While ‘Son Of Spirit’ is not on par with their early classics, it’s a mildly psychy album that still sounds like no one else with the band’s characteristic blending of pop progressive and jazz styles still intact.
Written by: Eric
ARTIST: Spirit
ALBUM: Son Of Spirit
LABEL: Mercury
SERIAL: SRM-1-1053
YEAR: 1975
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Randy California – guitar, bass, vocals * Ed Cassidy – drums, percussion * Barry Keane – bass
TRACK LISTING: 01 Holy Man * 02 Looking Into Darkness * 03 Maybe You’ll Find * 04 Don’t Go Away * 05 Family * 06 Magic Fairy Princess * 07 Circle * 08 The Other Song * 09 Yesterday * 10 It’s Time Now
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Who doesn’t have the first four Spirit albums ‘Spirit’, ‘The Family That Plays Together’, ‘Clear’ and their 1970 magnum-opus ‘The Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus’ in his or her collection is truly missing out on some of the best music to come out of the classic rock era. And yet this lot remained a cult band, rarely mentioned in the history of American psychedelic music and unceremoniously passed over and constantly one-upped by The Doors, The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane.
Honestly, if Jim Morrison hadn’t checked out the way he did would The Doors be placed on the same pedestal they are now? Probably not, but the reasons Spirit never achieved the same success as their contemporaries are many, including poor decision making by both the band and their record labels. With star power in guitarist Randy California (a name given to him by none other than Jimi Hendrix) and Jay Ferguson, this band had the goods and never realized their full potential, but it was a very different band that released ‘Son of Spirit’ in 1975.
The Songs
With its high wattage cover, Spirit was down to a trio that included California, perennial drummer Ed Cassidy (California’s stepfather) and bassist Barry Keane previously known for his session work with BTO. While ‘Son Of Spirit’ is not on par with their early classics, it’s a mildly psychy album that still sounds like no one else but Spirit with the band’s characteristic blending of pop progressive and jazz styles still intact.
Cuts like opener ‘Holy Man’, the gorgeous soft jazz balladry of ‘Maybe You’ll Find’ and the otherworldly purple hazy ‘Don’t Go Away’ show a band still not afraid to experiment. In fact, nothing here is awful and if anything, there is this can’t shake loose feeling the album is just a little too lysergic and that they should have heavied it up a little, especially in light of the rather murky production, the extended electric fest ‘The Other Song’ and sublime cover of The Beatles ‘Yesterday’ notwithstanding.
In Summary
Spirit spent a good portion of 1975 on the road with the likes of Bob Seger, Leslie West, Ten Years After and Iron Butterfly as both a headliner and support act but ‘Son Of Spirit’ received poor, and at times unfair reviews and was summarily ignored by the record buying public. The band continued to perform and record with various line-ups well into the ’90s releasing several good albums including the superb 1990 disc ‘Tent Of Miracles’ before Randy California’s tragic drowning death in 1997.
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Entire Album (Select Tracks)
