Weighted Down

Weighted Down: The Complicated Life of Skip Spence is scholar Cam Cobb's biography on the legendary '60s cult musician. As a member of era-defining bands Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane, Spence played a large part in setting the agenda and aesthetic for many other groups of the era. His only solo album, the hugely psychedelic and occasionally challenging 'Oar', cemented his reputation, and he has since gone on to be celebrated by the likes of Tom Waits, Beck, and Robert Plant. However, the musician's life was aggrieved by substance abuse, erratic behaviour, and poor mental health. Cobb regards Spence's life as a whole, warts and all, from his visionary recordings, to his idiosyncratic personality and untimely death at the age of 52.