We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
When is a band no longer a band? In 1972 the LA based band Spirit had splintered. Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes had left to form Jo Jo Gunne, Randy California went off to record a solo record. So, that left drummer Ed Cassidy and keyboardist John Locke as the only original members of the group. They were able to find some really good musicians to join the group and released the Lp “Feedback”.
This is, once again a pleasant surprise…an album I’ve never heard before now and it’s good. The new members of the band John and Al Staehley were more than just placeholders. They bring alot to the table and the songs on the LP, many written by Al, are tasty indeed.
Moving from the psychedelic music of the California years to a more country-jazzy mashup, the album is really accessible. Locke is a really underrated keyboard player and Cassidy is an old vet who had come up as a jazz guy with Cannonball Adderly, Thelonius Monk and others.
My top tracks were Chelsea Girls, Puesta Del Scam and Earth Shaker.
Locke and Cassidy are original Spirit guys LP is driven by the Staehely brothers and I think you’ll dig it. Is it the “real” Spirit? Maybe not, but it’s a really good version.
You probably know Spirit from the 1969 hit….
Here is the 1972 version of the band….
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