What's Big and Purple and Lives in the Ocean?: The Moby Grape Story

by Cam Cobb

Moby Grape are a genuine cult phenomenon. Their story, a mixture of myth and truth, is a cautionary tale, a triumph, and a tragedy all at once. Though they are seen as a symbol of 1960s San Francisco, Moby Grape were never actually a part of the city’s counterculture movement. Yet they were immersed in it, sharing stages with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, and many more. Moby Grape’s five members came together from very different backgrounds, bursting onto the San Francisco scene in the fall of 1966. With their diverse pedigree, they were nothing less than musical alchemists, yet they were also rebels. Their blending of genres within a tight songwriting framework contrasted sharply with that of many of their San Francisco peers With the release of their debut album in 1967, you could see everyone from Ringo Starr to Jimi Hendrix sporting a ‘Moby Grape Now!’ button. But in the months that followed, they were dogged by mismanagement, bad marketing, a scandalous drug bust, and general rock’n’roll mayhem. It seemed like it was all over in 1969, but in 1971 Moby Grape staged rock’s first fullon reunion. Since then, they have fought to retain ownership of their own name, while two members of the band struggled with homelessness and mental illness. Despite all of this, they produced one of the best albums of the era, and today they are heralded by countless luminaries of rock music and rock criticism, from Robert Plant to Robert Christgau, Tom Waits to Greil Marcus. Drawing on extensive interviews with the surviving members of the band, What’s Big and Purple and Lives in the Ocean? finally tells the full story of one of the great cult bands of the '60s.

Genres: Music

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2018

Reviews

[John Spiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that 50 years passed after Moby Grape's self-titled debut LP before someone wrote a biography of this underrated band. Like Moby Grape, "What's Purple and Lives in the Ocean" is wildly uneven. There were parts of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Cobb does a fantastic job of explaining why Moby Grape never achieved the recognition and commercial success of San Francisco peers such as the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, even though the Grape's debut LP easily eclipsed the first LP's from the Airplane and the Dead. Cobb also does a workmanlike job of detailing how the Grape's punishing touring and recording schedule ultimately caused the band to implode.

For as much detail as Cobb provides about the band, "What's Purple and Lives in the Ocean" doesn't address some fairly major issues. For example, Cobb mentions that Moby Grape and its first manager, Matthew Katz, were involved in litigation that stretched out for decades and was not finally resolved until 2007. Yet, he provides virtually no information abut the litigation and its ultimate resolution. I anticipate that the court records and depositions would have been a treasure trove of research material. Related to this, Cobb describes Katz forming a second Moby Grape who actually toured under that name, but we learn nothing about the fake Grape.

These omissions are even more glaring in light of what Cobb included in the book. Time and again, the book was bogged down in footnotes, some of which stretched over two pages. Most of these footnotes elaborate on tertiary matters that tended to detract from the narrative.

If you are a fan of Moby Grape, this book is worth reading. If you are just a fan of the whole rock and roll thing in general (to quote Fred Willard's character from Spinal Tap), you might want to pass.

[Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Moby Grape story is one of the great unsung tales of rock music - a band with tons of talent, songs, and great records that was struck with poor management and bad luck at every turn of their career. It could make for a great book someday, but this is not that book.

Bafflingly, Cobb limits his book to the first 5 years of the bands long history, then starts at the 4th album and devotes most of the first 3 pages of his text to describing an album cover. Things don't really improve from there as the prose is labored, extremely repetitive and seems to have arrived on the page completely unedited. Facts will be given, then repeated again 3 pages later, then again in another 20 pages for no reason. Cobb repeatedly inserts himself into the narrative for no reason and the best moments of the book are long quotes from the band members. Two band members were interviewed for the book and you get some insight into them, but very little insight into any of the other participants here.

There are no other books about Moby Grape currently, so if you are a fan this is what you've got to read. Hopefully that will be rectified, someday.

[M.D. Navalinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in 1967, when I was but 14 years of age, I mowed my grandmother's lawn once a week. In lieu of cash, I always got a trip to the local record shop where I would grab an new release album to expand my interest in the rock scene which was growing in depth, diversity of styles and new artists just waiting to blow my mine.
On this particular trip my choice was off the beaten path. There before me were four 'long haired hippies' with a tattered flag and one member smirking while subtly flipping us off. Without an inkling of what lie ahead I took a chance on Moby Grape.
The band was heralded as 'the next big thing' from the burgeoning SF scene and when I laid the needle down I was blasted by rock n roll with a new flavor-five voices in harmony, each member contributing songs that ranged from blues to acoustic ballads and high energy exciting rock n roll. The Grape were going to be huge. Or were they?
That album is an all time classic. If you have never been exposed to the San Fran sound I would say this is the place to start, ahead of the Airplane and (gasp, may I say it?)-The Dead.
Their story unfortunately did not end well. Drug use by guitarist Skip Spence, a scoundrel for a manager, and a second album that to many suffered from the sophomore slump put an end to the band's promising future.
Cam Cobb does a wonderful, accurate job of telling their tale and their attempts at many highly-anticipated reunions that fell short.
Perhaps not for just any reader, if you have a love of musical history this one is a dandy. Highly recommended!!!!

[Seth Arnopole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eccentrically structured (beginning with the brief reunion of the band that occurred in 1971), this history of the unjustly overlooked band Moby Grape (five fabulous singers and songwriters, four albums in their original run that range from good to classic) is a welcome resource. However, there are gaps in the story that one wishes could have been filled in, particularly the group's subsequent reunions and the decades-long legal disputes with their initial manager that denied them the possibility of using their band name at times, and are partly the reason why you STILL can't hear their first three albums in their entirety on streaming services in 2024. Cobb's 2024 biography of Skip Spence is worth reading in tandem with this one to flesh out some details, but the story is still achingly incomplete.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first and so far, the only bio of a band revered by musicians, if lesser known to the general public. A number of good bits here (as who's playing what on certain tracks) as well as unnecessary bits (a long passage on the author's personal choice for how to track and sequence Wow)
On the downside, no mention was made of the tribute albums generated this century to honor the band, although one of our contributors (Brian Vaughn) was listed for his work with Skippy in the 90's.
An OK effort that hopefully will spur other authors to tackle the subject in the future.

[Tony Sannicandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about a great band. This book besides being about a band points out record companies have no idea about music. It’s all about the dollars with them. Greed helped kill Moby Grape just as it killed other great band. The only thing missing with this book is a listing of recordings by the band. If you are a fan of Moby Grape or of 60’s music...read this book!

[Jon]

HOLY TYPOS GALORE - otherwise, good informative read