Spirit

Spirit placed eleven albums on U.S. charts from 1968 through 1977, earning critical esteem while enjoying only limited commercial reach. Assembled in Los Angeles during 1967, the ensemble brought together players whose backgrounds encompassed rock, pop, folk, blues, classical, and jazz and whose ages stretched from sixteen to forty-four. Their resulting sound matched the exploratory spirit of early progressive rock, moving without strain among fingerpicked acoustic folk ballads, jazz instrumentals rich in spontaneous invention, and forceful acid-rock numbers built around electric guitar.

The five founding members’ wide-ranging preferences created a hybrid approach that won a devoted but narrow following, one too diffuse to achieve widespread popularity. At the same time their recognized abilities opened other doors that dissolved the original lineup after four years and four albums, then prevented any later reunion from becoming a full-time commitment even as later audiences began to appreciate the music. Although singer-guitarist Randy California and drummer Ed Cassidy kept the Spirit name alive, the remaining musicians joined and left according to their own schedules, so the band never realized its initial potential. Still, as a platform for California’s songwriting and guitar work, it kept issuing worthwhile recordings until his death.

Randolph Craig Wolfe, later known professionally as Randy California, entered the world on February 20, 1951, in Los Angeles. His mother, Bernice Pearl, was the sister of Ash Grove owner Ed Pearl; the Hollywood club’s folk, blues, and jazz performers shaped the boy’s ear from an early age, and he began playing guitar as a child. In early 1965 the folk-blues outfit Rising Sons, whose members included Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, performed at the Ash Grove; its drummer, Ed Cassidy (born May 4, 1923, in Chicago, Illinois; died December 6, 2012, in San Jose, California), met and soon married California’s recently divorced mother, becoming his stepfather. Cassidy had worked professionally since his teens in nearly every musical idiom, most recently jazz groups, before joining Rising Sons; he departed after injuring his wrist during a solo.

Around the same period California encountered two aspiring San Fernando Valley musicians—singer-percussionist Jay Ferguson (born John Arden Ferguson, February 5, 1947, in Burbank, California) and bassist Mark Andes (born February 19, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)—at a folk-music camp. In September 1965 the three, together with Cassidy and a second guitarist, formed the Red Roosters, a group that played the Ash Grove.

The Red Roosters disbanded when Cassidy relocated his family to New York in search of employment during spring 1966. While there, California experienced a pivotal meeting in a Manhattan music store with an as-yet-unknown guitarist performing under the name Jimmy James. That musician, Jimi Hendrix, invited the teenager to join Jimmy James & the Blue Flames at the Café Wha? in Greenwich Village. Because another Randy already belonged to the band, Hendrix distinguished the two guitarists by their home states, dubbing Randy Palmer “Randy Texas” and Randy Wolfe “Randy California,” the latter name that Wolfe retained professionally. California performed with Hendrix throughout that summer, the period when Animals bassist Chas Chandler discovered Hendrix, became his manager, and arranged his move to England to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix invited California to accompany him, yet at fifteen the guitarist was judged too young. He therefore returned to California with his mother and stepfather.

Back on the West Coast, California and Cassidy organized Spirits Rebellious—named after a volume by the mystic Kahlil Gibran—and enlisted pianist John Locke (born September 23, 1943, in Los Angeles, California; died August 4, 2006, in Ojai, California), who had previously worked with Cassidy in the New Jazz Trio. In spring 1967 California and Cassidy encountered Ferguson and Andes, who had continued performing while attending UCLA. Following the Red Roosters’ demise, Ferguson and Andes had formed Western Union, which briefly included Andes’s guitarist brother Matt Andes; Ferguson subsequently pursued a solo path while Mark Andes served short stints with Yellow Balloon and Canned Heat. The pair joined Spirits Rebellious, a name soon shortened to Spirit. By June the group was performing live and seeking a recording contract. With Barry Hansen—later celebrated as novelty-song host Dr. Demento—producing, they recorded a demo. They also auditioned for executive and producer Lou Adler, whose prior successes included the Mamas & the Papas and his Dunhill label. Having sold Dunhill to ABC, Adler had launched Ode Records under a distribution arrangement with Epic, a CBS imprint. He signed Spirit to Ode in August 1967.

Adler produced the self-titled debut album Spirit, issued in January 1968. Most tracks were penned by Ferguson, though California supplied the delicate instrumental “Taurus,” whose introductory figure later influenced Led Zeppelin’s 1971 composition “Stairway to Heaven.” Prompted by regional airplay for the single “Mechanical World,” the LP entered the Billboard chart in April, remained for more than six months, and reached the Top 40 by September. While preparing their second album and composing music for French director Jacques Demy’s film Model Shop (January 1969), in which they also appeared, Spirit toured extensively. Sundazed Records eventually issued a soundtrack album from the film in 2005. In October 1968 the band released the single “I Got a Line on You,” a California-penned rocker that climbed to number 25 on the Hot 100 in March 1969—the group’s sole Top 40 single. Their second album, The Family That Plays Together, followed in December 1968 and, aided by the hit, peaked at number 22 in March 1969. Ferguson again dominated the songwriting, contributing six of the eleven tracks, though California wrote or co-wrote the remaining five.

Operating under the rapid release schedules common in the 1960s, Spirit prepared another album swiftly; Clear appeared in July 1969. The record opened with the California-Ferguson rocker “Dark Eyed Woman,” issued as a single that failed to chart. It also incorporated material originally written for Model Shop, passages that functioned essentially as incidental music. Clear proved less successful than its predecessor, reaching number 55 in October. In December the band issued the standalone single “1984,” California’s ominous George Orwell-inspired track that climbed to number 69 by March 1970 before radio resistance halted its progress. Self-produced, it marked Spirit’s final Ode release. Adler had arranged a departure from CBS that moved Ode to A&M, simultaneously relinquishing Spirit to Epic. The band then engaged David Briggs, known for his work with Neil Young, to produce its fourth album. Sessions began in April 1970 but were interrupted when California suffered a fractured skull in a horseback-riding accident and spent a month hospitalized. The single “Animal Zoo,” written by Ferguson, surfaced in July and briefly appeared on the charts, yet six months elapsed before the album Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus was completed and released in November.

Spirit toured in support during winter and spring 1971, yet Epic extracted no successful single and the LP peaked at number 63 in February. Frustrated by the absence of broader commercial breakthrough, Ferguson and Andes departed to form Jo Jo Gunne with Matt Andes and drummer Curly Smith. Spirit first hired bassist John Arliss and continued as a quartet; California then left to pursue a solo career. Cassidy and Locke recruited brothers Al Staehely on bass and Chris Staehely on guitar, and the revised lineup began recording in November. The resulting album, Feedback, appeared in February 1972 and likewise reached number 63. When Cassidy and then Locke exited, the Staehely brothers added a drummer and toured briefly under the Spirit name—an arrangement that proved unsustainable yet illustrated promoters’ interest in any configuration bearing the group’s name. Although Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus had fallen off the charts, it had become a perennial FM-radio favorite and would earn gold certification in 1976; Epic therefore reissued The Family That Plays Together, which reentered the charts in July 1972.

Meanwhile California signed a solo deal with Epic and, in fall 1972, issued Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds. He soon reunited with Cassidy; together they enlisted bassist Larry “Fuzzy” Knight for a European tour in spring 1973. They also worked on the concept album Potatoland, which Epic declined; California subsequently withdrew from the music industry and relocated to Hawaii. In summer 1973 Epic released the compilation The Best of Spirit, which charted, as did its single “Mr. Skin,” drawn from Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus and referencing Cassidy’s shaved head. A two-fer pairing Spirit and Clear also charted. Responding to renewed demand for live performances, Cassidy—having regained legal rights to the Spirit name from the Staehely brothers—rejoined Knight and additional musicians for road work from July 1973 through April 1974.

After that unit dissolved, Cassidy traveled to Hawaii and reconnected with California. Joined by Mark Andes, who had left Jo Jo Gunne, they resumed performing by September 1974. Locke participated briefly at the start of 1975, yet neither he nor Andes remained permanently. California and Cassidy instead hired bassist Barry Keene and continued as a trio. They recorded an album that secured a contract with Mercury Records, which issued the double-LP Spirit of ’76 in May 1975; it charted modestly. October brought the follow-up Son of Spirit, another modest seller. For Farther Along, released June 1976, Andes and Locke returned along with Matt Andes; the album spent several weeks on the charts. In August Ferguson, whose Jo Jo Gunne tenure had ended and who was preparing a solo career, rejoined for several shows—the first reunion of the original quintet in five years—yet he did not stay. Mark Andes, already forming Firefall, departed, as did Locke. California and Cassidy once more engaged a bassist, John Turlep, and continued as a trio.

The fourth Mercury release, Future Games (A Magical Kahauna Dream), appeared in January 1977 and featured California alone and bare-chested on its cover art; he performed every instrument. Sales remained modest, and the Mercury contract concluded. Spirit toured as a quartet including Locke and Knight before reverting to a trio after Locke’s departure. In March 1978 the group performed in Europe; the March 11 concert at London’s Rainbow Theatre was recorded for a live album issued later that year in differing configurations by territory. The U.K. edition, Live Spirit on Illegal Records, contained the Rainbow performance; the American version on Spirit’s Potato imprint substituted Florida recordings; and the West German release Made in Germany added a single track captured in that country.

Spirit became inactive in 1979 while California formed the Randy California Band and Cassidy worked with the Urge and later Rainbow Red Oxidizer. By fall 1980 the pair had reunited, adding bassist Steve “Liberty” Loria and later keyboardist George Valuck. Encouraged by a fan petition organized by the British magazine Dark Star, they located a label, Beggars Banquet, willing to issue the long-shelved Potatoland project. Reworked and released in April 1981 as The Adventures of Kapt. Kopter and Commander Cassidy in Potatoland, it briefly charted in the U.K.; Rhino issued the album in the United States. In 1982 California resumed performing under his own name, releasing his second solo album, Euro-American, in Europe. The record included guest appearances by the four other original Spirit members, though never simultaneously on a single track.

By the close of 1982 the original quintet had reconstituted. Since the 1976 reunion Ferguson had enjoyed solo success, including the Top Ten hit “Thunder Island,” and had moved into film scoring; Andes had joined Heart; and Locke had joined Nazareth. Nevertheless the five reconvened to record a live-in-the-studio album at A&M Soundstage in Hollywood that blended re-recordings of earlier Spirit material with new songs. Mercury acquired the project and issued it in March 1984 in the U.K. as The Thirteenth Dream; the U.S. release that summer was retitled Spirit of ’84. A handful of West Coast dates followed, yet other commitments curtailed the reunion. California and Cassidy subsequently enlisted keyboardist Scott Monahan and bassist Dave Waterbury and toured into 1985. That spring California released his third solo album, Restless, solely in Europe, and toured the continent under his own name. By late summer, however, Spirit had rejoined a package tour of 1960s acts benefiting the Statue of Liberty restoration, featuring California, Cassidy, Ferguson, bassist Freeman James, and keyboardist Michael Lewis.

California and Cassidy continued leading various Spirit lineups in subsequent years. Following California’s participation in I.R.S. Records’ Night of the Guitar tour, the label signed the band for a new album; Rapture in the Chambers appeared in April 1989, listing California, Cassidy, and Locke as core members while crediting Mark Andes as guest bassist on two tracks. A year later Spirit released Tent of Miracles on its own Dolphin label with the lineup of California, Cassidy, and Mike Nile. By this point the group had become a steady U.S. club attraction that also mounted annual European tours. In July 1991 Epic/Legacy issued the two-disc retrospective Time Circle (1968-1972); two months later Spirit issued its own complementary collection, Chronicles (1967-1992), comprising previously unreleased recordings, on its W.E.R.C. C.R.E.W. label. In October the original quintet performed two concerts opening for the Doobie Brothers—their first joint appearances in seven years and their final reunion. California and Cassidy nevertheless continued leading other Spirit configurations for the next five years, releasing Live at La Paloma in 1995 and completing California Blues in 1996. On January 2, 1997, while swimming with family off Molokai, Hawaii, California and his twelve-year-old son Quinn were caught in a riptide. California pushed his son to shore but was swept out to sea; his body was never recovered.

California’s death effectively ended Spirit, though the indefatigable Cassidy, then in his seventies, toured under the name Spirit Revisited. Music journalist Mick Skidmore, while preparing a Spirit biography, assembled collections of unreleased recordings drawn from California’s archives; these appeared throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century and included Cosmic Smile (2000) on Phoenix Rising, produced by Bruce Gary with liner notes by Skidmore, followed by Sea Dream (2002), Blues from the Soul (2003), Live from the Time Coast (2004), Son of America (2005), The Original Potato Land (2006), Salvation… the Spirit of ’74 (2007), and Rock and Roll Planet: 1977-1979 (2008), the latter seven issued by Britain’s Acadia label. Sundazed Records released LPs of outtakes from the Ode/Epic catalog—Now or Anywhere and Eventide—in 2000 before issuing Model Shop in 2005. Ode/Epic/Legacy reissued Spirit, The Family That Plays Together, Clear, and Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, each augmented with bonus tracks, in 1996. Mercury had California compile the two-disc The Mercury Years shortly before his death.

Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century Spirit’s catalog received repeated reissues in varied editions, yet a comprehensive box set did not appear until 2018. In March Esoteric Recordings released It Shall Be: The Ode & Epic Recordings 1968-1972, a five-disc set encompassing the first five albums—both mono and stereo mixes of the debut—plus the Model Shop soundtrack. Each disc contained additional outtakes, demos, and alternate mixes drawn from the 1991 Time Circle compilation, together with a booklet featuring a critical-historical essay by Malcolm Dome and archival interviews with California and Cassidy.