SPIRIT

Before forming Spirit, journeyman jazz drummer Ed Cassidy had worked with Cannonball Adderly, Gerry Mulligan, Roland Kirk, Thelonious Monk, and Lee Konitz as well as served as a founding member of the blues rock band Rising Sun with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. (Ed was born in 1923 and was thus 20 years older than the other members of what would become Spirit.) Ed met 14-year old guitar prodigy, Randy Wolfe in San Francisco in 1965 and then went on to marry Randy's mom, Bernice Pearle, whose uncle owned an SF folk music club called the Ash Grove. A series of gigs Ed had lined up in New York City led the family to move across country for the summer of 1966. While Ed sat in on many gigs at the NYC jazz clubs, Randy happened to meet Jimmy Hendrix at a music store. After talking music theory and guitar technique, Jimmy asked Randy to join him in his band, Jimmy James And The Blue Flames. Hendrix dubbed Randy "Randy California" to distinquish him from another guitarist in the band--also named Randy--whom he had dubbed "Randy Texas." At the end of the summer, Chaz Chandler tried to convince Randy to go to London with he and Jimmy, but Randy had to decline due to his 15-year age. In 1967, Ed and Randy returned to California where they met Mark Andes and Jay Ferguson of the band The Red Roosters. They clicked and formed Spirit Rebellious, which became Spirit for their first album. The new band was discovered by music and film promoter (and legend) Lou Adler of Ode Records (Ode Sounds and Visuals) which Lou had founded the year before.

1. "Fresh Garbage" (3:11) I think that this song choice for the opening of the band's debut album must have been intended to let the world know that this new band did not take themselves or their careers as pop musicians too seriously--that they were thoughtful, serious musicians who might have a little Zappa-like message of wit and social commentary to pass on to the public. Jay Ferguson's reverbed voice almost feels British for its effect and styling, but the music beneath is quite sophisticated and shifty, even moving into a jazzy vamp in an instrumental second minute for John Locke's electric piano solo. The Latin flavored percussion accompanying the blues-rock rhythm section coupled with Jay's treated voice is interesting and fairly fresh sounding. (8.875/10)

2. "Uncle Jack" (2:43) using a chord progression that sounds like some of Jay's later solo work, the harmonized group vocal presentation of the lyrics is more akin to The Byrds or The Association. At least two tracks are dedicated to Randy's searing fuzzy electric guitar soloing--an effect that is fairly constant, at times in front, often pushed more into the background while the singing is going on. Definitely a heavier blues-rocker--and probably a song that could be quite easily extended for soloing in the live concert setting. The song is also notable to me for the clear and clean distinctiveness of each and every one of the instruments throughout; excellent production. (8.75/10)

3. "Mechanical World" (5:14) a sophisticated song in which each and every one of the musicians' roles is clearly defined and integrally important to the mix and magic. Here Jay's reverbed lead vocal is virtually solo. (8.75/10)

4. "Taurus" (2:37) cinematic strings open this, soon taking on a sinister jazz flavor as horns and lower register strings join in. The appearance of acoustic guitar playing arpeggios that are quite remarkably reminiscent of the sound and chord progression that would become the most famous song of all-time, "Stairway to Heaven," confirms the reason for the legal dispute with Jimmy Page over compostitional credit to Led Zeppelin's song. On, this album, in this version, it is a truly remarkable feat of beauty and "simple sophistication" (and great production). (5/5)

5. "Girl in Your Eye" (3:15) nice with piano, acoustic guitars, sitar, banjo, and pleasant, melodic, full-group harmonized vocals. There is a nice fuzz guitar solo in the instrumental "C" passage. (8.875/10)

6. "Straight Arrow" (2:51) what opens as more of a Byrds/Buffalo Springfield-like song we are later introduced to what would become Randy Bachman's until-now unique signature guitar sound, captivating the listener's attention while Jay sings within a Americana sound. (8.75/10)

7. "Topanga Windows" (3:36) A laid-back, almost-Country & Western sound is presented with this "hip" song though it creeps into a bluesy, even, at times, jazzy form during the instrumental "C" part. (8.75/10)

8. "Gramophone Man" (3:49) an unusual song that seems driven by jazz-drummer Ed Cassidy, this one starts out slow and bland with milk toast vocals but then, at the 1:10 mark, just as the vocals have stopped, takes a slowly speeding up shift into a pure jazz vamp. Drums, bass, keys, and especially guitar shift into a strikingly electric jazz sound: Randy's guitar play closer to Wes Montgomery than the Stephen Stills sound he finishes with as the music returns to the original motif. (8.875/10)

9. "Water Woman" (2:11) sounds like a nursery rhyme that's been set to music: group vocals carrying the ditty while Ed's jazz drums and Randy's dextrous guitar picking rhythmically carry the melodies with and beneath the vocalists. Very cool and surprisingly sophisticated (for a debut album from a relatively newly formed band) song. (5/5)

10. "Great Canyon Fire in General" (2:46) using a bit of a bluesy-rockabilly foundation, the choral vocals present the melodies and lyrics with a lot of Hendrix-like bluesy electric guitar playing beneath and between the vocal phrases. (8.875/10)

11. "Elijah" (10:49) or "Elijah's Kitchen Sink" because it feels as if the band is here throwing a bunch of leftover ideas together into some kind of semi-chaotic Doors-Van Morrison pseudo-"free jazz" "suite." Very interesting and, I'm sure, very liberating for the jazzier band members like Ed Cassidy and keyboard player John Locke, but also for the more- rock-oriented guitar and bass players.(It's not hard to remember here that guitarist Randy Wolfe "California" is only 16-years old.) I do like Mark Andes' bass solo in the seventh minute quite a bit; not so much Ed's drum solo that follows. (17.375/20)

Total Time 29:35

A debut album filled with very high quality music, musicianship, with quite sophisticated, mature, and creative compositions and great engineering and production. And here's Randy California introducing an electric sound that will be borrowed heavily by many future rock and prog guitarists (including Robert Fripp, Stephen Stills, and Randy Bachman). Jay Ferguson's slightly-reverbed vocals are fairly standard for the time, recorded a little oddly within the musical mix instead of in the front (which was, again, fairly common at the time--especially among Lou Adler's other bands like The Mamas and The Papas and The Grass Roots); the lyrics are also rather typical in their naïve, pseudo "hip" American swag.

B+/4.5 stars; an album that I like more than my ratings would seem to indicate: I really appreciate the tremendous talent and highly-ambitious commitment to sophistication that exudes from the music throughout this album. Plus, I do love Lou Adler's production.