Listen: Bitter Wind / Moby Grape
Bitter Wind / Moby Grape
Somewhere during the making of their second album, Moby Grape recorded a previously unreleased, very noisy rock version of ‘Bitter Wind’. That, along with said album and this single version, were included on the short lived double cd VINTAGE: THE VERY BEST OF MOBY GRAPE Columbia released about ten years back. Litigation or some such problem required it be withdrawn. Not sure exactly why, but seems this band is forever haunted by their questionable early business dealings.
Boy am I happy this original album track made it to the 7″ instead of that alternate version. It’s by far my preferred choice.
When they released that second album, WOW, the one with the free second studio jam disc, their sound and the recordings seemed to thin out compared to the first album’s messy collision of guitars. There was more space, and the stark emptiness, I guess you could say, really appealed to me. ‘Bitter Wind’ was the standout, I’d listen to Side One, from which it came, repeatedly.
Couldn’t have been more pleased to find it on the B side of ‘Can’t Be So Bad’, and in the originally released version. Despite the vocals pushing my tolerance ever so slightly, ‘Bitter Wind’ exemplifies the remnants of San Francisco’s summer of love exactly as I recall it.
Tags: Columbia, Moby Grape