McMahon/Ms. Borstnik:
The Claw Machine has acquired through legal channels a record that used to belong to you: Moby Grape's 1967 debut album, Moby Grape, you know, the one with "Omaha", "Hey Grandma" and "Naked If I Want To" on it. The record is in great shape, in its original plastic wrap, with very little wear to the jacket or disc. The sound is clean and free of skips. "McMahon" is written in marker on the label of Side 1 and "Marian Borstnik" is written in ballpoint pen on the label of Side 2. The "GIANT FULL-COLOR POSTER" advertised on the album cover is missing. The record is ours now and we are not interested in selling it, but for the sake of historical documentation, we would like to know the following:
1. When did you get this album? The Claw Machine is notoriously lazy at researching the different pressings of records, and we would like your help, just so we know how old the actual record is.
2. Where is the Giant Full-Color Poster? Did you hang it on the wall of your teenage bedroom, some 40 years ago? Do you remember what it looked like? At what point did you take the poster down, roll it up, throw it away? The Claw Machine likes to imagine the Giant Full-Color Poster perfectly preserved under layers of trash in a Midwestern landfill, waiting to be excavated by some future civilization. Or maybe you still have it, even though you no longer have the record it came with. Is this poster in a box in your basement or attic, with everything else you saved from the summer of '67? Can we see it?
3. What happened here, anyway? This is a great album, one of our favorites. The songs on the record are short, psych-influenced pop numbers, all at once accessibly upbeat, brash, multi-layered, funny, smart. Though this is a relatively "happy" album, The Claw Machine often listens to it and thinks of the tragedy of Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, mental illness, and the fragility of genius. We think it's perfect. Why didn't you keep it?
Please let us know as soon as possible.
Thank you,
The Claw Machine
1 comment:
to Francis Nancy Jan. 3, 2009 post:
One of my sons just called me and told me about your post about my old Moby Grape album. I bought it brand new when it came out, so it must have been 1967 or early 68.
I only have a vague recollection of a poster, so I can't really help you there with what it looked like or where it ended up.
As to why I parted with the album, I used to have an awesome record collection back in my teen years, but later, when I was married and had kids, I would have garage sales to try to supplement our income and began parting with my albums. Glad to know there is at least one of my old albums out there still bringing someone pleasure, even if I had to part with them.
Marian (Borstnik) McMahon
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