- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Spirit’s biggest hit song was “I Got a Line on You”, and the accompanying album, The Family that Plays Together is one of my favorite 1960’s American albums.
Spirit – The Family that Plays Together (1968): Spirit is a long-lived and respected psychedelic rock/progressive rock band; and The Family that Plays Together, Spirit’s second album was part of Charlie’s record collection. Spirit was formed in Los Angeles in 1967, growing out of an earlier L.A. band called the Red Roosters. Bandmembers are Randy California (guitar and vocals), Mark Andes (bass guitar), John Locke (keyboards), and Jay Ferguson (percussion and vocals). The inclusion of Randy California’s stepfather Ed Cassidy (drums) brought the band an added dimension that was missing from most 1960’s rock bands: Besides being much older than the other bandmembers, Ed Cassidy got his start playing in numerous jazz bands including stints with Cannonball Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Roland Kirk, Thelonious Monk, and Lee Konitz. Ed Cassidy was also a founding member of the 1964 band Rising Sons that included Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.
A noted guitar prodigy, Randy Craig Wolfe was given his moniker at age 15 by none other than Jimi Hendrix; when they played together in 1966 in one of Hendrix’s early bands, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, Jimi called him “Randy California” in order to distinguish him from Randy Palmer who was also in the band. Spirit’s biggest hit song was a rousing rocker called “I Got a Line on You”, which was released in November 1968. The accompanying album, The Family that Plays Together is one of my favorite American albums of the 1960’s. The album includes an unusual track called “Jewish” that is sung in Hebrew. Like “Taurus” (see below), “Jewish” was written by Randy California; he had been raised in a Jewish home. According to a post by Jewish Business News, the lyrics are taken from a traditional song called “Henei Ma Tov” (or “Hine Ma Tov”) that is based on Psalm 133 (one of the Psalms of David). Other tracks on The Family that Plays Together that demonstrate Spirit’s eclectic style are jazz-influenced songs like “It Shall Be” and “Silky Sam”. Spirit has been in the news recently concerning a long-simmering controversy with Led Zeppelin. The two bands had played together during Led Zep’s first tour, and Randy California has long claimed that the opening chords for “Stairway to Heaven” were lifted from their 1968 instrumental song “Taurus”. Reportedly for lack of funds, a copyright infringement lawsuit was not filed until May 2014 (by Randy Craig Wolfe’s heirs); and on October 21, 2014, the Judge in the case denied the request by Led Zeppelin’s attorneys to dismiss the case. A jury decided the lawsuit in Led Zeppelin’s favor in June 2016; and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict in March 2020. After the Supreme Court decided not to hear a further appeal in October 2020, the matter is evidently settled.