Peter Lewis (musician)

Peter Lewis (b. July 15, 1945) is one of the founding members of the band Moby Grape. Three of his better known songs with Moby Grape are "Fall On You" and "Sitting By The Window" from the self-titled first Moby Grape album and "If You Can't Learn From My Mistakes", from Moby Grape '69. [At their 2007 appearance at the [http://www.2b1records.com/summeroflove40th/ 40th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" reunion] , Moby Grape opened their set with Lewis' "Fall On You".]

Background

He is one of two sons [His older brother, Christopher Lewis (b. 1944) is a writer and producer of films primarily for television, through [http://www.tegclassictv.com/about-christopher-lewis.html The Entertainment Group] , a company co-owned with his wife Linda. He has also been a producer of [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507036/ horror films] , including the very first direct-to-video release. In later years, his mother assigned him the rights to "The Loretta Young Show". He and his wife became co-producers of contemporary television broadcasts of the show, which have also been released on DVD. Peter Lewis and Christopher Lewis are also half-brothers of Judy Lewis (b. 1935), daughter of Loretta Young and Clark Gable. She is a [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507395/ former actress] and currently is a practising psychotherapist, having earned a Masters in Clinical Psychology after leaving acting.] of actress Loretta Young (d. 2000) [Peter Lewis' tribute to his late mother is accessible [http://www.loretta-young.com/tribute-peter-lewis.html here] ] and writer-producer Tom Lewis (d. 1988), [Primarily as a [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507830/ writer-producer of "The Loretta Young Show"] .] and accordingly spent much of his childhood in Hollywood. He is also a cousin of musician David Lindley. [David Lindley's father, Jack Lindley, was a sibling (one brother, two sisters) of Peter Lewis' mother. See [http://www.sundazed.com/scene/exclusives/peter_lewis-1.html Interview with Peter Lewis] by Jud Cost, 1995; www.sundazed.com.] In his youth, he attended military school and later, after a period of time in the Air Force, became a commercial pilot, initially working for Shell Oil. [Matthew Greenwald, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hnfqxq8gldhe~T1 Peter Lewis Biography] ; www.allmusic.com.] He cites Tim Hardin and Fred Neil as important influences, and credits Linda Eastman with introducing him to their music. [ [http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:2BWnXP4CsYIJ:members.tripod.com/shadwell/plewis.html+Peter+Lewis+Moby+Grape&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=ca Interview with Peter Lewis] , October, 2001.]

His first band was The Cornells.

Moby Grape: Lewis Sensitivity to Mosley and Spence Challenges

Lewis is noted in particular for his lifelong efforts to assist fellow Moby Grape bandmates Bob Mosley and Skip Spence (d. 1999) in countering the challenges of schizophrenia. [Images of Peter Lewis, Bob Mosley and Skip Spence playing music together in later years are accessible [http://www.paulb.com/spencegal.htm here] . (Below the gallery)] Lewis has a personal sensitivity to psychiatric challenges. As a child of eleven, in the context of his parents' acrimonious divorce and custody dispute, he suffered a nervous breakdown in New York City and was involuntarily hospitalized for a period. [ [http://www.sundazed.com/scene/exclusives/peter_lewis-1.html Interview with Peter Lewis] by Jud Cost, 1995; www.sundazed.com.] As of 1969 with Moby Grape, he recalls, "I was under the care of a psychiatrist, taking all this Librium so I could stay with the band." [ [http://www.sundazed.com/scene/exclusives/peter_lewis-3.html Interview with Peter Lewis] by Jud Cost, 1995; www.sundazed.com.]

Bob Mosley credits Peter Lewis with assisting Mosley out of a period of approximately five years of homelessness in the 1990s. Bob Mosley describes the circumstances as follows: "In 1996, Peter Lewis picked me up along the side of a San Diego freeway where I was living, to tell me a ruling by San Francisco Judge Garcia gave Moby Grape their name back. I was ready to go to work again." [Bob Mosley commentary in relation to the circumstances ultimately leading to his stabilization and the recording of his album [http://www.taxim.com/items/tx2078.htm True Blue] (2005).]

With respect to Skip Spence, Lewis was sceptical of the labelling of Spence as a schizophrenic, in circumstances where related treatments were not resulting in significant improvements. Lewis sought out and participated in alternative healing therapies for Spence. In particular, he recalls, "Through my dad, who'd become a born-again Christian, I'd met these monks in Lucia above Big Sur, who were really serious about rational metaphysics. Their faith beyond reason overwhelms you every time. [Lewis is presumably referring to the [http://www.bigsurhermitage.com/monastic_life.htm Camaldolese Monks of Big Sur] ; www.bigsurhermitage.com.] Since the doctors couldn't help Skippy - they kept objectifying his problem: 'He's a paranoid schizophrenic' - and were never going to heal him - all they were interested in was keeping him out of McDonald's with a machine gun - it was the only place I could think of to take him." [ [http://www.sundazed.com/scene/exclusives/peter_lewis-3.html Interview with Peter Lewis] by Jud Cost, 1995; www.sundazed.com.]

Recent Career

In recent years, in addition to performing occasionally with Moby Grape, Lewis was a guitarist with the reformed Electric Prunes (2000-2003), contributing to their "Artifact" album. [See [http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:2BWnXP4CsYIJ:members.tripod.com/shadwell/plewis.html+Peter+Lewis+Moby+Grape&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=ca interview with Peter Lewis at the Electric Prunes website] , October, 2001.] He has also developed a career as a solo artist. He has released two albums on the Taxim label: "Peter Lewis" and "Live in Bremen". [Taxim is a German label which distributes its albums globally. Peter Lewis is quite popular in Germany. Bob Mosley also records for the same label. The label website is [http://www.taxim.com/start.htm here] .] Peter Lewis occasionally performs as a duo with David West, his collaborator on "Live in Bremen". [See [http://blog.mlive.com/encorea2/2008/06/preview_moby_grapes_peter_west.html notice of Peter Lewis and David West performing in Chelsea, Michigan, June, 2008.] For a series of pictures of Peter Lewis and David West, performing in 2003, see [http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/548290373ZXcNnQ here.] ]

Solo Discography

[http://www.taxim.com/items/tx2008.htm "Peter Lewis"] (1995)

[http://www.taxim.com/items/tx2071.htm "Live in Bremen"] (2003, with David West)

References

External Links

* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=189065970 Peter Lewis unofficial MySpace page]

* [http://www.progressiveworld.net/electricprunes.html Artifact] Electric Prunes, 2001; review by Keith Hannaleck, 2002.