truly fine citizen

MOBY GRAPE, THE SAN FRANCISCO BAND SYNONYMOUS WITH EVERYTHING STARRY-EYED AND LAUGHING about the Summer of Love and the West Coast revolution, wrapped up its Columbia Records career with a pair of solid albums that showed just how much they'd grown musically since their first three releases—even after they'd lost a couple of band members. Moby Grape '69 demonstrated traits heretofore unnoticed: vibrant shades of doo-wop on "Ooh Mama Ooh" and 18-wheeler, freeway-cruising, redneck-rock on "Trucking Man." Although Skip Spence had departed, his blistering song "Seeing" sounds like a preview of Oar, his landmark 1969 solo album. And Bob Mosley's lovely ballad "It's A Beautiful Day Today" can stand toe-to-toe with any song the Grape ever cut. With Spence out of commission and Mosley serving in the U.S. Marines, the Grape was reduced to the trio of Peter Lewis, Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson for their Columbia swansong, 1969's Truly Fine Citizen. Even with a pair of cylinders missing, the threesome sucked it up and cut a very handsome little record. The chugging title track, coupled with Lewis' heartfelt "Changes, Circles Spinning," make it plain: Moby Grape was capable of greatness, even with two hands tied behind its back.
Track listing:
Changes, Circles Spinning / Looper / Truly Fine Citizen / Beautiful Is Beautiful / Love Song / Right Before My Eyes / Open Up Your Heart / Now I Know High / Treat Me Bad / Tongue-Tied / Love Song, Part Two / Rounder (live) / Miller's Blues (live) / Changes (live) / Skip's Song ("Seeing" demo rec.) / Looper (demo rec.) previously unissued / Soul Stew (instrumental) previously unissued / Cockatoo Blues ("Tongue-Tied" demo rec. ) previously unissued