The Archive: An Introduction...

Performer: Spirit
Distributor: Infinity Entertainment Gr

Notes: Since singer/songwriter/guitarist Randy California's accidental death in 1997, his estate has issued a series of albums drawn from his extensive archive of unreleased recordings by the band he led, Spirit. This 20-track CD is a compilation that presents some highlights from those albums. Producer/compiler Mick Skidmore has been responsible for the assembly of the albums, and here he constructs a representative sampling that includes socially conscious rock songs like "Son of America" and "Shock Values"; folk-blues numbers played on acoustic bottleneck guitar such as "Wagon of Wood," and a cover of "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)"; live recordings; some psychedelic experiments; and catchy pop/rock tunes like "My Friend" and "Zandu." California was an adept rock guitarist, a good singer, and a versatile songwriter whose relationship with the record business had its ups and downs (he details some of the problems in "Shock Values"), such that his recorded legacy is only partly accounted for on the albums Spirit made for Ode/Epic and Mercury Records in the '60s and '70s. The rest saw only fitful release during California's lifetime, leaving the archival series to fill in the picture. This introduction to material that has come out of the vault already suggests the consistency with which California wrote, recorded, and performed throughout his career. Those who hear it may want to investigate the albums from which it was drawn, while waiting for more to come. ~ William Ruhlmann

Spirit was one of the most talented and most overlooked groups of the 1960s West Coast psychedelic crop. They utilized jazz influences, folk-rock song structures, and the visionary, mind-bending guitar work of Randy California to create some of the most unique, intriguing music of the era.

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