Rare Live Spirit - A Randy California feast
coot veal | 02/23/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Although, to my knowledge, no official recording of the original Spirit lineup was ever released (a true loss), once the band fractured into Jay Ferguson's Jo Jo Gunne (check out their first album!) and Randy California's Spirit with Ed Cassidy on drums, this recording produced from Randy's archives - along with some rare 70's stuff - is to my knowledge all that remains of Spirit in live performance. The real score on this 2 disc set are some great jams, both spacey and straight-ahead (the "Fresh Garbage" alone is worth the price of the both discs!), as well as very rare solo acoustic Randy tunes, a throwback to when he used to play Greenwich Village as a folky (just before he ran into that Hendrix guy who seems to have persuaded him to go electric). This is a must listen for anyone who is a committed Spirit and/or Randy California fan. And the sound quality for most of the tunes is very good. Go for it!"