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, Beck, 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.