Discograffiti

We kick off the Chuck Granata Pet Sounds Interview Series at the very beginning…it’s Chuck’s conversation with one of Brian Wilson’s most towering influences, Ross Barbour of The Four Freshmen!  His father Murry took Brian to see the legendary harmony group when he was 14, and he got the opportunity to meet them. The concert and that meeting had a profound effect on young Brian, who said, “My voic...

In Part 2 of my amazing discussion with two-thirds of The Honeys, Marilyn, Ginger, and I work our way through some wildly emotional terrain, including what it was like to share lives with a creative genius while he was operating at his peak.   Here’s just a few of the many things that Marilyn & Ginger discuss with Discograffiti in this podcast:   How Marilyn felt about Brian’s Smile-era decor...

Recorded only two days before the great man’s passing, this audiobook-style episode is a Brian Wilson diary that covers the 27 sessions it took to accomplish one of his great works, a span of six months that kicks off at the moment in December 1965 when he first heard The Beatles’ Rubber Soul and vowed to make the greatest rock record of all time, to Pet Sounds’ release in May 1966. I’m joined by...

Here’s just a few of the many things that Marilyn & Ginger discuss with Discograffiti in this podcast:   What the group was like before they bumped into Brian Wilson; The amazing way station for rock and roll talent that was the Rovell household, and the ways in which Brian fundamentally changed the family for the better; How Marilyn feels about Mike Love’s current touring version of The Beach...

This is the final episode of the Grape Expectations Series, which covers Skip’s life during the years 1981-1999.  Here’s just a few of the many things that Cam discusses with Discograffiti in Part 6 of our discussion:   Skip’s 1990s band Epicenter; How Robert Plant became instrumental in sparking a Spence family reunion; Skip’s final music project, Eternity’s Gate; The details surrounding Skip’s t...

Meet Chuck Granata. Chuck’s written the only tome anyone needs about Pet Sounds, entitled Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Brian Wilson And The Making Of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. His timing in climbing aboard the Discograffiti train is splendid, indeed: his entrance has allowed this season to balloon to gargantuan proportions. Simply put, it will be the most in-depth investigation of a single record ever e...

Here’s just a few of the many things that Cam discusses with Discograffiti in Part 5 of our discussion:   The importance of meeting Gordon Stevens at the beginning of the 1970’s; Skip’s plans to mount an surprisingly ambitious live show around his Oar LP; Moby Grape’s reunion…and also the very first reunion in rock history; The disastrous consequences of Skip tossing his psych meds out a car windo...

Welcome to Season 3 of “The Beach Boys: And Your Dreams Come True!” This season focuses solely on Pet Sounds, and stands as the most in-depth investigation of a single record ever enacted in Discograffiti history.  The Beach Boys’ 11th LP changed a lot of lives, not least of which the man who brought his effortlessly breezy pop charm to The Hollies, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, and his own s...

Grape Expectations’ Episode 10 will hip you to one of the greatest lost psych bands of the 1960s, as we explore the late 1960s-early 1970s in Skip’s life, a time when he gave it his best shot acting as Dad to four kids when he just couldn’t hack it, as the pull of the lifestyle got the better of him...but not before helping to assemble one of the most successful bands of the 1970s.   Here’s just a...

Welcome to Part 3, and the final installment of my conversation with Peter Lewis, a one-of-a-kind discussion that leapfrogs incessantly from one shocking revelation to the next. Here’s just a few of the many things that Peter discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast:   That time he took psilocybin with some hit men; How he was hoodwinked into participating in the 20 Granite Creek project; Robe...

Grape Expectations’ Episode 8 is the true turning point of the series, a breathless conversation with Moby Grape guitarist/songwriter Peter Lewis which goes to great lengths to illustrate the point a man must reach where it becomes preferable to move furniture for his grandma as a side hustle in lieu of recording a single additional note with his musical soulmates.   There’ll be a short sneak peak...

Welcome to Part 3, and the final installment of my conversation with Don Stevenson, in which we cover the expansive era of 1969 to the present. Don says this will be the very last time he’ll be talking about his time in Moby Grape, so you absolutely will not want to miss this.    Here’s just a few of the many things that Don discusses with Discograffiti in this podcast:   How Skip Spence’s Oar rea...

Listen: linktr.ee/discograffiti Subscribe to Discograffiti’s Patreon to gain access to all of Discograffiti's upcoming Pet Sounds Deep-Dive, which will literally be the most in-depth examination of the album ever done. Coming June 27th: Patreon.com/Discograffiti #carniewilson #brianwilsonrip #thebeachboys #brianwilson #beachboys #denniswilson #mikelove #carlwilson #music #thehollies #aljardine #th...

Just a brief word on the heartbreak his music so perfectly captures and that this inevitable day has brought. Coming on June 27th: Season 3 of "The Beach Boys' And Your Dream Comes True"--a very, very long season honoring and celebrating the almighty Pet Sounds. #brianwilson #thebeachboys #rip #beachboys #denniswilson #brianwilsondeath #mikelove #carlwilson #music #thehollies #aljardine #thebeatle...

This last-minute interview promoting Jorma’s appearance at The Hudson Valley Music Festival thankfully fell into my lap…because it'll be the first in an upcoming Jefferson Airplane Deep Dive Series featuring Jorma, Jack Casady, & (fingers crossed) Grace Slick, all the living members of the classic Airplane line-up.  Tickets to The Hudson Valley Music Festival are going fast, so jump on it now:...

Episode 6 of our Grape Expectations Series features Moby Grape & Skip Spence biographer Cam Cobb detailing Skip’s June 1968 mental breakdown, as he grabs a fire axe and goes after drummer Don Stevenson.  That error in judgment lands him in Bellevue for six months, and upon his release he heads to Nashville with his family to create his groundbreaking solo album Oar.     Here’s just a few of th...

Episode 5 of our Grape Expectations Series is the podcast to hear if you ever wondered what it felt like to be hunted down by a psychedelically deranged band member wielding a fire axe.  Welcome to Part 2 of my conversation with Don Stevenson, in which we cover the most harrowing period of his life, not to mention the band’s career (1967-1969). Don says this will be the very last time he’ll be tal...

Episode 4 of our Grape Expectations Series features Moby Grape & Skip Spence biographer Cam Cobb talking about Skip’s rollercoaster ride through those early days of Moby Grape, a tale which includes disastrous tours, lawsuits, police busts, horribly nefarious managers, a fake touring version of the band, mysterious black magic witches, drug-induced madness, insane asylums, and attempted murder...

Episode 3 of our Grape Expectations Series features two—count ‘em, TWO SEPARATE INTERVIEWS with drummer Don Stevenson and guitarist Peter Lewis, each of whom gives their own Rashomon-like perspective on the fascinating early part of Moby Grape’s career. Disastrous tours, lawsuits, police busts, horribly nefarious managers, a fake touring version of the band, mysterious black magic witches, and dru...

The great Bob Mosley—Mr. Blues himself—is known for a soul-belting voice that is a true force of nature.  As a man who’s transcended his share of real blues (a bout of homelessness, a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia that’d sideline the average person), conversely Bob has fronted multiple bands, been idolized by Robert Plant, and played in a late-1970s supergroup with Neil Young called The Duck...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Grape Expectations, an immersive, 5-week-long, Rashomon-style series about the amazing band Moby Grape, featuring all three living band members and their biographer.  There is no crazier story in the history of music than that of The Grape. It includes disastrous tours, lawsuits, police busts, horribly nefarious managers, a fake touring version of the band, myst...

For my money, Galaxie 500 was the greatest dream pop group that ever existed.  And Dean’s Discograffiti appearance couldn’t possibly be better timed: his brand-new solo LP, That’s The Price Of Loving Me—his best work since 1990 imho—marks the first time he and producer Kramer have collaborated since that very year, after the latter had doused Galaxie 500’s perfect triumvirate of albums in his trad...

For my money, Galaxie 500 was the greatest dream pop group that ever existed.  And Dean’s Discograffiti appearance couldn’t possibly be better timed: his brand-new solo LP, That’s The Price Of Loving Me—his best work since 1990 imho—marks the first time he and producer Kramer have collaborated since that very year, after the latter had doused Galaxie 500’s perfect triumvirate of albums in his trad...

For my money, Galaxie 500 was the greatest dream pop group that ever existed.  And Dean’s Discograffiti appearance couldn’t possibly be better timed: his brand-new solo LP, That’s The Price Of Loving Me—his best work since 1990 imho—marks the first time he and producer Kramer have collaborated since that very year, after the latter had doused Galaxie 500’s perfect triumvirate of albums in his trad...

One day on a whim about a decade ago, I reached out to incarcerated rapper Big Lurch, with the idea of one day making a documentary about his legitimately crazy tale. He responded with a letter. Then another. And another, all of them beautifully written. And then the calls started coming, sometimes as many as several a day. The documentary never wound up getting off the ground, but the letters and...