Customer Reviews

Spirit

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As soon as I hear the "yeah" cried out in the distance, just before the first notes hit, I am lit. What a magically engrossing affair this is. Spirit was certainly a very special band from a very interesting time in rock history. The group's albums are a compelling blend of psychedelic rock and jazz, and I find their adventurous allure a constant delight.

The infectious beat of "Fresh Garbage" is in 4/4, but because of where the accents are placed, it sounds like five, seven or maybe nine. The piano break is a jazzy 6/8. Drummer Ed Cassidy completely understood jazz and rock. This is why the transitions between the rock rhythms and the jazz rhythms are seamless and utterly convincing. Much of his drumming on the album suggests far more than he's actually playing, while his perfect choices time and again yield the perfect complement to the music. Listen closely to what he plays on "Straight Arrow"; always interesting, always brilliant. Randy California's guitar work is magnificent throughout. Oh, the sound he gets on his solo in "Mechanical World"--what an incredibly delicious tone! And, the guitar harmonies at the end of "Gramophone Man" are simply divine.

Most of the tunes were written by Jay Ferguson, and are fantastic vehicles for the band to show off their unique style. "Girl In Your Eye" floats along beautifully, with sitar shadowing the melody. Listen closely to the guitar line in "Taurus" and you'll hear where the main line during the verse in Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" came from. (Jimmy has been known to lift a line or two.) On the jazzy "Elijah," the final original-album cut, we hear something intriguing: even when the band goes to straight improvisation, they don't lose their musical identity; they still sound like Spirit. Three of the four bonus tracks are not just alternate takes, but interesting tunes that didn't make the original album.

Do you love psychedelia, the 60s, great and imaginative music? Get this. These guys won't disappoint. (The delightful and informative liner notes were written by Randy California in 1996.)

Cheers,
Murray

From the first few moodily incisive notes of 'Fresh Garbage', you can tell you're hearing something very special, not to mention original. It and 'Mechanical World' (deep, slow and dark), link to the way our psyches were enmeshed in the reality of the Vietnam War, without mentioning it as such. There are beautifully judicious string arrangements flowing in and out of 'MW' to soften the tone somewhat . . . for in this their earliest period, Spirit was all about healing.
'Uncle Jack' is like [the Who] without the rough edges.
'Taurus' is gorgeous NewAge instrumental music (slowly-evolving acoustic guitar solo with string section) way before the genre came of age, and better than much that came after it (SewAge).
'Girl in Your Eye' is a gorgeous love song in [again, slowly-evolving] raga rock, with sitar and flutes playing at the heart, and at the edges of time, respectively.
All these songs stand solidly on their own, as do the next five, each rating at 5 stars.
Lastly, Elijah is their free-flowing jazz improv number, where each band member gets to stretch out and take an extended solo. The last four tracks are bonus tracks added for the CD release.
On the original 11 songs, the writing is of the highest quality, as is the playing. The band is very tight-plus each piece varies in style and tone.
Note: the young Randy California probably played fuzz-tone lead guitar in a more subtle way than anyone; his double-stop solos in the minor (etc.) mode are unbelievable. His stepfather (the one with the shaved head) was the drummer, he brought his well-traveled jazz sensibilities to the group's efforts. Electric piano and bass round out their usual instrumentation, all played tastefully and with relaxed energy.

There's something about this album. I can't quite place why I have such a strong attachment to it. I've been listening to it, on and off, for 30 years. There's something about the time, the place, the spirit. The Vietnam War. Topanga Canyon. Whenever I listen to "Mechanical World" and then "Taurus", immediately after, I feel a little melancholy. The Vietnam War comes to mind along with wasted youth. Then I listen to "Topanga Windows" and the "Great Canyon Fire" and images of California and what a special place and time it was in the late 60s, before Charles Manson. And then, there's the music, itself, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Psychodelic all mixed together in a very pleasing way. Randy California's great guitar! The mature jazzy drums are alot more present in these newer releases. Like many of these classic albums, they are one of a kind. It was a certain time, a certain place, and a certain group of artists. It was short lived and can't be repeated. Thank goodness it was recorded for all to appreciate for years to come.

The first time I saw Spirit was in the Autumn of 1967 in a dance-concert along with Moby Grape and Country Joe & The Fish (and plenty of light show stuff: twenty foot amoebas pulsing on the wall). It was a nice experience. And Spirit, well, Spirit was special. The crowd really connected with them. This was well before those times when everybody, literally everybody, gets a rousing ovation. (You know, some rock musician farts these days and he gets an ovation because somehow the audience doesn't feel complete unless it gives it's predictable ovation.
Whatever.)

Spirit was jazz and psychedelic. Most of the music played that night came from this first album, released about the same time.

I loved this album. Randy California played that smooth-toned fuzz with a Telecaster channeled through a stack of Super Reverbs, to make it smoother and more melodic than anyone I had heard. And he really seemed to have fun playing the concert. A very upbeat guy at the time, he smiled alot; enjoyed his relationship with the audience. He had the look of a real love for playing his guitar. And I don't want to short change his fellow band members on keyboard, bass, drums and vocals.

The songs were dreamy at times...and I thought the lyrics often very witty....like Fresh Garbage and Uncle Jack.

I'm a sucker for first albums of most groups. They seem to have a quality of 'trying hard' to find their signature and are a bit more humble in the struggle. I liked this first album of Spirit the most and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to know about some really, really good stuff coming out of the West Coast at that time. I'm just very fond of this particular era. I saw alot of great bands from San Francisco (and L.A.) during that time. And Spirit was one of the most pleasant, talented, interesting styles of music I remember from the period.

A big, heartfelt "YES!" to anyone wishing to acquire this recording: period collectors and music lovers alike.

This is the album that started it all for Spirit. This band had the distinction of having band members that spanned two generations (in an era where the older generation usually yelled at their kids to turn off that noise, like a Beatles album), the youngest being guitarist Randy California, who was just 16 when this debut album came out, and Ed Cassidy, his stepdad, who was around 20 years older than the rest of the band. Some bands might need to take a couple albums to get things right, for example Jefferson Airplane, starting with Takes Off, which was the sound of the band in search of a sound, but everyone knows that group didn't really take off until their second album, Surrealistic Pillow (by which then they acquired Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden). And of course you can think of many prog rock bands in the early '70s that took two or three albums for them to take off (like Yes or Genesis). But Spirit got it right the first time. The album starts off with the wonderful "Fresh Garbage". I especially like John Locke's use of electric piano. If you didn't know, from listening to "Uncle Jack" you might get fooled for a British band. All the British elements are there, even that whimsical style. I am reminded a bit of the Beatles here, maybe the Who. Perhaps the most British sounding song I ever heard from a West Coast psych band! "Mechanical World" is a less accessible song, but I really like the orchestrated passages. The instrumental piece, "Taurus", written by Randy California is also orchestrated. But then there's that familiar acoustic guitar intro. Sounds familiar? Led Zeppelin borrowed it for their own epic classic "Stairway to Heaven" (it's my understanding Zeppelin toured with Spirit in December 1968, before Zeppelin had any albums out, so that might be the reason of Zeppelin borrowing from "Taurus"). "Girl In Your Eye" is definately a period psych piece, complete with sitar, it's the only Spirit song I know to use one. Another great song is "Topanga Windows". "Gramaphone Man" is a rather jazzy number, while "Water Woman" is a short psychedelic number. "The Great Canyon Fire in General" is another great psychedelic piece, with lyrics in regards to a fire that happened in Topanga Canyon (an area in L.A. where the band resided). The instrumental "Elijah" is without a doubt the least accessible piece on the album. There's a strong jazzy feel, and one can't help but be reminded of Soft Machine. It's no doubt that John Locke was the guy responsible for this piece. There's parts where Mark Christopher-Andes goes overboard on his bass, but it seems like this piece tries to show what each band member was made of, even Ed Cassidy giving a drum solo.

This out of the way: I wasn't alive in the 1960s to experience it, but I have heard lots of music from this era thanks to the FM radio dial, and occasionally from my parents collection from ages ago. Of course, like many of you, I was aware of Spirit through "I Got a Line On You", which was on their following album, The Family That Plays Together. While Spirit's debut didn't feature the big hit like "I Got a Line On You", it's still a truly wonderful album to have.

Flat out, the song 'Tarus' IS stairway to Heaven. Zepp opened for Spiit wayyyy back in the day and as they gained popularity and Spirit faded, they went ahead a ripped off was it arguabley their most popular song.


Jimmy... Robert.... all of Led Zeppelin, you have lost MAJOR cool points with me and many others who are catching on to this robbery. Not cool Led, not cool.

I saw this album staring at me every time I went into a certain record store in a small mall near where I lived in 1968. Something about the five part photo-montage of the groups members intrigued me. No one did any trick photography/art on their album covers between 1966 and 1990 unless the group had something to offer that was exceptional. This happened with Angel's "Helluva Band" album, "Revolver" and "We're Only In It For The Money" and "Absolutely Free" and many, many other albums. While this wasn't as trick as THOSE boys, something told me to take a chance on it.

A very pleasant surprise! The first cut, "Fresh Garbage", is immediately likeable for its great bass and guitar work, drums and keyboards, and is probably the very first ecologically oriented tune after the Doors' "When The Music's Over" to appear on the scene back then. The next song, "Uncle Jack", is VERY heavy with drums, cymbals and fuzz guitar, with a delicate little keyboard accompaniment to offset it. Great arrangement! The next one, "Mechanical World", is the kind of song you'd expect to hear on the soundtrack of a short film decrying the soullessness of a technological/organization-man type society. It also is drum heavy, with a little orchestral punctuation, but quiet, reflective and it makes a major attempt to be profound, and succeeds on a rote basis.

Special mention must be made of "Taurus", which is a gorgeous song that's been used for more than one movie/tv show/whatever to make a scene seem haunting and otherworldly. I remember the late Juliet Prowse dancing to this on what might have been the Kraft Music Hall back in the late sixties. The woman had damned good taste! Also good are "Girl In Your Eye", which will relax the bejeebers out of you, and "Straight Arrow", the comedy relief cut.

The arrangements on all the songs on this album are absolutely faultless, with a major jazz influence, especially on the keyboards, and I remember one reviewer, (it might have been Robert Christgau,) stating that the first Traffic album, "Mr. Fantasy", and this one were somewhat similar. DON'T YOU BELIEVE HIM! Spirit sounded like NOBODY else, and back when all boomers were going through their Angry Young Man and Kim Darby stages, this was the kind of album we could have played for our folks and gotten their full approval, with the knowledge that what we were listening to wasn't garbage.

The sixties, seventies and eighties....the years they made music. What in the heck is coming out of the speakers now, primal screams??

Spirit had been one of my top 3 favorite bands (Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, and Spirit!) back in the 60s. I had this album nearly the first week it had come out, and played it often and loved it dearly. My record collection was sold many years ago, and SO happy to find this re-issue on CD. And very nice liner notes and photos!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Listening to this music after a hiatus of a couple of decades, I am surprised how much of this record was familiar to me from ye olde "underground" FM radio. It's hard to believe that a meandering yet curiously static jazz jam like "Elijah" was ever on a radio playlist, yet it does stir memories of a time when this sort of indulgent experimentalism was accepted for the late night hour. And I can say that stripped of the nostalgia for that era, Spirit's overt jazz was pretty darn mediocre. But the pop/rock songs on this album, even the ones that include jazzy breaks or elements, make this CD more than a worthy purchase. "Fresh Garbage," "Uncle Jack," "Mechanical World," "Topanga Windows," and "Girl in Your Eye" all showcase a quirky melodic and rhythmic sensibility that is unique to Spirit, and I feel the album is worth owning just to have these wonderful tunes to hear--there just isn't any other artist that I know of who has done this kind of stuff. Some of the other songs are noble but seriously flawed experiments (especially "Mr. Gramaphone Man" with its poorly conceived tempo changes and bad jazz), but I find "Straight Arrow" delightfully charming, "Water Woman" somewhat less so. Often the music is held back (as on Spirit's two subsequent albums) by Lou Adler's dated and limited production skills--overused samey plate reverbs, and an apparent allergy to compressor/limiters that was typical of 60's American record production. (Compare to the Beatles' records of the time for clarification.) It is noteworthy that the bonus tracks included on this CD, although merely OK musically, SOUND better than many of the other tracks because of their modern mixes. I wonder what the first three Spirit albums would have sounded like if they had worked with David Briggs (producer of the magnificent Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus) instead of Adler. All that aside, this CD is the only place you're going to find these wonderful tunes from this lovable and imaginative band, unless you buy the two-CD compilation.

this is a band with a unique sound.Many bands in the 70s had a unique sound.They were underplayed at the time and are[were?]definitely underated.A mellow calif./mex. sound ,great vocals as well as unique guitar riffs.