Spirit Stories Page 5

Thanks for the page and info on spirit.  I was born in 1961 

and raised on sixties and seventies music.  

Just yesterday I found a SPIRIT compilation CD in a 

bargain bin at the local music store 

so I snapped it up.  I hadn't listened to Spirit for many years but the music sounds just as 

contemporary today as it did twenty and thirty years ago.  

Thirty years ago!!! Can you believe it?!?  Though I still enjoy

 a lot of the music from that era I

don't really listen to much of it anymore because it all sounds so quaint and

dated.  Spirit is one of the few bands I can still really listen too

because it was so original and creative back than that it still sounds fresh today.

(Wishbone Ash is the other I still listen to) My younger brother is a big

Spirit and Wishbone Ash fan too. I was saddened to read on your web page that Randy California 

died. People die every day but I always seem 

to personally feel the loss of those who's creativity 

and originality shined so bright.  He will be missed.

Owen Couch - Gallup, NM

I first heard Spirit live when I was living in London in 1973. They

played at the "Rainbow" and their show was fantastic. This was at the

height of "glitter rock" in the UK and from the moment they hit the

stage, the crowd was treated to "in your face American rock". Honest

and powerful, Spirit proved it was a band to reckon with.

The next day I was working in a shop on Kings Row and heard a commotion

on the street. Ducking out I noticed a crowd walking down the sidewalk

with Ed Cassidy in the lead. Spirit records were quickly placed on the

PA system, following the lead of a couple of other stores on the street.

It turned into a Spirit gathering that day and Mr. Cassidy walked into

our store to look at boots. He spoke with the staff, accepted a few

compliments, looked the stock over and said goodbye. A great afternoon!

Ken Clements

I've had the good fortune to see Spirit perform during  4 decades. The first

time was on July 6,1968 at Pat Paulsen's Independence Day Spetacular in Los

Angeles- I still have the flyer. They were one of 12 acts along w/ Kaeidoscope(David Lindley) , 

Chaudet the magician, El Diablo-the human volcano, and someone or thing called "the beast". 

 I saw them at the L.A. Forum opening for Cream late 60's early 70's. Enjoyed them in the 80's 

at the Golden Bear and in the 90's 

at the Coach House. They were truly a great, great band. Everyone I knew loved their music and we

ran out and bought their albums the first day they were available. They were

the classic 60's California band. Thanks for the music and best wishes to Ed and the band.

A California Spirit Fan

1970...ART CLASS...HIGH SCHOOL IN CRYSTAL RIVER FLORIDA. WE WERE

WORKING WITH CLAY. THE ART TEACHER WOULD LET US BRING IN OUR ALBUMS 

TO PLAY WHILE WE WORKED 

ON OUR PROJECTS. I WAS WORKING ON A LIFE SIZED SKULL OF CLAY AND 

           ' FRESH GARBAGE ' CAME ON. I WAS HOOKED. I'VE BEEN

 A FAN EVER SINCE. A COUPLE OF YEARS

 LATER '12 DREAMS OF DR. SARDONICUS CAME OUT, I'VE ALWAYS 

SAID '12 DREAMS' WAS THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER MADE...AND YES THAT

INCLUDES 'SGT. PEPPER' AND 'DARK SIDE OF THE MOON'  !!!! 

1973...ART CLASS...COLLEGE IN TAMPA FLORIDA. WE WERE WORKING WITH

LEATHER. THE ART PROFESSOR WOULD LET US BRING IN OUR OWN 8 TRACKS 

TO PLAY WHILE WE WORKED ON OUR PROJECTS. I WAS WORKING ON A PAIR OF SANDLES 

AND I PUT ON 'FEEDBACK' AND EVERYBODY LOVED IT. THE "RECORD GO 'ROUND" 

WAS SELLING IT AS FAST AS THEY CAME IN. 

I HOPE I HAD A LITTLE SOMETHING TO DO WITH SOME

OF THE SALES... OH YEAH, ONCE IN '74 OR '75 I SAW CASS IN AN ELECTRONICS STORE IN 

TAMPA AND WAS TO AWE STRUCK TO SAY

 ANYTHING. 2000...WORK...A NUCLEAR PLANT IN PHOENIX AZ. I BRING IN

 ' FAMILY THAT...' AND 'CLEAR' AND 

PLAYED THEM FOR SOME YOUNG ROCKERS AND SOME OF THE JAZZ 

GUYS, AND NOW THEY ARE ALL BUYING THEM

 AND REALLY INTO "SPIRIT". I GUESS IT'S GONNA LAST FOREVER... 

<<<R.I.P. RANDY.>>>

Rick Klinger

My friends and I were Spirit addicts in 68, 69,70. Listening to the line "someone tell my mother

 that I died" still sends shivers up my back. Spirit 

defined all that was cool about the late sixties,

 without the silly hype and excess of so many other bands of the time. 

Hendrix was cool, but the members 

of Spirit all blended into one 

much cooler concept in our minds. I'll be 47 soon,

 and have a huge collection of vinyl... some of my most prized pieces of vinyl are 

of course the first four Spirit albums. NOTHING ever came 

close to these masterpieces of recorded music.

 I always regretted never seeing them live.

 Thanks for creating a body of work that's truly timeless in quality, coolness, and production.

John Dickey

What a great bunch of stories you have collected. I have a couple also.

I was very lucky to hear Spirit twice during their heyday. The first

time was at the Atlanta Pop Festival July 4, 1969. Several other famous

bands played during the two days of the festival. Including: Chicago

Transit Authority, Blood Sweat and Tears, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter,

Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, Led Zeppelin', Grand Funk, Al Cooper's

Orchestra, Johnny Rivers, Tommy James, Ten Wheel Drive (w/Minnie

Ripperton), The Staples Singers, and Spirit among others. Music is like

art, it is difficult to say one band is "better" than another. The set

Spirit did in Atlanta that afternoon in the summer of '69 was a big part

of my memories of the event that day. I was lucky to be at the very

front of the crowd, touching the stage actually.  I was getting up on

stage periodically and handing notes from the crowd to the M.C. Chip

Monk. The same guy who M.C. ed at Woodstock a few months later. I was

knocked out by Cass' drum kit and got one very good picture of him right

in the middle of those wonderful bass drums! The picture has since been

misplaced but there is still a slight chance it may turn up someday. I

can still hear the musical notes of the song he used to perform his drum

solo. do do do dodo : ) Mechanical World also sticks in my mind with its

cascading glissando effects and larger than life dynamics. What a band!

I was privelged to hear them again a year or so later in Tallahassee,

Florida at Tully Gymnasium (also the location of concerts by Iron

Butterfly, Blues Image, Mountain, Sea Train, The Byrds, Grand Funk,

Black Sabbath, The Lovin' Spoonful' ). Again Spirit was excellent. A

full house around 3-4 thousand people. The high point was during "I Got

A Line On You" when people started lighting up and the smell of  La Dopa

was everywhere. The coolest thing is when the guitar lead came in the

middle of the song Randy and the entire band played the notes to the

song "Wipeout" instead of the lead part recorded on "Got A Line On You"

as played on the record. They changed right to the vamp figure of

"Wipeout" during Randy's instrumental guitar lead and went right back to

the chords for "Got A Line On You" when it was time for the vocals!  It

was simply amazing. I'll never forget them making fun of their hit by

mocking it that way. What a great sense of humor they must have.

Spirit is one of my top ten bands of all time. I gotta go get those CD

reissues so I can figure out what is the name of the song Cass does his

drum solo on. A Spirit fan forever.

 Rick Phillips

I had always been a huge fan of Spirit, especially so after the 12 Dreams 

chock full of so many killer tunes 

(my favorite being 'I won't see you anymore')... I was a senior in high school in 

Columbus, Ohio in 1972 and traveled to

 Univ. of Cincinnati to se a 

Mahavishnu Orchestra/Allman Bros. show...

after a killer Mahavishnu set it was announced that the 

Allman Bros. had cancelled and been replace by a

 well-known band....curtain went up and there was that 

shiny bald head...if anyone had to replace the Broswell,  I wasn't

complaining...the original Spirit in front of me...

An Ohio Spirit Fan

I first saw Spirit live in approx. l967 when they 

opened for Cream at the Anaheim Convention Center.  

They were the first rock band I heard live. They

opened up with It's All The Same.  I remember being disappointed that this 

number wasn't on their first album, 

which I immediately bought after the concert.  I was to see them

 live on two more occasions and 

was always knocked out by their live performances.  

The last time I saw them, in approx. l969. 

Cass had two huge bass drums positioned on either side of his kit, 

which I thought was largely for show as he hardly touched them.  

One of the great bands of the sixties!

Viplasher

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