Based out of LA, Spirit were a psychedelic band of the 60s, 70s and 80s, with a modestly sized but very enthusiastic international following. Their name came from a book popular in the late 60s: ‘Spirits Rebellious’ by New York-based Lebanese poet Kahlil Gilbran. (A good book but with Gilbran, start with his utterly beautiful masterpiece, ‘The Prophet’.) For a few weeks, they were indeed Spirits Rebellious – such a great name - then shortened their name simply to Spirit.
Their lead guitarist, Randy California - real name, Randolph Wolfe - received his stage name from a young Jimi Hendrix. That’s already a pretty big claim to fame. The 15-year old guitar prodigy Wolfe, born in LA, played in Hendrix’s band - James and the Blue Flames - before Hendrix left NYC for London. There was another Randy in the band, so Hendrix chose a name to distinguish which Randy had arrived from California.
Spirit’s drummer - Ed Cassidy - was California‘s stepdad. This is the only father-son relationship I’ve heard of in a significant rock band. Cassidy, also known as Mr. Skin due to his completely shaved head, had previously played with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. His drumming style was jazzy/spontaneous and showed great feel for the music. His drum kit setup was unique, with two huge angled toms on stands either side of the kit.
Cassidy and California were to become the longest serving members of Spirit. They were joined by three friends who’d met each other at university, UCLA. On keyboards was John Locke, who later joined Scottish hard rock outfit Nazareth. A key part of the songwriting team, Locke was a highly talented musician, as was Spirit’s bassist Mark Andes. Completing the five-piece Spirit with cool looks, vocals and moves, was singer and songwriter Jay Ferguson.
Their debut album, the eponymously titled ‘Spirit’, did well in the charts, hitting no. 31 in the US Billboard in 1968. It contains excellent, innovative songs such as ‘Fresh Garbage’ and ‘Elijah’. Touring the album in the US, Spirit were supported by the newly formed Led Zeppelin. After opening the show, Zeppelin would join the audience to watch the main act. Years later, Zeppelin were sued for - it was alleged - lifting a chord sequence from Spirit’s song ‘Taurus’ (from the first album) and placing it into ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Listen out for it yourself. There is a passing similarity for a couple of seconds… but the judge didn’t hear it this way, and in court Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were able to successfully defend the song that is so much a part of who Zeppelin are.
Back to the late 60s: At this point, Spirit were living together in a West Coast commune with friends and a cat, in a house overlooking the Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica hills. This time is captured in their dreamy song ‘Topanga Window’, from their first album. Spirit scored a hit single with the catchy ‘I Got a Line on You’, taken from their second album. The single reached no. 25 in the US charts, their only Top 30 hit. Their album - The Family That Plays Together - did even better, peaking at 22 in the US. Personally I prefer their first album, although many fans like the second.
The album’s title expresses how the group saw itself: a family, living as a small commune (part of the West Coast late 60s zeitgeist), which happened to play as a band. But as in many families, there was friction between the members. Reading between the lines, this was probably about personality, power and ego. Randy California, the baby of the group, had joined Spirit in 1967 at the age of just 17. At this point songwriting was mainly handled by the others, and vocal duties went to Jay Ferguson. California rapidly found his stride, established his presence, wrote more, was often the singer and frontman: witness the video of I Got a Line on You, where he is looning with a fishing rod on a steam train, while the rest of the band are nowhere in sight. California’s dynamism and desire to take centre stage must have grated on Ferguson, Andes and Locke, while I guess Cassidy was a little more indulgent towards his stepson. From: https://www.reddit.com/r/psychedelicrock/comments/pdt43z/spirit_a_journey_through_a_psychedelic_band_short/
