Spirit (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Spirit | ||
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 Cover of debut album
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Los Angeles, California | |
| Genre(s) | Psychedelic rock | |
| Years active | 1967 - 1998 | |
| Website | Official Site | |
| Former members | ||
| Randy California Jay Ferguson Mark Andes Matt Andes Ed Cassidy John Locke Al Staehely Chris Staehely Barry Keene Dave Waterbury |
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Spirit was an American jazz/hard rock/psychedelic band founded in 1967, based in Los Angeles, California.
Contents |
[edit] The original lineup
The original lineup of the group was Randy California (guitars, vocals), Jay Ferguson (vocals, percussion), Mark Andes (bass), California's stepfather Ed Cassidy on drums, and keyboard player John Locke. The new band was originally named the Spirits Rebellious (after a book by Khalil Gibran) but was soon shortened simply to Spirit. All but Locke had been part of the band The Red Roosters in 1965. California (then still known by his birth name of Randy Wolfe) had also played with Jimi Hendrix (then known as Jimmy James) in Jimmy James and the Blue Flames for three months in 1966.
Drummer Ed Cassidy was instantly recognizable by his shaven head and proclivity to wear black. He was considerably older than the rest of the group (born in 1923). His earlier career was primarily in jazz and included stints with Cannonball Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Roland Kirk and Lee Konitz. He was a founding member of Rising Sons with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.
Following a period of gigging around Los Angeles, the group attained quite a reputation. Brian Berry, the brother of Jan Berry (of Jan & Dean), heard the group and made arrangements for them to record a demo. The demo eventually made its way into the hands of Lou Adler, who was in the process of forming a new record label, Ode Records, which was distributed by Epic Records.
The group's first album, Spirit, was released in 1968. Though it didn't spawn any hit singles (the track "Mechanical World" was released as a single [with a humorous label on the 45 which lists the playing time merely as "very long", despite the fact that it is prematurely faded in order to shorten its length a bit], but it missed the Top 100), it was a substantial underground hit, reaching #31 and staying on the charts for over 8 months.
They capitalized on the relative success of their first album with a single, "I Got A Line On You". Released slightly before their second album, The Family That Plays Together (which came out in November of 1968), it became their biggest hit single, reaching #25 on the charts. The album matched its success, reaching #22. They also went on tour that year with Led Zeppelin, who were obviously listening to Spirit, as they played an extended medley during their early 1969 shows that featured "Fresh Garbage" among other songs. Jimmy Page's use of a theremin could also be attributed to his seeing Randy California use one which he had mounted to his amplifier.
After this success, the group was asked by French director Jacques Demy to record the soundtrack to his film Model Shop. They also made a brief appearance in the film, but it was a commercial failure (and the only English-language film that Demy would make). The mood that the group conjured while working on the soundtrack would inform the sound of much of their next album, Clear. Released in 1969, it didn't perform as well on the charts without a hit single, only making it to #55. They were offered the spot right before Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, but they turned it down and went on a promotional tour. (While this might seem like a terrible idea to most people, it should be pointed out that Woodstock wasn't considered a very big deal until after the fact, and many extremely popular musicians such as The Doors turned down slots. It also needs to be pointed out that performing at Woodstock was no guarantee for greater exposure.)
[edit] "1984" and the Sardonicus era
Pressures within the group were starting to escalate by the time. With their commercial momentum slipping after the release of Clear, Randy was called upon again to give the group a hit single. With the group producing the record on their own, they recorded a song Randy had written called "1984". Though the title echoed the George Orwell book of the same name, Randy was also influenced by the political and law-enforcement situations surrounding the country and Los Angeles. Though it was quite a political song, it was one of Randy's finest, and it boasted an excellent production job (and was one of the most ferocious things that Spirit would ever record). And it looked at first like it would be the group's biggest hit yet. Soon after being released, it raced up the charts to #69. However, it stalled and immediately dropped off the charts.
In retrospect, nobody is completely sure why the single had such a brief chart life, but there are several possibilities. It is no secret that Lou Adler's alliance with Epic was uneasy at best, and at the time that the single was released, Adler's distribution deal with Epic came to an end. He had been eager to move distribution of the label to A&M, which he did as soon as the deal with Epic ended, which might have killed the commercial availability of the single (though Adler ended up giving Spirit's contract to Epic in the process). It has also been said that there was a tip sheet distributed to radio regarding the single, suggesting that it had too many political ideas and shouldn't be played. Whatever the cause, however, the end result was that a great single was lost (though it would finally see general release on The Best Of Spirit in 1973). Spirit's troubles, however, were really just beginning.
In 1970, Spirit started working on what is widely considered to be their best LP, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, which was produced by Neil Young's long-time producer David Briggs (in fact, it was one of the few jobs that he didn't do for Young after 1968). Though it was a prolific time for the group's writers, particularly Randy, to say that the sessions were troubled would be an understatement. Not long after starting work on the album, Randy fell off of a horse in Topanga Canyon, fracturing his skull in the process. He was unable to work for several weeks (during which time Epic released an early mix of "Animal Zoo" as a single, which only made it to #97 on the charts), and when he returned to the studio with the group, he started displaying erratic behavior. There was significant creative tension between Randy and Jay, and Jay and Mark started considering leaving the group. The sessions went on for over six months before they finally finished working on the album. The group was on bad enough terms by the end that the album was mostly mixed by Briggs and Randy.
The album was finally released in late 1970. Everybody involved felt that they had created a great album and hoped that it would bring them the wide-spread success that had mostly eluded them. However, it was met (at the time) with a cool commercial response, only getting to #63 in the national charts, and was also met with critical indifference.
Time, however, would be particularly kind to the album, and it is now regarded by many as one of the finest rock albums ever made. Not unlike The Who's Tommy and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", it is regarded as a masterpiece of art-rock, with a tapestry of literary themes about the fragility of life and the complexity of the human experience; this is best illustrated by recurring lyric "life has just begun." However, the album is also appreciated for its songwriting quality and performances. Its inventive production and effective integration of the Moog synthesizer belied nearly every group in rock who tried using the instrument (aside from perhaps The Doors, who used a Moog on Strange Days, and were the first rock band to do so).
[edit] 1971-1973
The problems that existed during the Sardonicus sessions came to a head after the album's completion. The group undertook a promotional tour to support the album, but with the band coming apart at the seams on most ends, the album's failure to become a huge hit caused Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes to leave the group, forming Jo Jo Gunne. The later incarnations of the group would never sound quite the same.
Bass player John Arliss initially took Andes' place, and California was still in the line-up, but he soon left the group and attempted a solo career. Eventually, two brothers named Al and John Staehely joined the band, and with Cassidy and Locke, recorded the 1972 album Feedback. It was a different turn for the group, showing more of a country-rock influence pervading their jazzier tendencies, but it also met with a mild commercial response, reaching #63 in the charts (the same position, ironically, that Sardonicus reached). The tour for Feedback eventually found both Ed and John leaving the lineup, with the Staehely brothers recruiting other musicians to fill their roles. The brothers would release their own album, Sta-Hay-Lee, in 1973.
California, meanwhile, had recorded and issued his first solo album, Kapt Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds, in late 1972. Despite appearances by Noel Redding and Ed Cassidy and its hard rock sound, the album was a commercial failure. After launching a brief tour to support the album, a follow-up album was recorded with Ed, entitled The Adventures Of Kaptain Kopter And Commander Cassidy In Potato Land. Though John Locke made a guest appearance, it wasn't intended as a Spirit album at the time. Epic, however, rejected the completed album, and Randy suffered a nervous breakdown, moving to Molokai, Hawaii.
Epic, however, decided to re-issue the group's first and third, and second and fifth, albums as two-fers in 1973, in response to Sardonicus continuing to sell well, despite being off of the charts. They also issued a compilation, The Best Of Spirit, that year, as well as releasing the Sardonicus track "Mr. Skin" as a single. Surprisingly, "Mr. Skin" became a minor hit, and one of the two-fers hit the charts (along with The Best Of Spirit), and there was suddenly demand for the group. Ed decided to capitalize on this and put together an entirely new group for touring purposes (commonly known by fans as the "copycat band"), which lasted throughout the year.
[edit] The Mercury years (1974-1979)
While on his retreat from the music business, Randy spent some time working as a gardener for a family. He eventually received another guitar, and he started writing music again. Much of the writing that he did while on Molokai, and for several years afterwards, shows a heavy influence from slack key guitar tunings, as well as Hawaiian and Acoustic-based music.
After the touring with the "copycat band" had ended, Ed made it a point to find Randy and re-establish contact. He eventually persuaded Randy to return to the mainland and give the band another shot. Mark Andes worked with the duo for a while, but never intended to stay, as he was in the process of working with the group Firefall at the same time. Sound engineer/bassist Barry Keene, who had been a personal sound engineer for Frank Zappa, joined the band as its bass player.
In early 1975, the group was supposed to be the opening act for Ten Years After at a show in Florida, but when the band backed out at the last minute, Randy was granted permission to take over the theatre for the evening. After going around to local radio stations to promote the show and setting a low ($3) ticket price, Spirit managed to sell out the 3,000 seat theatre. Using the profits from the show, they blocked out as much time as they could at a Tampa studio, "Studio 70".
After recording a huge amount of material at the studio, their manager at the time, Marshall Berle (the nephew of Milton Berle), offered the material to Mercury Records. On the basis of the material, the group was offered a contract, and a double-album entitled Spirit of '76 was culled from the material and released in May, 1975. Though the album did garner a bit of FM airplay, it was not a hit, peaking at #147 on the charts. They quickly followed it up with Son of Spirit, released in October of that year and featuring many songs taken from the same sessions, but it failed to chart.
For the tour in support of Son of Spirit, John Locke re-joined the group. Eventually, Mark Andes returned to the line-up as well, and though Jay Ferguson declined to participate in the group reunion at first, the Ferguson-less band (with the addition of Mark's brother Matt Andes as a second guitarist), the group recorded an album entitled Farther Along.
The album returned the group to the US charts one last time, peaking at #179 in the charts. For a few shows at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Jay Ferguson re-joined the group. Disaster struck, however, when an inebriated Neil Young came onto stage to join the band during the final show's encore of "Like A Rolling Stone". Sporting a new haircut, Randy didn't recognize him, and thinking that he was just an obnoxious fan, Randy pushed him away from his microphone. Jay and John, however, did recognize him, and thinking that Randy's ego was flaring, promptly walked off stage. Ed initially quelled the situation by leaving his kit and joining both Randy and Neil at the microphone to close out the song, but the damage had already been done, and the reunion ended that night.
Undaunted, Randy assembled what was basically a solo album as a Spirit album under the name Future Games: A Magical Kahuana Dream. To say that it was uncommercial would be putting it mildly, and Mercury was less than pleased with the album. They released it in early 1977, but it received no promotion, and it ended what little bit of commercial momentum the group might have regained. It also (initially) ended their contract with Mercury.
The group, now down to a trio with new bassist Larry "Fuzzy" Knight, did extensive touring throughout 1978, recorded a live album which was released (in slightly different configurations) in several different countries by different independent labels. It was not a commercial success, and following the touring, Randy left the group again.
[edit] The 1980s and Beyond
After Spirit's demise, Randy put together another group with the intent of re-starting his solo career. This was short-lived, and while in England, a fan presented him with a petition of 5,000 signatures, requesting the release of the Potato Land album from 1973. In 1981, Randy put out a half-hearted version of the album, featuring only part of the original album (and what was there featured overdubbing done after the fact) with the addition of a few unrelated songs that were recorded in the late 70s. It was released in the US by Rhino Records (being one of the first albums that they released) and in England by Beggars Banquet Records, where it actually reached #40 in the charts (the only time they would chart in England), possibly due to the album being played by BBC Radio in the mid-70s.
Randy, however, spent most of the 80s focusing upon his solo career. His second solo album, Euro-American, was released in 1982 by Beggar's Banquet, but it was not commercially successful. He would release two more solo albums during the decade.
In December of 1982, the original Spirit line-up reformed and recorded several songs from their first four albums (as well as a few new tracks) live on a soundstage. Though the album was initially recorded for an audiophile label, Mercury Records re-signed the band (and gave Randy a solo deal) and released the album in 1984. Despite the fact that all five original members were present, it was a commercial failure, and the group soon disbanded.
Randy headed to England and recorded his third solo album, Restless, in 1985. Despite its attempt to sound like a (then) contemporary hard rock album, it was a complete commercial disaster, and Randy didn't have the name recognition to support the group by touring under his own name. Following a few live dates, the group disbanded, and Randy returned to the states.
However, there was one more solo album from Randy, a hodge-podge of material entitled Shattered Dreams that was released in 1986. Returning to the US, Randy re-joined the band, and after securing a deal with IRS Records, John Locke re-joined the band. They recorded an album in 1988 entitled Rapture in the Chambers, but it failed to return them to the charts. After a second album was rejected, they formed their own independent company.
Initially called Dolphin Records (later known as W.E.R.C. C.R.E.W.), the group self-released Tent Of Miracles in 1990 and set off on almost continually working for the next six years. Though they would release very few albums of new material during the decade, the group was always either recording (Randy had his own home recording studio since the early 1980s, though he had been making home recordings for years prior to that) or touring (often recording their live shows as well). Unfortunately, this renewed vigor came to an end on January 3rd, 1997, when Randy drowned off the coast of Hawaii. He had been surfing with his son, who ended up getting caught in a riptide. He managed to push his son to safety, but ended up losing his own life.
Though Ed Cassidy did play a few dates with some former Spirit alumni under the name "Spirit Revisited" in 1998, Randy's death was effectively the end of the group.
John Locke died from complications due to lymphoma on August 4, 2006 (the date is sometimes given as August 9).
[edit] Posthumous
Randy's tragic passing, however, did not mark the end of the emergence of Spirit material. Starting in 2000, there have been five collections of previously unreleased studio and live material, four of which were two-CD sets. Randy had also prepared an anthology of material from the group's first stint with Mercury Records before he passed, entitled The Mercury Years. The two-CD set was released in early 1997, though it raised the ire of some fans who didn't care for the fact that some of the material had been re-edited or featured overdubbing that wasn't present on the original releases.
Likewise, nearly all of Spirit's original albums are currently in print in CD, thanks to the efforts of Sony (with the Epic catalog, though Collector's Choice Music was the first to reissue Feedback on CD in the U.S., following a brief release on disc in France in the late 1990s) and Beat Goes On alongside Edsel, both UK labels (with the Mercury catalog, some of which had made it to CD prior to Beat Goes On and Edsel reissuing all of their Mercury albums). Their later independent albums are available through the group's website. The one album that is unavailable at this time is Rapture In The Chambers, which hasn't been reissued since the original release, though it was released on CD at that time and can be found through second-hand retailers.
Spirit has also found its work sampled by modern artists several times. The most notable of these was the "Extra P. Remix" of the song "Resurrection" by Common (which samples "Ice" from Clear) and "Feel Good Time" by Pink (which samples "Fresh Garbage" from Spirit).
[edit] Band members
[edit] Original lineup
- Randy California (guitar, vocals)
- Ed Cassidy (drums)
- John Locke (keyboards)
- Mark Andes (bass)
- Jay Ferguson (vocals, percussion)
[edit] Later members
Following Sardonicus, many musicians passed through the group's ranks. Most of them didn't make a huge contribution to the group's sound, but some did. The most important group members following the original members include Larry "Fuzzy" Knight, Mike Nile, Matt Andes, Dave Waterbury and Scott Monahan.
- Bob Arkin (bass)
- John Arliss (bass)
- Al Staehely (bass, vocals)
- John Staehely (guitar, vocals)
- John Fine (bass)
- Larry "Fuzzy" Knight (bass, vocals)
- Cozy Powell (drums)
- Stu Perry (drums)
- Scott Shelley (guitar, vocals)
- Donnie Dacus (guitar, vocals)
- Steve Olitzky (keyboards)
- Steve Ewards (guitar, vocals)
- George Valuck (keyboards)
- Steve Loria (bass, vocals)
- Scott Monahan (keyboards, vocals)
- Dave Waterbury (bass, vocals)
- Mike Lewis (keyboards, vocals)
- Walter Egan (bass, vocals)
- Andrea Carol (percussion)
- Matt Andes (guitar, vocals)
- Mike Nile (bass, vocals)
- Gary Bloom (keyboards, vocals)
- Tommy Beaumont (keyboards, vocals)
[edit] Albums
- Spirit (1968)
- The Family That Plays Together (1968)
- Model Shop (Soundtrack for a Jacques Demy film, recorded in 1968 and issued in 2005)
- Clear (1969)
- Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)
- Feedback (1972; Ed Cassidy, John Locke, Al Staehely, John Staehely)
- The Best Of Spirit (1973)
- Spirit of '76 (1975; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Barry Keene)
- Son of Spirit (1975; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Barry Keene)
- Farther Along (1976; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Mark Andes, John Locke, Matt Andes, Steve Larrence, Robert Lee, Michael Temple, Ian Underwood, Ernie Watts)
- Future Games (1977; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Terry Anderson)
- Made in Germany (1978; live; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Larry Knight)
- The Adventures of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy in Potato Land (1981; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, John Locke, George Valuck, Mike Bunnell, Joe Green, Jeff Jarvis, Michael Lee, Robert Lee, Kari Nile, Chuck Snyder, Mike Thornburgh)
- The Thirteenth Dream/Spirit of '84 (1984; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Mark Andes, Jay Ferguson, John Locke, Matt Andes, Jeff Baxter, Neal Doughty, Bruce Gary, Alan Gratzer, Jerry Jumonville, Keith Knudsen, Joe Lala, Bobby LaKind, Howard Lesse, Gary Myrik, Curly Smith, Bob Welch)
- Live At Harpos (1986; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Dave Waterbury, Scott Monahan)
- Rapture in the Chambers (1988; Randy California, Mark Andes, Ed Cassidy, John Locke, Curly Smith, Janet Wolfe)
- Tent of Miracles (1990; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Mike Nile)
- Time Circle, 1968-1972 (1991); compilation with previously unreleased tracks; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Jay Ferguson, Mark Andes, John Locke)
- Chronicles, 1967-1992; compilation with previously unreleased tracks; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Jay Ferguson, Mark Andes, John Locke)
- Live at la Paloma (1995; live; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, John Locke, Larry Knight, Steve Loria, Scott Monahan)
- California Blues (1996; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, John Locke)
- The Mercury Years (1997)
- Cosmic Smile (2000; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Scott Monahan, Matt Andes; 1st posthumous release)
- Sea Dream (2002; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Scott Monahan; 2-CDs)
- Blues From the Soul (2003; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Steve Lauria, Matt Andes, Rachel Andes, Scott Monahan; 2-CDs)
- Live From the Time Coast (2004; Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Mike Nile; 2-CDs)
- Son of America (2005); Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Scott Monahan; 2-CD's)
- The original Potato Land (2006; Randy California, Ed Cassidy & others; reconstruction of the rejected original version of 1972)
