by Robert Wilkinson
Our Saturday show features some amazing music courtesy of the legendary lead player of one of the most original and exciting bands of the 60s and 70s, Spirit! Get ready for some awesome guitar and drum work!
Today would have been the 70th birthday of an awesome musical force majeure, Randy California (born Randy Wolfe (February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997), lead guitarist and co-founder with his jazz drumming legend step-father Ed “Cass” Cassidy of the Southern California progressive rock band Spirit. From wiki, “He was 15 years old when his mother Bernice Pearl and new stepfather, Ed Cassidy … moved to New York City in the summer of 1966 because Cassidy had a number of jazz gigs lined up. It was there, at Manny's Guitars, that Randy met Jimi Hendrix. He played in Hendrix's band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames that Summer. California, Cassidy and Pearl lived in an apartment building in Forest Hills (Queens), New York called the Balfour, whose other residents included future Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker, who cites California's blues-based guitar style as an influence on his own playing.
The stage name "Randy California" was given to him by Hendrix to distinguish him from another Randy in the band, Randy Palmer, whom Hendrix dubbed "Randy Texas". When Hendrix and California were invited to come to England by Chas Chandler, former bassist of British Invasion band the Animals—who became Hendrix's manager and producer—Randy's parents refused to allow him to go, insisting the 15-year-old stay and finish high school….
Together with Cassidy, songwriter/front-man Jay Ferguson (May 10, 1927), bassist Mark Andes (February 19, 1948) with whom California and Cassidy initially had formed a band called the Red Roosters, and keyboardist John Locke (September 25, 1943 – August 4, 2006), California founded the band Spirit. Their first, self-titled, album was released in January 1968, a month before California's 17th birthday. He then wrote the band's biggest hit, 1968's "I Got a Line on You" for Spirit's second album, The Family That Plays Together. He also wrote the single "1984", released in early 1970 and banned from most AM radio stations at that time. He also penned Spirit's other hit, "Nature's Way", for the band's best-selling album, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus….
I saw them 3 times in Austin, and they were truly a great band, regardless of the lineup, which always featured Randy and Ed! For your enjoyment, Spirit!
We begin with Spirit on French tv in 1970 performing their hit from their first album “Fresh Garbage” From the same gig, another great performance! Here are two gems written by Randy California! “1984” and “I Got A Line On You.”
Here’s the very exciting music video of “I Got A Line On You”
A gem! It's the original lineup in an exciting psychedelic video made in LA in 1970 cranking out “1984” This year I found it again! Here’s a great live clip from 1970 on Beat Club of Spirit doing “1984”
It’s back! For your enjoyment, their 43 minute audio set from the legendary 1969 Texas International Pop Festival! Spirit At the Texas International Pop Festival – 1969.
Here’s a great 2+ hour live show from the Fillmore West in May, 1970! Spirit At the Fillmore West - 1970
Last year I also had a great hour and 23 radio broadcast from New Year’s Eve 1971 featuring the original line up, but this year it’s gone. However, from that show I did find “Hey Joe”
From 1975 in Lansing, an 8+ minute live clip of one of my favorites! “Elijah” which we’ll follow with another from that show, the rocking “Dark Eyed Woman”
This is a great video, and features Ed from the first beat! For your enjoyment, a full hour and 49 from 1978! Spirit Live at Rockpalast - 1978
From 1984 in SF, a great live performance of their first hit, the very hypnotic “Mechanical World”
From Glastonbury in 1982, Randy's very live grinding out "Second Child" and the very rocking "This Is It."
From their 1989 European tour, we have some great videos from various shows! “Ship of Fools” which we’ll follow with “Tent of Miracles.” We now move into “Stuttgart Says Goodbye” followed by “Old Black Magic”
We continue the show with “Borderline” and “Zandu” and bring it home with “Burning Love” and “Deep in this Land”
To get a sense of how Spirit was so different from other bands of the era, here are some of their early albums that blew the doors down!
Their first album was revolutionary, since it created a sound that was never known before then! The first three songs (“Fresh Garbage,” “Uncle Jack,” and “Mechanical World”) are a seamless suite of rock, jazz, and psychedelia! The fourth, “Taurus,” is what Jimmy Page reworked in “Stairway to Heaven.” For your enjoyment, Spirit
A brief aside! I found this early demo clip from 1967, very much in the Spirit of what they were about! Randy was very young when they cut “If I Had A Woman” and “I Can’t Stand It”
From 1968, their second album which rocks! The Family that Plays Together
From 1969, their third album! Clear Spirit
From 1970, their 4th legendary album, The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Randy and Ed hung together after the breakup of the original lineup. When Jimi died, it profoundly affected Randy, leading him to create this 1972 album where Randy went all out Hendrix on us with Ed and Noel Redding of the Experience! Most have never heard this magnificent guitar tribute, so get ready for pure psychedelia! Kapt Kopter and His (Fabulous) Twirly Birds
From a few years later, an equally trippy offering! The Original Potatoland
The original group got back together for a final album in 1983. This was the result. Spirit ‘84
Last year I had a great audio-only clip from Huntington Beach in 1978 of “Stone Free” but it’s disappeared. As I told you earlier, Randy California played second lead as a teenager in Jimi’s band in NY, before the Experience. It is said he was Jimi’s favorite guitarist, and so this tribute clearly shows the bond of respect from Randy to the Guitar Master. Unfortunately, this magnificent 7 minute clip of Ed and Randy performing the electrifying “Stone Free” is gone, but hopefully it’ll come back up by the time we hit Ed’s birthday.
We’ll close with a great 1988 performance by Randy in London of the iconic “Hey Joe”
For our encore, three video clips from 1989 in Toledo! The first two are tunes from Sardonicus, so enjoy these performances of “Nature’s Way” and a tune written for Ed Cassidy, the great “Mr. Skin.” Our third clip from that show was their encore, a cover of Bob Dylan’s classic “Like A Rolling Stone”
Our second encore comes from the Rockpalast show in 1978, another version of “Mr. Skin”
Our third encore is from 1992 on Dennis Miller, with Spirit cranking out their biggest hit live, “I Got A Line On You”
Our final encore features Randy and four other very famous smokin’ guitarists! From 1989’s “Night of the Guitar” tour, I found a great performance of “All Along the Watchtower”
Here’s a 9 minute mini-documentary of when Randy California met Jimi Hendrix
Here’s a one hour documentary about Ed “Cass” Cassidy, the "oldest performing rock drummer in the world!" Ed Cassidy – the Story of Spirit
Thanks for the years of great music! You turned me on at 16, and your death saving your son shook me. Aum and blessings, Randy, from another of our vintage.
© Copyright 2021 Robert Wilkinson
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