Comments for Spirit, Spirit

Spirit`s debut album. It was reissued in 1996 by Epic\Legacywith 4 bonus tracks, which were an early version of VERUSKA,FREE SPIRIT, IF I HAD A WOMAN, and an alternate take ofELIJAH.

Sensational 1968 debut album from one of the all-time great LA rock bands. Spirt's sound is melodic rock with Randy California's harmonised lead guitar solos and John Locke's jazzy electric piano, Jazz veteran Ed Cassidy on drums, Mark Andes on bass with singer/composer/keyboardist Jay Ferguson. The album opens with three Spirit classics, Fresh Garbage, Uncle Jack and Mechanical World, and Randy California's beautiful acoustic guitar instrumental, Taurus, complemented by an orchestral arrangement by Marty Paich. The other songs are also strong - Topango Windows has a marvellous jazz jam break, Elijah is a jazz-rock instrumental with extended soloing from each group member, Girl In Your Eye is pure Indian raga, Water Woman a catchy acoustic pop song, The Great Canyon Fire In General is an outstanding group performance. Signed up by Lou Adler to his own record label, Ode, he also produced their next two LP's. Adler had earlier turned down The Doors, and he was not so stupid as to miss out on Spirit also. Unfortunately, Spirit never sold that many albums during their existence from 1967 until the end of 1970, they were an underground success, a popular live band on the West Coast. It is inexplicable why Spirit were not huge - they had the songs, musicianship, looks and image, while lesser groups were making fortunes. However, their reputation has ensured that their back-catalogue of original albums have remained available, 32 years after their split, and have had healthy, retrospective sales, particularly their most commercial sounding LP, The Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus. Spirit did have a Top Twenty single in 1968 - I've Gotta Line On You, from their second LP, The Family That Plays Together, but they were unable to consolidate this success. Probably the real reason was that they were not signed to the best of record companies - Ode Records were not the hippest of record labels - Spirit would have been far better off with Elektra Records, who had done a fantastic marketing job with The Doors, and who also had Love. But this is just conjecture. If you are unfamiliar with Spirit, this album is as good a place to start - it still sounds fresh and exciting to this day!