RARE ORIG 1968 SPIRIT 1st Garage Psych WEST COAST GEM

$

64

*****

*** ATTENTION!

 CLEAN VINYL ~ RARE 1968 FIRST PRESSING WITH DIFFERENT BACK COVER                           

~~ ACIDROCK CALIFORNIA GEM~~                                                  

                SPIRIT

                       (((1st album)))

                                    USA - yellow ODE - Z12 44004-2

The rare first pressing Original 1968 first album with different, slightly bigger black & white back cover, really hard to find in this first pressing cover design....

A highly rated toxic blend of West Coast complex garage, psych & jazz mixtures that work far better than expected...highly rated, yes, but also one of the most underated sixties psych albums, it's a timeless terrific sound to discover... if... you don't know, or time for re-discovery.

Spirit's self-titled debut album is one whose multifarious experimentalism owes a lot to the contemporary successes of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It marked the humble beginnings and grand aspirations of its eponymous authors. While the mindset required to produce Spirit was ubiquitous, the endeavour itself was far from clichéd. The eclecticism of Randy California's writing coupled Barrett's psychotropism with Morrison's West Coast bohemianism; and although the result proved somewhat inaccessible to the masses, it made the project ripe for underground FM airtime.  In a nutshell, the first SPIRIT album is a dark haunting classic album that contains "Fresh Garbage," "Uncle Jack," "Mechcanical World," and "Elijah" all laced with superb acid guitar work, vocal harmonies and production. Randy California's guitar is always in evidence, but it's the band interplay and sense of space that makes this one of the great debut albums of the genre.

The original lineup of the group was Randy California (guitars), Jay Ferguson (vocals), Mark Andess (bass), California's stepfather, drummer Ed Cassidy, and keyboard player John Locke. The new band was originally named the Spirits Rebellious (after a book by Khalil Gibran) but was soon shortened simply to Spirit. All but Locke had been part of the band The Red Roosters in 1965. California (then still known by his birth name of Randy Wolfe) had also played with Jimi Hendrix (then known as Jimmy James) in Jimmy James and the Blue Flames for three months in 1966.
Ed Cassidy is notable as one of the most accomplished drummers in rock and was instantly recognizable by his shaven head and proclivity to wear black. He was considerably older than the rest of the group (he was born in 1923). His earlier career was primarily in jazz and included stints with Cannonball Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Roland Kirk and Lee Konitz prior to joining Spirit, he was a founder member of Rising Sons with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.
Following a period of gigging around Los Angeles, SPIRIT attained quite a reputation. Brian Berry, the brother of Jan Berry (of Jan & Dean), heard the group and made arrangements for them to record a demo. The demo eventually made its way into the hands of Lou Adler, who was in the process of forming a new record label, Ode Records, which was distributed by Epic Records.
The group's first album, Spirit, was released in 1968. Though it didn't spawn any hit singles (the track Mechanical World was released as a single [with a humorous label on the 45 which lists the playing time as merely being "very long", despite the fact that it is prematurely faded in order to shorten its length a bit], but it missed the Top 100), it was a substantial underground hit, making it to #31 on the charts and staying on the charts for over 8 months.
Following the relative success of their first album, they capitalized on it with a single, I Got A Line On You. Released slightly before their second album and they also went on tour that year, with Led Zeppelin opening for them (who were obviously listening to the headliners, as they were known to cover Fresh Garbage in concert, used the Theremin after seeing Randy use a model that he had mounted to his guitar, and would later appropriate the Spirit instrumental Taurus for their Stairway To Heaven.

2. "Fresh-Garbage" - 3:11
3. "Uncle Jack" - 2:44
4. "Mechanical World"  - 5:15
5. "Taurus"  - 2:37
6. "Girl in Your Eye" - 3:15
7. "Straight Arrow" - 2:50
8. "Topanga Windows" - 3:36
9. "Gramophone Man"  - 3:49
10. "Water Woman" - 2:11
11. "The Great Canyon Fire in General" - 2:46
12. "Elijah" - 10:42

CONDITION: the cover SOLID;  M-  hard to find THIS clean...the seams are very solid, tight cover, collectible look.

The vinyl is all glossy, clear & shiny "EX" (excellent)  nice > Plays very enjoyable !

      A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record