Alexander "Skip" Spence (November 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born musician, original drummer for Jefferson Airplane, founding member and guitarist of Moby Grape, and the author of the solo album Oar (1969).

Recorded Oar in December 1968 in Nashville (producer David Rubinson is mentioned in reviews); after an axe incident he was hospitalized (Bellevue) and diagnosed with schizophrenia; critics frequently compare Oar and Spence to Syd Barrett and describe the album as a visionary blend of folk, country, blues and psychedelia.

The collected reviews focus on Skip Spence's lone solo album Oar (recorded December 1968, released 1969) as a visionary, haunted work blending folk, country, blues and psychedelia. Reviewers compare Spence to Syd Barrett, note his psychiatric hospitalization after an axe incident, and praise tracks like "Grey/Afro", "Little Hands" and "Weighted Down (The Prison Song)". Oar is presented as a unique, intimate document of loneliness and creative rupture.

For:Fans of 1960s psychedelic folk/rock, collectors of outsider music, readers interested in music and mental health.

 just released from Bellevue Hospital, where he had been admitted with a diagnosis of schizophrenia after attacking his bandmates with an axe.

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 Too forgotten to be true and too true to be forgotten, Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence remains in his private oblivion to the end, preparing for the renouncement of the world and its distortions, as is happening in the dark and gloomy paradise within Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett’s mind; with whom he is often compared.

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 Spence plays all instruments;He manages to unite – in an organic freak blend – psychedelia, folk, country, funk, rock, and above all blues;It is the work of a lifetime, which condenses the deep inner turmoil of an artist, in an absolutely genuine manner.

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