 | oscargamblesfro (76)
10/19/2007 |  The best song, by far, in my view, from their 1966 debut album "Takes Off," an ominous ballad with some great bass by Jack Casady and fine lead vocals by Marty Balin, who co-wrote the song with drummer Skip Spence, a talented songwriter and good singer- and something of a wild man- who was sort of miscast as a drummer- Balin picked him because he said he looked like a drummer, and who left after this album to form the ill-fated but incredibly talented Moby Grape, in which he switched from drumming to guitar and vocals. Original lead female vocalist Signe Anderson also makes a memorable contribution to this song, which came across like a much darker Mamas and the Papas tune. The first album was pretty decent, but much more similar to the Mamas and Papas and folk rock groups like The Lovin' Spoonful. Sales were good in the Bay Area, but it failed to crack the top 100 albums, and it wasn't until their next album, with Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden replacing Anderson and Spence, that they broke through in a major way.
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