Skip Spence

Alexander Lee " Skip" Spence ( born April 18, 1946 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, † 16 April 1999 in Santa Cruz, California ) was an American rock musician, member of the bands Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape. His term coined by drugs, alcohol and schizophrenia CV is often compared with that of Syd Barrett - often there is talk of genius and madness, which are close together.

1965 Spence was the drummer for Jefferson Airplane. After the first album, he left the group to play the guitar with Moby Grape. In 1968 there came in the studio to desert scenes - allegedly Spence colleagues have threatened with an ax. He was admitted to an institution where schizophrenia was diagnosed.

After his release in 1969 he took on the solo album Oar, which was a commercial failure. He fell into disrepair his illness, supported by excessive drug and alcohol use. Most recently, he lived in a home near San Jose, California.

Skip Spence died in 1999 from lung cancer, a few days before the release of the tribute album More Oar with contributions from Robert Plant, Beck, Tom Waits and others. " Oar " was recorded in the legendary list Wire The Wire 's " 100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening ) ".