Customer Reviews

Wow/Grape Jam

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When "Wow" was issued in 1968, it featured a 78 RPM track called "Just Like Gene Autry;A Fox-Trot". Where is it here? "Bitter Wind" had a sound collage at the end, where is it? The bonus "Grape Jam" LP ran near 40 minutes long. So where is the missing 13-15 minutes? Matthew Katz has done it again at ripping the band off. Avoid this disc at all costs and go for the out of print "Vintage" or the original LPs. This is a disgrace.

You might think that my rating and the title to my review are contradictory......... well, here's my motivation.
The record company owned by the Grape's former manager, who keeps them in court until this day btw, saw it fit not to include Skip Spence's Just Like Gene Autry and Grape Jam's 5th track on this CD. Also they faded out the ending of Bitter Wind way before the regular ending of the song. Aforementioned manager credits himself for producing this album. David Rubinson who did the production isn't mentioned at all. Get the picture ?
Should all songs have made it in their historically correct form on this CD Wow / Grape Jam should earn 4 stars easy, but as is it's a rip-off........

Peace,
Martin

This album, coupled with the freebie "Grape Jam" is certainly a classic of the Bay Area rock bands, and although it shows some meddling on the part of the record company executives (we assume) to compress some of the material into a marketable form, still it is a good effort to break a few molds. The final track on the LP (omitted on the CD) was recorded in 78 speed (and if you're not sure what that is, you're too young to remember this album's release), and featured a really cool intro by Arthur Godfrey (..."and now, from the Seacaucus Lounge, high above Weehawken New Jersey...") it has been dismissed by some as "gimmicky"...It's not, and the omission of this piece, with its admonition to "kindly get up and change your turntable to 78...thank you", is an historical gem sorely missed on the CD. Tom Petty repeated this on one of his albums by calling for"a pause" on the CD in fairness for his LP or cassette listeners. Also be advised that the "Jam" album is missing the delightful piece "The Lake", a wonderful "Grantchester Meadows" sort of tune that sums up an after hours acoustic reverie. The material is good, the production good, the choices of the band were their own...the people who reissued this piece on CD have made a mistake in editing the two LPs. We can only hope that "Truly Fine Citizen", the band's best effort will be issued on CD and not tampered with.

I wore out two copies of the vinyl "Wow/Grape Jam" set in my youth and was happy to see that it was available in CD format. I was extremely disappointed to discover that this is not the same record that I enjoyed listening to in the past. Missing from Wow are two key elements: the song "Just Like Gene Autrey" which was played at 78 rpm on the original LP, and the second half of the song "Bitter Wind". Missing from Grape Jam is "The Lake". Also,the cover art has been altered to make room for advertisments. I urge anyone interested in this record to seek out a vinyl copy and to avoid this CD.

I loved this album as a kid. I was really looking forward to hearing it on CD. Imagine my surprise when I found they not only truncated songs early (Bitter Wind) but chose to leave off a song entirely. I REALLY wish I would have read the other reviews here before I purchased. Still love the album, hate the label. If you can get "Vintage", do so, (although it's out of print). It has most of what's missing here (not the last part of one of the jams, though.)

Yeah, it's probably true that WOW is not the most consistantly good album in the Moby Grape canon, but the implication that the band only had one good album in them, namely their first, is so wide of the mark that it's laughable. Fact is, "Murder In My Heart For The Judge," "He," "Motorcycle Irene," "Miller's Blues," "Rose-Colored Eyes" and the first half of "Bitter Wind" are some of the best things Moby Grape ever did. If you can't get hold of their great anthology, VINTAGE, which has all of the above songs (except "Miller's Blues),you could do worse than get WOW and set up your CD select control to by-pass the lesser tunes and play the gems instead. Just a thought.

There are at least two songs missing: "The Lake" from Grape Jam and "Just Like Gene Autrey Blues (a Foxtrot)" (or whatever it's called -- the one that reminds you to change your turntable to 78 RPM and has Arthur Godfrey introducing Lou Waxman and His Orchestra asking the musical question ...? Oh, sure, they don't make turntables with 78 (or 16 2/3) anymore. What, Columbia couldn't find one somewhere?! Sheesh, what a Republican ploy!

I was never a big fan of Moby Grape, but when I first heard the Grape Jam freebie, I was blown away. This features Michael Bloomfield and Al Kooper, two of the best white bluesmen around. And the cut "Never" was an inspiration to Zeppelin's Robert Plant, who admitted he listened to it over and over and over again. My big complaint is that the record company has cut off half of the cut "Marmalade" which was about 14 minutes long on vinyl. I had the original on vinyl years ago, but much to my regret, it probably has gone by way of garage sale to the great dustbin in the sky. Buy it!

Rate the music 5 stars. Yet this CD is clipped. "Bitter Wind" is cut-off at the climax. Sound quality is dismal. Better get the old LP's and make your own CD. This re-release is a total sham and disgrace.

i too am sick of people regarding this album as terrible or subpar. some clown in rolling stone had the audacity to give this 1 star once! its not as good as the 1st record, but very, very few albums are. although it has been tampered with it is still a considerably above average album by one of the very greatest aggregations in the history of american rock , one that would blow any of these horrible bands from today clear out of the water if they existed at the same time. and these other reviewers are correct in that vintage is essential listening. just about every track on here is a classic in its own right, and this is a varied and interesting recording that shows us many wonderful sides to this amazing band. one would have liked to have seen the cd reissued as it originally appeared without editing, but that is probably too much to expect from the nefarious matthew katz...