Spirit's first album (paste of text from Vintage Guitar Magazine)

[Willie G. Moseley]

Vintage Guitar Magazine has a section each month called "Pop N' Hiss", which is a review of an iconic album. I've contributed a few articles, and thought maybe youse folks might enjoy reading one of 'em. 

Every once in a while I start contemplating what a guitar genius Randy California was  (i.e., a true "musician" instead of a "rock star") and I'm compelled to pull this album out. The fact that he was 16 when it was recorded makes it all the more mind-boggling. 

Here's the text + images that accompanied the article. If youse like this, I'll try to remember to post some others when I get the rights to them. Enjoy.

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Spirit (first album): In a class by itself in a “crowded” era

Arguably, the most diverse and creative half-dozen years in the history of popular music was 1967-1973. Among the genres and styles that germinated and flourished during that time frame were psychedelic music, hard rock, rock bands with horns, country rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, rock as social commentary and advocacy, rock operas, Southern rock, and a re-importation of the blues by longhaired British bands.

Even in such a crowded cornucopia, however, the eponymous debut album by a band called Spirit was a standout effort, thanks primarily to its talented teenage lead guitarist.

Originally named Spirits Rebellious (referencing the title of a Kahlil Gibran book), the band had jazz roots (keyboard player John Locke, drummer Ed Cassidy) as well a foundation in rock (guitarist Randy California, bassist Mark Andes, singer Jay Ferguson). Cassidy was Randy’s step-father.

Already a serious musician by his mid-teens, California’s “state surname” had been bestowed on him by Jimi Hendrix, during a brief musical collaboration in New York. Randy had also dabbled in jazz with his step-dad and Locke.

Andes, the son of actor Keith Andes, had previously gigged with Canned Heat.

Spirit had done some primeval recordings that were produced by iconic deejay Barry “Dr. Demento” Hansen, but their first album would be produced by legendary music mogul Lou Adler and was released on Adler’s Ode record label. It was recorded over a two-and-a-half-month period in late 1967 and debuted on January 22, 1968, about a month before the lead guitarist’s seventeenth birthday.

Spirit did indeed interpolate jazz combo influences in their initial presentation, as exemplified by the opening track “Fresh Garbage”. Starting out as a straight-ahead rocker, the song abruptly shifts into a lilting jazz cadence featuring Locke’s electric piano before returning to a standard tempo.

Andes proffers strong support on his industry-standard Fender Precision Bass on “Fresh Garbage” while California’s guitar lurks underneath; i.e., it’s obvious the guitarist has something to offer, and his snarling, slithering riffs blast their way to the forefront on the second tune, “Uncle Jack”.

California’s oozing, dark sustain and (overdubbed) harmony guitar parts (pre-Allman Brothers Band and pre-Wishbone Ash) were utterly unique in such times, and turned the heads of innumerable aspiring guitarists. The guitarist even bent harmony lead guitar notes in some passages. According to Randy, the idea of harmony licks had been Hansen’s, and California had refined the concept by the time the recording sessions for the first album began.

And the gear from which California evoked such a memorable sound was also unique. In a 1994 interview with Vintage Guitar, he recounted that he played an old copper-finish Silvertone-by-Danelectro guitar, and utilized a Bosstone fuzztone (the type that plugged into a guitar body) and a DeArmond amplifier with a twelve-inch speaker.

“That Silvertone was my first electric guitar,” California told VG. “I modified it a lot, but I kept it a long time out of loyalty. Another thing I did was put a piece of the thickest guitar string I could find across the wood part of the Silvertone’s bridge. I think the string gauge was .020 or .022.”

Veteran California guitar repair icon and musician Steve Soest recalled that many aspiring players in the Golden State were knocked out by Randy’s impressive guitar stylings in those times.

“He was the first one to get that ‘sustain tone’,” Soest enthused. “There was nobody that had that tone, but (Eric) Clapton was close. Live, (California) also used an Echoplex; he could make his guitar sound like a violin!

“He was really the one that got me into Danelectros; I sold him his second copper Silvertone around the time the band was breaking up in the early ‘70s.”

While “Uncle Jack” introduced California’s unique sound, the third track, “Mechanical World”, was, for many listeners, the album’s masterpiece. It was probably also the first Spirit track many fans ever heard, as it carved out an enduring presence on what were known in such times as “underground” radio stations.

With its loping-and-insistent beat, sibylline vocals, and mysterious-yet-appropriate string and horn arrangement courtesy of Marty Paich (father of David Paich, keyboard player for Toto), “Mechanical World” was one of those memorable songs from the Sixties that probably stopped many listeners dead in their tracks when they first heard it.

And California was all over the sonic map on “Mechanical World”, utilizing quick on/off reverb, abrupt channel switching (no smooth panning) and other effects. Harmony leads, once again including string bending, also contributed to one of the most unique and dynamic guitar performances in rock music history.

Many guitar lovers are familiar with “Taurus,” an ethereal, California-penned instrumental interlude featuring more Paich orchestration. For decades, there’s been an ongoing controversy—including litigation—as to whether Led Zeppelin plagiarized the acoustic introduction to “Taurus” several years later on “Stairway to Heaven.” Spirit had crossed paths with Led Zep in that era, and the unresolved disputation is still the subject of legal wrangling as of this writing.

For the record, however, California averred that he played a Martin 000-18 guitar on that track.

Further stringed instrument experimentation on Spirit included a sitar and an intentionally-cheesy-sounding fuzz guitar solo on “Girl In Your Eye.” There’s also another jazzbo excursion on the instrumental break in “Gramophone Man,” featuring some decent comping from California. Spirit concludes with a somewhat-expected-for-the-times, everybody-gets-a-solo finale (“Elijah”).

As it turned out, Randy California wasn’t as proud of his band’s debut album as might have been expected. Decades later, he would complain that the drums had been “buried in the mix.”

While there may have been some songs on which Ed Cassidy’s kit sounded like tuned cardboard boxes, such a presentation of the percussion seemed to add to the album’s overall mystique.

 Spirit remains a definitive-if-overlooked example of late Sixties musical innovation.

The original quintet of Spirit split after recording four albums. California and Cassidy would continue to front various incarnations of the band over the years, and more than one reunion would occur.

On January 2, 1997, Randy California was swimming with his son in Hawaii, when they were caught in a riptide. California managed to shove his son to safety, but was swept out to sea himself.

His body was never found.

[hamerican gigolo]

I have a reissue of the first album in glorious mono. Need to digg it out for a listen.

The original split up of the band begot Jo Jo Gunne who were one of the first artists on Geffens Asylum label. They split & Jay became known for Thunder Island.  Another joined Firefall & Heart.

 

Love the track Nature's Way...

[velorush]

Other than "Taurus" (due to the controversy - personally, I don't see enough similarity to allege plagiarism), I hadn't heard the album.  Thanks for bringing it up as it was very interesting listening.  The musicianship is great.  I have no feel for how popular (or not) they were at the time, but it seems like something that would have been well regarded in the day.