Peter Lewis bridges the past and future on his new album “Imagination,” with music evoking the 1960s as his lyrics look toward eternity
BySTEVEN WINE Associated Press
“Imagination,” Peter Lewis (OMAD Records)
Peter Lewis bridges the past and future on “Imagination,” his music evoking the 1960s as his lyrics look toward eternity.
Lewis, 77, was a founding member of Moby Grape, the supremely talented San Francisco band that was cursed by bad decisions, bad habits and bad luck but did release a classic album in 1967 during the Summer of Love.
Lewis had the most elegant voice in a group with four fine singers, and on “Imagination” his gentle tenor turns back the clock. It’s frayed but arresting, and his flair for melody remains intact. “Remember how it was back in the day,” Lewis sings, and he also ponders the universe, the meaning of life, what’s to come and beer shampoo.
Co-producer John DeNicola helps find a common thread in the album’s wide range of musical styles. “Just Like Sunshine” benefits from Lewis’ 12-string guitar, and “If I Just Had You” features Dion-esque doo-wop vocals. The trippy “Frank Zappa’s Ghost” and stacked harmonies of “La Mujer” echo Lewis’ former band, as does the sweet country ballad “When You Come Back to Me,” and the earnest, bluesy benediction “Saying Goodbye.”
“We’ve got to love each other,” Lewis sings, “while we still can.” Time is relentless, but for a moment it sounds like 1967.
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