ABSTRACT
With its psychedelic opening salvo of reverse-tape feedback guitars ping-ponging across the stereo spectrum, call-and-response vocals that speak of love and friendship, and its triple guitar lineup and heavy rhythm section, Moby Grape’s “Omaha” embodied the energy of 1967 rock and the spirit of California’s Summer of Love. Moby Grape formed in the epicenter of an emerging West Coast rock culture that soon defined the direction of popular music. They rehearsed daily for eight hours on a paddleboat in Sausalito Harbor, refined their repertoire, and word got around that this band could be America’s answer to the Beatles, leading at least seven record companies to try to sign the band. They went with Columbia Records and recorded a perfect debut album in a matter of weeks. At just under three minutes, “Omaha” had everything needed to rocket up the charts, but so did at least nine other songs from the album, leading someone at Columbia to make the marketing blunder of releasing five singles simultaneously, thus assuring DJ indecision on which to play in heavy rotation. That was just the first in a series of poor promotional and management decisions. A big record company machine overhyped the band in an era when publicity was unhip. A greedy and inept manager convinced the musicians to sign over their rights. Bad luck, bad timing, the band’s bad behavior, and too many drugs led to mental breakdowns and the breakup of the original band within three years of its formation. Moby Grape became the beneficiary and the victim of those who controlled the levers of commerce and power in the new rock music industry, but their music has stood the test of time. “Omaha” still crackles with energy and Moby Grape sounds like no other band.
