Musicians - Skip Spence

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	Musicians - Skip Spence

Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (born April 18 1946 in Windsor, Ontario - died April 16 1999 in Santa Cruz, California) was a musician and singer-songwriter. He was a guitarist in an early line-up of Quicksilver Messenger Service before Marty Balin got him to be the drummer for Jefferson Airplane. After one album with Jefferson Airplane, he left to co-found Moby Grape, once again as a guitarist.

Suffering from schizophrenia, he was committed to New York's Bellevue Hospital after an attempt to murder Grape members Don Stevenson and Jerry Miller with a fire axe during the sessions for the band's second studio album. Upon his release, he recorded his only solo album, the now-classic psychedelic/folk album Oar (1969, Columbia Records). However, mental illness and alcoholism prevented him from sustaining a career in the music industry, and he lived much of his later life as a homeless person in Santa Cruz. When it finally seemed that he might have been overcoming those afflictions, lung cancer claimed him.

More Oar: A Tribute to Alexander "Skip" Spence, featuring contributions from R.E.M., Robert Plant, Tom Waits, and many others, was released a few weeks after his death.

Discography

Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (RCA 1966)
Surrealistic Pillow (RCA 1967) Songwriting credit.
Moby Grape (San Francisco Sound 1967)
Oar (Sundazed Music 2000). Remastered and featuring over 20 minutes of additional material prepared by Spence.

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Musicians - Skip Spence

Discography

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