Moby Grape - BBC Session '69 [Prof. Stoned 2021]
01. Truckin' Man
02. If You Can’t Learn From My Mistakes
03. Ain't That A Shame
04. Five to Eight [cuts off]
05. Truckin' Man [same as 01 but without voiceover]
Recorded: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London UK; Tuesday 4 February 1969
Broadcast: BBC Radio 'Top Gear': Sunday 16 February 1969
Sources: 01 transcription disc; 02-05 off-air recordings
N.B.: 'I Am Not Willing' was also recorded and aired but seems lost forever.
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Total time: 11m58s
All tracks are Mono
Research & Mastering: Prof Stoned
Special thanks to Hallucalation & Johnny Kidd Fan Club
v1.0: 28-08-2021
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Note:
A small piece of history, the majority of it in fairly lofi but listenable quality. But what a great band they were, even after their 'leader' Skip Spence had left. This line-up pretty much fell apart after this short European tour (the Amsterdam show was also documented by Dutch radio station VPRO and is easily found). 'Five to Eight' is an unreleased track that seems to be exclusive to this recording.
From https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Moby_Grape:
Moby Grape were one of the bands who emerged from San Francisco's hippy scene in 1967, performing at the local rock "ballrooms", issuing a debut album that summer and becoming more widely known by performing at the Monterey Pop Festival (although their performance wasn't included in the film of the event). In contrast to some of the albums Peel played on his Perfumed Garden as imports, CBS Records were quick to release the LP in the UK, along with the single "Omaha/Hey Grandma". It was John Peel's Climber in the Radio London playlist for the week beginning 30 July 1967 and entered the station's Fab Forty chart in the following week, just before "Big L" closed down. The single never made the UK national charts, but the Move covered "Hey Grandma" on their first LP and on their first Top Gear session. It remained Moby Grape's best-known record and Peel revisited it much later in his career.
Subsequent Moby Grape albums made less impact than their debut, but the band's releases of the late 1960s were featured on Peel's shows, and they were one of the few US groups to do a Top Gear session, during a visit to the UK in early 1969. It was broadcast on 16 February 1969, although Peel complained that the band didn't seem particularly interested in recording it.
