Description
Offered for sale is a U.S. stereo pressing of Moby Grape, the self-titled debut by Moby Grape, including the poster and the uncensored cover.
About this copy: This copy of Moby Grape is a 1970 pressing on the Columbia label of an album that was originally released in 1967. This copy has labels with the word “Columbia” around the perimeter, and not the earlier “360° Sound” label.
This copy features the original “uncensored” cover, where Don Stevenson is shown making an obscene gesture. This was removed on later versions of the cover. The included poster is the censored version, with the “finger” airbrushed out.
The cover still has the original shrink wrap and is VG++ with slight wear at the mouth.
The poster is M- with no rips, tears, or holes.
The disc is M- with a couple of very faint sleeve scuffs. It’s a clean disc that’s had little play.
A nice copy of an album that rarely turns up complete.
Background: Released in June 1967, Moby Grape was the first album by the band of the same name. The album was released in both stereo and mono in the United States, though the mono pressings were in print for less than a year before Columbia Records stopped pressing albums in mono.
The original album cover art featured Don Stevenson making an obscene gesture; this only appeared on the first pressings of the cover (and original versions of the included poster.)
The album reached #24 on the U.S. album charts.
Columbia was so excited about the commercial prospects of this album that they released five singles simultaneously. This had the unfortunate result of having all of the songs compete against each other for airplay, and as a result, none of them became a hit.
Allmusic.com gave Moby Grape a 5 star review:
Moby Grape’s career was a long, sad series of minor disasters, in which nearly anything that could have gone wrong did (poor handling by their record company, a variety of legal problems, a truly regrettable deal with their manager, creative and personal differences among the bandmembers, and the tragic breakdown of guitarist and songwriter Skip Spence), but their self-titled debut album was their one moment of unqualified triumph. Moby Grape is one of the finest (perhaps the finest) album to come out of the San Francisco psychedelic scene, brimming with great songs and fresh ideas while blessedly avoiding the pitfalls that pockmarked the work of their contemporaries — no long, unfocused jams, no self-indulgent philosophy, and no attempts to sonically re-create the sound of an acid trip. …Moby Grape is as refreshing today as it was upon first release, and if fate prevented the group from making a follow-up that was as consistently strong, for one brief shining moment Moby Grape proved to the world they were one of America’s great bands. While history remembers the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane as being more important, the truth is neither group ever made an album quite this good.
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| Country of origin: | U.S. |
| Size: | 12″ |
| Record Label: | Columbia |
| Catalog Number: |
CS 9498 |
| Year of Release: | 1970 |
| Format: | Stereo |
| Share: |       |
