Singer/songwriter Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane first saw him in the crowd from the stage at The Matrix in San Francisco back in 1965. The Airplane was in the midst of dismissing their present drummer and he needed someone to fill the spot and keep time for his band, who had yet to take flight. To Balin, he had such an unusual look, moddish-shag haircut and mutton chop sideburns. Spence, who had very little drumming experience but had jammed with The Quicksilver Messenger Service previously, was sent home with a pair of drumsticks and told to practice. The Airplane needed someone to play drums on their upcoming first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
After the sessions were complete, RCA booked the band to tour and promote the album. Unannounced, Spence split to Mexico with a couple of girlfriends. Members of the Airplane searched for him, but alas he wasn’t around. He wasn’t even in the country. Needless to say, a replacement came in the form of Spencer Dryden and he went on to fill the role. This was a sign of things to come in the unfortunate and bizarre story of Alexander “Skip” Spence. READ ON for more about Skip Spence…
Last Week’s Sauce is a recurring piece featuring recordings of shows that took place the previous week. Thanks to Jimna for this week’s photo.
Artist & Title: Cracker – Sunrise In The Land Of Milk & Honey
Date & Venue: 2009-04-01 – Moe’s Alley, Santa Cruz CA
Taper & Show Download: Todd Fleisher
Cracker’s got a new record coming out on May 5th. This is the title track from the upcoming release and according to the setlist on the Live Music Archive, was the “acoustic debut” of this tune. Cracker hits the road in May in support of the new album.
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Cracker%20-%20Sunrise%20In%20The%20Land%20Of%20Milk%20And%20Honey%20(2009-04-01).mp3]READ ON to hear four more selections of Last Week’s Sauce.
[youtube]TLNyVLbqdEg[/youtube] Iron & Wine – Boy With A Coin
Our pal Michael Weiss recently uploaded a set of fantastic videos from a 1996 Ominous Seapods show that we just had to share. The Seapods were longtime friends of God
We’re not sure if everybody is aware, but looming here among us pesky wannabes here at Hidden Track is a true pro. Our very own Randy Ray has conducted over 100 interviews in his established tenure as a music journo, spanning a better majority of just about every established band in the jamband scene (and then some). Randy also contributes regularly to Relix, dreams up the awesomely named Peaches En Randalia column (or perhaps more accurately described; the flowing demiurgic locution of mayhem) at Jambands.com, and best of all, contributes the bi-weekly Hidden Flick column right here at HT.
Conducting this particular edition of the Writer’s Workshop has been an honest pleasure. Randy exhibits a truly unmatched dedication to this craft and this column reflects it (because of him, not me). In other words, read this shit. I think you’ll like it.
Ryan Dembinsky: If you had to take a crack at defining your writing style and approach to differentiating yourself, how would you sum it up?
Randy Ray: Organized Chaos (see above photo), which succeeds if I can plant unique visual imagery in a reader’s mind. When the writing fails, I am trying too hard. Style should be a four-letter word, Ryan! Let me attempt to quantify the intriguing madness that people may like about my work.
Everything returns to a circus theme with my writing, which is why I wrote three books about this somewhat childish yet timeless topic. Sometimes, I want the black and white words on a page to move like one is on a rollercoaster; sometimes, I want imagery to zoom by at random intervals like one is on a carousel; and then, sometimes, I’d like the portrait to resemble shattered pictures within a kaleidoscope. Sometimes, I haven’t a clue.
I like mystique, and I start off from an interesting point of origin, move towards clarity, and then return to that original point of mystery—hopefully, with some unique spin on things. I do my homework, and research my subjects. I also concentrate on the work, because the written word, after all, survives, so I keep that in mind with any project.
READ ON for more from Ryan and Randy about writing…
Ah, the ’80s. How would you caption this photo? [Photo via Bedazzled]
Nashville singer Will Hoge begins a ten city tour on April 14th, marking his return to live performance after an August traffic accident. The singer was injured when the scooter
Th The era of one-price-fits-all-songs on iTunes came to an end Tuesday as Apple Inc., the Internet’s dominant digital music retailer, began selling some of its most-downloaded songs for $1.29
David Byrne has been announced to perform at the opening night gala of Celebrate Brooklyn, scheduled to take place on June 8. Byrne will play a set after a cocktails
Many may remember Charley Orlando as the front-man for the psychedelic /folk groove acoustic duo Dexter Grove, who courageously played more than 250+ shows a year for almost ten years straight. After a five year well deserved break from the road, Orlando is back with his Charley Orlando Band.
