Alexander “Skip” Spence – War In Peace
From his only solo album, “Oar”
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Wikipedia:
Alexander Lee “Skip” Spence (April 18, 1946 — April 16, 1999) was a musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Spence was a guitarist in an early line-up of Quicksilver Messenger Service before Marty Balin recruited him to be the drummer for Jefferson Airplane. After one album with Jefferson Airplane, their debut Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, he left to co-found Moby Grape, once again as a guitarist.
During the recording session of the group’s second album, Wow in 1968, Spence allegedly attempted to break down a bandmate’s hotel room door with a fire axe while under the influence of LSD. Spence was committed for six months to New York City’s Bellevue Hospital, where he was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Upon his release, he recorded his only solo album, the now-classic psychedelic/folk album Oar (1969, Columbia Records). However, mental illness and alcoholism prevented him from sustaining a career in the music industry, and he spent most of his later life homeless in and around San Jose and Santa Cruz, California. He died in 1999, from lung cancer. He was 52.
