Little Hands - Alexander 'Skip' Spence

Alexander 'Skip' Spence. One time drummer for Jefferson Airplane. Founder of Moby Grape. In 1968, while recording Grape's second album Wow, Spence suffered a violent breakdown which ultimately ended with a six month stay at Bellevue Hospital Center where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia (likely aggravated by ingesting copious amounts of LSD).

During his time at Bellevue, Spence was writing songs. Songs which sound familiarly unrecognisable, the aural equivalent of coming home to your house to find the furniture stacked in bizarre statues.

Spence left Bellevue and, purportedly in his pajamas, rode down to Nashville on a motorcycle and recorded the album Oar. Comprised of the songs he'd written during his hospitalization and performed entirely by himself, it's the albums opening track Little Hands which we are looking at today.

Little Hands is a shambling gem of psyche-folk. One of the first things to jump out about the song is it's unusual rhythm. Stuck somewhere in between a war march and sunshine, the drums and acoustic guitar work together to create a rich punctuation to Spence's lyrics; infectious despite never entirely settling into a groove. Atop these pulsations spikes of electric guitar chime and pounce across the weave of sounds.

The real star of this show however are Spence's multi-tracked vocals. Skydiving from ethereal highs to creaking lows, his voice breaks out across the track like streaks of light, but always manages to remain intimate.