Peter Lewis (musician)

Peter Lewis (born 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.

Peter is the younger of two sons by actress Loretta Young (1913-2000) and writer-producer Tom Lewis (d. 1988), and accordingly spent much of his childhood in Hollywood. His older brother, Christopher Lewis (b. 1944), is a writer and producer of films primarily for television. The Lewis brothers are nephews of actresses Polly Ann Young and Sally Blane, sisters of their mother. They are also half-brothers of Judy Lewis (d.2011), daughter of Loretta Young and Clark Gable. Musician David Lindley is their cousin.

As a youth, Lewis attended military school and later, after a stint in the Air Force, became a commercial pilot, initially working for Shell Oil. As for his musical career, Lewis cites Tim Hardin and Fred Neil as important influences, and credits Linda McCartney, (née Eastman) with introducing him to their music.

His first band was The Cornells.

Lewis now lives in the Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, California, with his wife and two children.

Beyond his work as a musician, Lewis has been noted for his efforts in assisting fellow Moby Grape bandmates Bob Mosley and Skip Spence (d. 1999) in battling the challenges of schizophrenia. Lewis has a personal sensitivity to psychiatric challenges. At age 11, while his parents were embroiled in an acrimonious divorce and custody dispute, he suffered a nervous breakdown in New York City and was involuntarily hospitalized for a period. As of 1969, he recalls, "I was under the care of a psychiatrist, taking all this Librium so I could stay with the band."

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