Moby Grape - Ain't That a Shame (1969)

Emerging out of the San Francisco music scene, this group featured all five members as songwriters and singers. Co-founded by their guitarist Skip Spence in 1966, they were managed by Matthew Katz, who was also the manager for Jefferson Airplane and It’s a Beautiful Day. Spence was also Jefferson Airplane’s drummer for their first album before parting ways with them. With this group, Skip and his bandmates would receive critical praise for their debut album, but would later become plagued with bad luck and misguided decisions. Despite going on hiatus six times since their formation, the group still performs to this day.

This song comes from the album Moby Grape ’69, the first album after the departure of Skip Spence, who the group had assumed would be returning to them but never did. The album wasn’t appreciated by many of their fans who considered it to be too country-rock oriented. In all actuality, it was a precursor to the sounds which would later be put out by country-rock groups like the Eagles. The song was written by Jerry Miller, Don Stevenson, and Peter Lewis.



Moby Grape - Ain't That a Shame (1969)

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Lyrics:

I'm getting’ tired of waitin’
If you don't come home, I'm leavin'
It's a hard life I'm leadin'
About to lose my mind

Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame

Way I've been treated so unkind
Way you stay away for days
I believe I'm about to lose my mind
Woman, you've got to change your ways

Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame

I'm so depleted
I'd steal everything I needed
What could I do?
I ’s down to the bone

Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame

I'm gettin’ tired of waiting
If you don't come home, I'm leavin'
It's a hard life I'm leadin'
It's a hard row I'd hoe

Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame
Ain't that a shame