Kapt. Kopter & The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds [Import]

Randy California | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 30, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Acadia Records
• ASIN: B0018BF186
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,514 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1972 solo album from the legendary guitarist and leader of Spirit including three bonus tracks. Recorded after the guitarist had departed his legendary West Coast outfit, Spirit, after the album Twelve Dreams Of Doctor Sardonicus , the album would be California s first solo venture and soon became a Psychedelic Rock classic. Among his own compositions, California recorded imaginative cover versions of material by other artists such as The Beatles and Paul Simon. Joined by Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy and bass player Larry Fuzzy Knight, this trio would soon take on the Spirit moniker. The three bonus tracks include both sides of a rare promotional single and the instrumental track 'Rebel'. Esoteric. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fine acid rock souvenir from the early '70s, December 3, 1999

By 

The Sanity Inspector (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kapt. Kopter & The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds (Audio CD)

If you're here, then you know. Just pull out your credit card while you read this. First, the Jimi thing. Randy California may have influenced him, rather than vice versa. In "Jimi Hendrix Electric Gypsy", we read about how a young California runaway played in a band with Hendrix for a little while. His name was Randy Wolfe. Since there were two Randy's in the band, Jimi called them Randy Texas and Randy California. The latter went on to form Spirit with Ed Cassidy. Shortly after Jimi's death, Randy C. turned solo, letting his guitar playing burn more than it had in the jazzier Spirit. His first solo album, "Kaptain Kopter and the Fabulous Twirly Birds", is as devout a testament to Hendrix's music as has ever been waxed. Mind you, it isn't a _great_ album. Randy never did get very good at being a front-man. And the crew obviously toked up and decided to fiddle with every dial on the mixing board, not always to enjoyable effect. In fact, much of the album sounds like it's being played through blown tweeters--the joke being that they'll save us the trouble, I suppose. But check out his cover of "Day Tripper." It is very much in the same vein as the Jimi version on the Radio One cd. "Devil" is an affecting acid ballad, I guess you'd call it. "Downer" is a cacophany of guitar noise--heavy, man! "Things Yet To Come" is a long, simple tone poem for bass line and wah-wah, very early 70's, very groovy, very hard to get out of your head. And he hits an opposite field upper deck home run with another Beatles cover, "Rain". It starts off with a silly country-rock riff which gets progressively more manic. This collapses into a hideous laugh, and the song gets in gear, in earnest. California overdubs himself VERY druggy lead, and letting fly with some jimi-ish glissandi, screeching and swooping over the song. This is the song that the Rolling Stone reviewer was probably thinking of when he called the album a "mega-watt garage bomb." To make the Hendrix tribute more obvious, Randy brought in Noel Redding to play bass, under the name "Clit McTorius." One listen to this and you'll immediately catch velvet pants, fringed leathers, American flag headband, the whole trippy works. The cd has kind of a half-baked feel to it, but the well-done parts are well done indeed. Any chance to buy this out of print cd is to be seized immediately.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Early Randy California material, June 5, 2003

By 

Tommy "xplodit" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kapt. Kopter & The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds (Audio CD)

This album was released during Randy Caliornia's Spirit years. It also features one of the greatest overlooked drummers of all time, Ed Cassidy. This is an experimental jam project that turned out beautifully. Not only does it have the uniqueness that charactrizes Spirit, but it throws in a new energy an artful creativeness that wasn't missing in Spirit but is rearranged to create a new beautifull masterpiece. You can hear Randy's early Jimi James influences in some songs along with his and Cassidy's incredible stylistic creativity. There are also some great cover songs on this album. You must own or hear this album if you like Spirit, Jimi Hendrix, or simply enjoy great classic rock.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Raw Studio Homage to Hendrix, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kapt. Kopter & The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds (Audio CD)

Kaptain Kopter and the Twirlybirds is a tribute to Hendrix; on KK&T Randy California not only manages to layer the Hendrix style over covers, "Day Tripper" and "The Mother and Child Reunion" and originals "Downer" and "Devil", he does it effortlessly. Instead of simply imitating Jimi's sound, he plays it as if he knows exactly what he's doing, instead of guessing at producing riffs here and there. The music is at times rough, other times fluid, and sometmes blistering; it can be listened to repeatedly for nuance, power and melody. The cover of "The Rain", a Beatles tune, slips into fusion, not long after, or during the advent of the hybrid of rock and jazz made its advent. Legend has it that Hendrix took California into the studio once and taught Randy things about treble, volume and wah-wah that Jimi showed no other. Makes sense if you listen to it. The album is more than an oddity, it is a required delicacy in the collection of any serious rock music fan, now and forever.