Born and raised in California, Bob Mosley played in various bands before joining Moby Grape in 1966. He was one of the founding members, alongside Skip Spence, Jerry Miller, Peter Lewis and Don Stevenson, and the band became known as the one of the best groups of San Francisco's psychedelic rock scene. He played bass, and also wrote songs and sang, his voice standing out from those of his other bandmates for its power and soulfulness. He was responsible for many of the band's greatest songs, including "Mr Blues", "Come In The Morning", "Lazy Me", "Bitter Wind" and "It's A Beautiful Day Today".He famously left the band in 1969 to join the Marines, but wasn't gone for long. During basic training he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and was discharged after only nine months. He returned in time for Moby Grape's fifth album, 1971's 20 Granite Creek, which was officially a reunion of all the original members (Skip Spence also returning from his own troubles), and his hard-rocking "Gypsy Wedding" became the opening number and one of the most memorable songs on the album. After this the band broke up.
His self-titled solo debut came out in 1972. It's a great record, with a guitar-driven rock sound with flavours of blues, soul and country. Some of the tracks feature The Memphis Horns, and it also features a new soul-styled version of "Gypsy Wedding". It could have been the start of a great solo career, but unfortunately Mosley's recording output has been sporadic and plagued with problems since (including a period of homelessness). He has contributed to various Moby Grape reunions over the years, and was also a member of The Ducks in 1977, who briefly performed to great acclaim but never recorded. However he wouldn't release another solo album until 1986.
|> Wine And Roses (1986)
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