspiration for a number of other studio "jam" albums during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Later examples of this trend included Al Kooper's Super Session and the 3rd LP of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass.

CD editions

The first CD of Wow/Grape Jam was a single disc edition on the San Francisco Sound label, owned by Moby Grape's former manager. It has unnecessarily edited versions of "Bitter Wind" and "Marmalade." It also completely omits "Just Like Gene Autry: A Foxtrot" and "The Lake". This version should be avoided because if its mediocre sound quality and poor packaging. The group has never been properly compensated for this CD release.

Many of the songs from Wow also appear on the 2 CD collection Vintage: The Very Best of Moby Grape released in 1993. This collection includes "Foxtrot" and the complete acoustic version of "Bitter Wind". It also includes a few Wow out-takes, notably an alternate earlier version of "Bitter Wind" in a completely different rock arrangement.

The complete version of Wow was first released on CD in Japan in 1995. A newly remastered version was released by Sundazed Records on October 9, 2007 featuring a number of bonus tracks, most of which are previously unreleased. At the same time Sundazed also released the CD debut of Grape Jam in its entirety with 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks.

Both Wow and Grape Jam were taken out of print on November 3, 2007, along with Moby Grape for reasons that were not officially specified. It has been widely circulated on the Moby Grape mailing list that former manager Matthew Katz, whom the band has been in legal battles with since the late 1960s, threatened to file a lawsuit against Sundazed claiming ownership of the albums' artwork.

Artwork

Artwork of the Wow album (design and illustration) was done by Bob Cato. Cato proposed a surreal image without any input from the band. Cato was influenced by various Victorian woodcuts. According to Peter Lewis the title was left off the cover because "What was in the box was more important than the box."^[1]

Track listing "Wow"

Side one

1. "The Place And The Time" (Miller, Stevenson)
2. "Murder In My Heart For The Judge" (Miller, Stevenson)
3. "Bitter Wind" (Mosley)
4. "Can't Be So Bad" (Miller, Stevenson)
   Complete LP and CD versions of the album conclude with a brief, spoken message from Skip Spence reminding the listener to change the turntable speed to 78 RPM for the next track.

(On a separate band of the LP, cut at 78 RPM)

1. "Just Like Gene Autry: A Foxtrot" (Spence)
   This track includes a guest appearance by Arthur Godfrey, who reads the spoken introduction and plays ukulele.

Side two

1. "He" (Lewis)
2. "Motorcycle Irene" (Spence)
3. "Three-Four"
4. "Funky-Tunk" (Spence)
5. "Rose Colored Eyes" (Mosley)
6. "Miller's Blues" (Miller)
7. "Naked, If I Want To" (Miller)

Bonus tracks on 2007 CD edition

1. The Place and the Time (alternate)
2. Stop (demo) (previously unissued)
3. Loosely Remembered (previously unissued)
4. Miller's Blues (alternate) (previously unissued)
5. What's To Choose (previously unissued)
6. Seeing (previously unissued)

(total CD time for Wow 59:04)

Track listing "Grape Jam"

Side one

1. "Never"
2. "Boysenberry Jam"
3. "Black Currant Jam"

Side two

1. "Marmalade"
2. "The Lake"

Bonus tracks on 2007 CD edition

1. "Grape Jam #2" (previously unissued)
2. "Grape Jam #9" (previously unissued)
3. "Bags' Groove (previously unissued)

(total CD time for Grape Jam 69:30)

Personnel

• Peter Lewis – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Bob Mosley – bass, vocals
• Jerry Miller – lead guitar, vocals
• Skip Spence – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Don Stevenson – drums, vocals

Charts

References