Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence (April 18, 1946 ? April 16, 1999) was a musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.Spence 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, their debut Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, he left to co-found Moby Grape, once again as a guitarist.Spence suffered from schizophrenia. During the 1968 recording of the group's second album, Wow, Spence allegedly attempted to break down a bandmate's hotel room door with a fire axe while on LSD, and was committed for six months to the criminal ward at New York's Bellevue Hospital. 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, California. When it finally seemed that he might have been overcoming those afflictions, lung cancer claimed him.Spence continued to have minor involvement in later Moby Grape projects and reunions, as well as helping the Doobie Brothers get signed to Warner Bros. Records. More recently, Spence's "Land of the Sun," one of the only post-Grape recordings he ever completed, was nearly placed on the X-Files soundtrack.More Oar: A Tribute to Alexander "Skip" Spence, featuring contributions from R.E.M., Robert Plant, Tom Waits, Beck, and many others, was released a few weeks after his death in Santa Cruz at age 52.
Discography
- Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (RCA 1966)
- Moby Grape (Columbia 1967)
- Wow/Grape Jam (Columbia 1968)
- Oar (Columbia 1969, Sundazed Music 2000); remastered and featuring over 20 minutes of additional material prepared by Spence
External links
1946 births1999 deathsCanadian rock guitaristsCanadian rock drummersOutsider musicPsych folk musiciansCanadian singer-songwritersCanadian folk singersCanadian male singersPeople from Windsor, OntarioOntario musiciansPeople with schizophreniaLung cancer deathsJefferson Airplane membersSkip SpenceSkip Spence
