SPIRIT First four Spirit albums....recorded late 1967-1970.
It`s rare for me to take the time to write a review about a band, but in this case, it needed to be done. If he was still alive today (5/4/14), it would have been legendary Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy`s 91st birthday. He died in late 2012. He had an incredible jazz drumming backround before starting "Spirit" circa 1967 with his stepson guitarist the late Randy California. Randy and the 3 others were all much younger than Ed. Ed, or "Cass" as the rest of the band called him, added a unique jazz element to the psychedelic era band.
Some preferred "Love" as the ultimate underrated late 60s California band. Love had a few gems, my favorite being 1969`s "Four Sail".....but in my opinion Arthur Lee`s creativity went downhill after that. Even "Out Here" (Blue Thumb records) was the more mediocre tracks that Elektra passed on when fulfilling the last of the Elektra contract picking the tracks for Four Sail. Both albums were recorded at the same 1969 sessions supposedly.
Anyway, for me the most impressive/incredible and unique late 60s psychedelic California band was SPIRIT. Highly UNDER-RATED!!! Jazz backround drummer Ed, who also played with Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal pre-Spirit in a band named Risng Sons. Randy and his pre-Spirit playing was with pre-Experience Hendrix (then known as Jimmy James). Randy played the quintessential late 60s psychedelic guitar sounds, not just rock, but jazz flavored too as he was inspired by Wes Montgomery. The late John Locke, was a classically trained keyboardist extraordinaire inspired by jazz musicians including John Coltrane. Jay Ferguson was awesome on vocals and composing many of the songs. Mark Andes was the great bass player (later with Heart among others) who is still making music today.
I LOVE Spirit.....liked them and their records way back in the late 60s when I was a kid......really got into 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus....then kind of forgot about them for years.....saw them as a trio in New Orleans in 1995 with Randy, his step dad and a bass player. I met the step dad, drummer Ed Cassidy (always the old guy with the shaved head) and he was nice to talk to. But I really didn`t really "totally" get into them till I got their remastered w/bonus tracks CDs of their 1st four albums which came out in 1996. I`ve just got heavily into them even more than `96 just in the past few years! I think this has happened to others too, just realizing how fantastic they were just recently. Got the 2005 Sundazed issue of some recordings they did in 1968 for the movie soundtrack to "Model Shop" which never got released till the 2005 Sundazed version.
To quote DJ "Albert O", the first four Spirit albums are stellar. Yes, only their first four albums are the great stuff, recorded between 1967 and 1970. They broke up for the first of many times, sadly, after the first 4. Then there were several not near as good versions of Spirit after 1971. Randy California drowned in 1996, thus, the total end of later model incarnations of Spirit.
SPIRIT First four Spirit albums....recorded late 1967-1970.
It`s rare for me to take the time to write a review about a band, but in this case, it needed to be done. If he was still alive today (5/4/14), it would have been legendary Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy`s 91st birthday. He died in late 2012. He had an incredible jazz drumming backround before starting "Spirit" circa 1967 with his stepson guitarist the late Randy California. Randy and the 3 others were all much younger than Ed. Ed, or "Cass" as the rest of the band called him, added a unique jazz element to the psychedelic era band.
Some preferred "Love" as the ultimate underrated late 60s California band. Love had a few gems, my favorite being 1969`s "Four Sail".....but in my opinion Arthur Lee`s creativity went downhill after that. Even "Out Here" (Blue Thumb records) was the more mediocre tracks that Elektra passed on when fulfilling the last of the Elektra contract picking the tracks for Four Sail. Both albums were recorded at the same 1969 sessions supposedly.
Anyway, for me the most impressive/incredible and unique late 60s psychedelic California band was SPIRIT. Highly UNDER-RATED!!! Jazz backround drummer Ed, who also played with Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal pre-Spirit in a band named Risng Sons. Randy and his pre-Spirit playing was with pre-Experience Hendrix (then known as Jimmy James). Randy played the quintessential late 60s psychedelic guitar sounds, not just rock, but jazz flavored too as he was inspired by Wes Montgomery. The late John Locke, was a classically trained keyboardist extraordinaire inspired by jazz musicians including John Coltrane. Jay Ferguson was awesome on vocals and composing many of the songs. Mark Andes was the great bass player (later with Heart among others) who is still making music today.
I LOVE Spirit.....liked them and their records way back in the late 60s when I was a kid......really got into 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus....then kind of forgot about them for years.....saw them as a trio in New Orleans in 1995 with Randy, his step dad and a bass player. I met the step dad, drummer Ed Cassidy (always the old guy with the shaved head) and he was nice to talk to. But I really didn`t really "totally" get into them till I got their remastered w/bonus tracks CDs of their 1st four albums which came out in 1996. I`ve just got heavily into them even more than `96 just in the past few years! I think this has happened to others too, just realizing how fantastic they were just recently. Got the 2005 Sundazed issue of some recordings they did in 1968 for the movie soundtrack to "Model Shop" which never got released till the 2005 Sundazed version.
To quote DJ "Albert O", the first four Spirit albums are stellar. Yes, only their first four albums are the great stuff, recorded between 1967 and 1970. They broke up for the first of many times, sadly, after the first 4. Then there were several not near as good versions of Spirit after 1971. Randy California drowned in 1996, thus, the total end of later model incarnations of Spirit.