Oar (Skip Spence album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Oar
Type = Album
Artist = Skip Spence


Released = May 19, 1969
Recorded = 1968
Genre = Rock/Folk
Length = 44:38 (original album) ; 65:13 (1999 reissue)
Label = Sundazed
Producer = Alexander Spence
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:43420r1ac48i link]
* "Crawdaddy!" (favorable) [http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article.aspx?id=3544 link]
Last album =

This album = "Oar"
(1969)
Next album =

"Oar" is a 1969 album by Skip Spence. It is his only solo album. It was recorded after he had spent six months in Bellevue Hospital. The majority of the tracks were recorded using a three-track recorder. As described by Ross Bennett, "Combining the ramblings of a man on the brink of mental collapse with some real moments of flippancy and laughter, "Oar" is a genuinely strange record. Unsurprisingly, the journey from "Little Hands"’ Grape-esque guitar grooves to "Grey/Afro"’s terrifying nine minutes of mantric drone, isn’t an easy one. Even when Spence builds his songs around a familiar sound (primarily minimalist country-folk) unsettling oddities and ominous modulations creep in. ...at least he left "Oar" – more than most of us sane, functional people will ever manage. Just take a look at the tousled-haired, half-smiling figure gazing out from the record sleeve [A picture taken prior to Spence's hospitalization. (reference required) ] and tell me you don’t want to peer inside." [ Ross Bennett, [http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/07/alexander_spence_1.html Mojo disc of the day] , July 12, 2008; www.mojo4music.com.] The album is viewed by Lindsay Planer as follows: "A common motif to this album is the presence of saints and demons. Even the straightforward narratives such as the love ballad "Broken Heart" or "Cripple Creek" — which feature vocal treatments reminiscent of folkie Fred Neil — are bathed in unusual chord sequences and lyrical double-entendre. The majority of the sounds on this long-player remain teetering near the precipice of sanity." [Lindsay Planer, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fpxqu5ldse Review of Sundazed reissue of "Oar"] www.allmusic.com]

Subsequent reissues have added ten more songs, in different stages of completion, to the original dozen. The original release ended with a fade out of "Grey / Afro". The 1999 Sony/Sundazed reissue appends "This Time He Has Come" to a fade-less "Grey / Afro", which reflects how the two songs appeared on the master tapes.

In 1999, the Birdman label of Burbank, California released a tribute album titled "More Oar: A Tribute to Alexander "Skip" Spence". It featured covers of the original record's tracks by Robert Plant, Robyn Hitchcock, Tom Waits, Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan, Ryan Mendoza, Wafic Omran, Beck, and others.

Track listing

# "Little Hands" – 3:44
# "Cripple Creek" – 2:16
# "Diana" – 3:32
# "Margaret/Tiger Rug" – 2:17
# "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" – 6:27
# "War in Peace" – 4:05
# "Broken Heart" – 3:29
# "All Come to Meet Her" – 2:04
# "Books of Moses" – 2:42
# "Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin for Yang)" – 2:53
# "Lawrence of Euphoria" – 1:31
# "Grey/Afro" – 9:38
#* tracks 1-12 are the original album
# "This Time He Has Come" – 4:42
# "It's the Best Thing for You" – 2:48
# "Keep Everything Under Your Hat" – 3:06
# "Furry Heroine (Halo of Gold)" – 3:35
# "Givin' up Things" :59
#* tracks 13-17 are extra tracks
# "If I'm Good" :47
# "You Know" – 1:47
# "Doodle" – 1:02
# "Fountain" :34
# "I Think You and I" – 1:14
#* tracks 18-22 were added in the 1999 reissue

References