Everyone loves a good acid casualty, don't they? Stories of the heady 1960s, and the strange recordings made by people who stepped too far into LSD, and never quite came back out again. There are many examples to be found, such as Syd Barrett's solo work, and Craig Smith, who developed a messianic complex, became Maitreya Kali, released two records, and then promptly vanished off the road map. None of these records, however, evoke a more isolated and overall strange feeling than the sole output by Alexander "Skip" Spence. A single entity known as Oar.Originally the drummer for Jefferson Airplane, prior to their explosion of popularity with Surrealistic Pillow, Skip Spence is more well known as the co-founder/guitarist of the band Moby Grape, which although never reaching the heights of J.A, has continued to perform on and off since its formation. Their first two albums, Moby Grape and Wow/Grape Jam are highly regarded documents of the psychedelic era. However, Spence's mental state began to deteriorate around this time as his LSD use increased, culminating with him attempting to break down the door to a bandmate's hotel room with a fire axe. He was quickly arrested and spent 6 months in New York's Bellevue Hospital, where he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
While at Bellevue, he also wrote a large number of songs, the majority of which ended up on Oar. Once he was discharged, he rode out to Nashville on his motorcycle, and over the span of the next week or so, recorded the material that would appear on the album, playing every instrument himself. The album's producer, David Rubinson, told the engineer to leave the recording equipment on constantly, to capture everything that Spence did, not too dissimilar to how Syd Barrett's solo records were recorded. Rubinson preferred to leave Spence to his own devices when recording, worried that his presence would interfere with the creative process. Allegedly, the sessions were only intended to demo the material before they were rerecorded with a more polished sound, but Rubinson had Columbia Records release the demos instead, which hit stores in May 1969.
Spence being the only musician on the record gives it the aforementioned feeling of isolation that other albums by acid casualties lack. Syd Barrett had his old bandmates with him on his albums, and even Craig Smith included material from his old band Penny Arkade on his two records. Spence had no one else but himself, giving the record a mood akin to something of an echo-chamber, or perhaps a raw step into his mind. The sound is sparse, very acoustic driven, with the drums and bass mostly in the background, with the main focus being on the vocals and guitar. Spence's voice is very moody, often in a fairly low and wavery baritone, which helps to emphasize the shaky mental state he had been wrestling with for several months by that time.
The lyrics are generally quite simplistic in tone, although they all seem to discuss specific topics. "Little Hands", for instance, appears to be about the innocence of childhood, and about how idealistic a lot of children are wishing for a peaceful world. "Cripple Creek" is hinted at in the title, about a crippled man who dies, but returns to Earth when he cannot find his loved one on the other side. This could be interpreted about our fear of the unknown, and how some people may try to avoid it by staying just beyond the mortal coil, without travelling any further. "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)" in particular is fairly relevant to Spence's life at the time, fresh out of treatment in a Mental Institution. He regularly muses on what his significant other (likely meant to be his wife at the time) may have been doing while he's been gone, likely in confinement, relating back to the song's title. Considering how long it must've been since he's properly seen her, it must've been on his mind.
When the album was released, it was a complete flop, becoming the lowest selling record in Columbia Record's history, likely owing to their refusal to promote it. It was promptly deleted from their catalog, and Spence would mostly vanish off the map. Over the next several decades, he would go in and out of third party care for many years, and in and out of mostly supported by his former Moby Grape bandmates. He would record material sporadically as well as occasionally participating in Moby Grape reunions, but his mental state mostly prevented him from being able to sustain a career. His final years were spent either homeless or in transient accommodations. It wasn't until the 1990s that Oar finally began to get noticed by a larger part of the music industry, and in 1999 finally gained a wide release on Sundazed Records, complete with bonus tracks, allowing his music to be heard even further. Unfortunately, he died that same year, shortly prior to the appearance of the tribute record More Oar, which he was shown in the final stages of his illness. His music has continued to live on long afterwards, however, and likely will continue to do so for a long time.
You can buy the album here: https://www.discogs.com/Alexander-Spence-Oar/release/10601254
An expanded 3 disc box set entitled "AndOarAgain", featuring extra outtakes and unreleased material, can be found here: https://www.discogs.com/Alexander-Spence-AndOarAgain/release/12279537
