Spirit (Spirit album)
Spirit | ||||
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Studio album by Spirit | ||||
Released | January 22, 1968 | |||
Recorded | August 31–November 17, 1967 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 41:55 | |||
Label | Ode | |||
Producer | Lou Adler | |||
Spirit chronology | ||||
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Singles from Spirit | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Rolling Stone | (positive) [2] |
Spirit is the debut album by rock band Spirit, first released on January 22, 1968 by Ode Records. The experimental album was commercially successful, spending more than six months on the Billboard album charts,[3] peaking at #31, and garnered significant underground FM airtime.
The album was first issued on compact disc in 1996 by Sony. The original 1968 stereo mixes were not available for this release, so the album was remixed in stereo from the original multitrack tapes. This edition also includes four previously unreleased bonus tracks.
In 2017, Audio Fidelity reissued the album as a numbered limited edition hybrid SACD. This edition was remastered from the original 1968 stereo master tapes, which had not been commercially available since the LP release was discontinued in the 1970s. The 2017 edition also includes bonus tracks in the same mixes as those on the 1996 reissue.
Track listing
Side one | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | "Fresh-Garbage" | Jay Ferguson | 3:11 |
2. | "Uncle Jack" | Ferguson | 2:44 |
3. | "Mechanical World" |
| 5:15 |
4. | "Taurus" | Randy California | 2:37 |
5. | "Girl in Your Eye" | Ferguson | 3:15 |
6. | "Straight Arrow" | Ferguson | 2:50 |
Side two | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
7. | "Topanga Windows" | Ferguson | 3:36 |
8. | "Gramophone Man" |
| 3:49 |
9. | "Water Woman" | Ferguson | 2:11 |
10. | "The Great Canyon Fire in General" | Ferguson | 2:46 |
11. | "Elijah" | Locke | 10:42 |
1996 reissue bonus tracks | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
12. | "Veruska" | California | 2:50 |
13. | "Free Spirit" | Locke | 4:27 |
14. | "If I Had a Woman" | California | 3:11 |
15. | "Elijah" (Alternate Take) | Locke | 9:42 |
Personnel
Spirit
- Jay Ferguson – lead vocals, percussion, keyboards
- Randy California – guitars, backing vocals, bass
- John Locke – keyboards
- Mark Andes – bass, backing vocals
- Ed Cassidy – drums, percussion
Production
- Lou Adler – Producer
- Marty Paich - String & Horn Arrangements
- Eirik Wangberg, Armin Steiner & Mike Leitz - Engineers
- Corporate Head - Album Design
- Tom Wilkes – Art Direction
- Guy Webster – Cover Photo
- Jay Thompson - Back Cover Photo
- Terry Clements, Marshall Blonstein, Doug Wallack - Assistance
- Vic Anesini – Mastering, Mixing
- Nicholas Bennett – Packaging Manager
- Adam Block – Project Director, Project Coordinator
- Bob Irwin – Producer, Compilation Producer
- Jeff Smith – Package Design
- Jay Thompson – Photography, Insert Photography
- Douglas Wallack - Special Thanks / Road Manager
Charts
Album
Year | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|
1968 | Billboard 200 | 31 |
1973 | Billboard 200 | 191 |
Legacy
The song "Fresh Garbage" has been sampled in the Pink song "Feel Good Time", found on the soundtrack of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. "Fresh Garbage" was also used as the title (and theme music) of a rock music program on BBC Radio London in the early 1970s.
In 1973, Epic released a two-disc LP repackage of Spirit and Clear entitled Spirit.
The guitar riff that occurs about :43 into "Taurus" is said to have influenced Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page in 'composing' his famous intro to "Stairway to Heaven".[4] Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit on an American tour in 1968, and also borrowed the riff of "Fresh Garbage" during early live performances of the song 'As Long as I Have You'.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Hansen, Barret (14 September 1968). "Recorsd". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Rolling Stone.
- ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/spirit/id489737#fullText
- ↑ "Whammy Bar" Guitar World April 1997: 19 "But California's most enduring legacy may well be the fingerpicked acoustic theme of the song "Taurus," which Jimmy Page lifted virtually note for note for the introduction to "Stairway to Heaven."
- ↑ Sleeve notes to 1996 reissue of Spirit's debut album, booklet included with CD EPC 485175