Oar - Expanded Edition

I know I'll get called out on this one. You either love it as I did, or HATE it, as many people did when it came out. Personally, I think it is pure genius. One the great albums that never sold...now on CD features everything from the same recording session. Former drummer with Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape. Growly voice. terrific songwriter.

Considering the circumstances in which Skip made this album,the music is pretty inspirational to me.And I am far past the "Phase" in my life where I judged how good the music was based on how psychedelic it was.This music somehow manages to be as "out there" as possible while at the same time containing an emotional sincerity in it that is almost unheard of in music.I mean even on songs like "Weighted Down" where it is just him and an acoustic guitar for six minutes it doesn't seem to drag at all for me and I always end up listening to the whole thing.Other songs such as "War in Peace" and "Grey/Afro" are as psychedelic as "The Doors" at their craziest."Grey/Afro" sounds like music made by a man who knew he was headed for an inevitable collapse,but still thought it was a good idea to record some jams.It sounds like a dance with death.Yet as dark as this album sometimes is other songs like "Diana" and "Broken Heart" are comforting even though you can hear the pain in his voice.Though I doubt Skip ever thought this album would be a hit,I think he knew that people would find their way to it over time and when they did he wanted their to be as much of his love in it as he could have possibly given.He gave all he had.This is a great album that definitley will not appeal to everyone,but that is their loss.Not everyone can hear the magic.

In a simpler time people made records as a nessesary extension of their need to express themselves,not for money or fame..well eventually for money and fame but a true artist can`t help but do what they have to do to be heard.After spending about a year in a mental ward in New York after a drug induced episode that led to his arrest,he contacted a friend at Moby Grapes lable and borrowed some cash,bought a motorcycle and went to Nashville to do some recording of songs he had written while incarcerated.The result was a spooky and dark album called Oar.Playing all the instruments himself,he created a batch or moody yet great songs - Little Hands,War In Peace,Grey Afro are some of my favorites...Syd Barrett comes to mind and like Syd after a brief flash of brilliance all that was left was the music.It might take a few listens but eventually it will feel like a visit from an old dear friend.....R.I.P Skip - a disc worth buying.

This is an honest, very quickly put together album by a tortured artist playing all the instruments. The only deliberate thing is the off-key singing which he uses as a device on some tracks. He is on pitch otherwise. I cannot classify this which is why I am recommending it if you are tired/saturated by some of the highly polished music of this era.

This is surely one of the most unique and raw works of pure brilliance I have ever heard. Every single song, song after song, is just as powerful as the last. Its as if this album is a ticket straight into the psyche of this man, it doesn't get any more real than this. I mean, the man recorded it completely by himself. He wrote all the songs, wrote all the lyrics and vocal melodies, played all the instruments, and he even recorded it by himself. He was the only person in the house it was recorded in, period, nobody else there. And that self-determination and rawness absolutely comes through on this record. It feels like this guy is just sitting in a room alone playing these heartfelt and evocative songs just for himself, and someone happened to record it and issue it. The songs are truly by him and for him. But its not to serious either. There's still some humor, and him laughing in between tracks. There's romance, there's tragedy, there's happiness, there's pure joy coming out of this recording, and most of all, there's hope for how the future will unfold itself. This record is minimalistically beautiful. An absolutely must have, and at the very least, you should give it a listen. If you like it, you;ll love it. If you don't, hey, its not for everybody. Just don't go into it expecting anything, i.e. Moby Grape, Syd Barrett, etc., since it is truly like nothing else. One of my favorite of all time. Its stands up against the greatest.