Spirit

Motorik

Member
Famous (kind of) for the ripoff Led Zeppelin made of them for Stairway to Heaven, Spirit is a Los Angeles psychedelic band formed in 1967. Their members are Randy California (which was a pupil of Jimi Hendrix. In fact, he gave him the artistic name California. His real name is Randy Wolfe) on guitar, Ed Cassidy (California's Stepfather) on drums, Jay Ferguson on voice, John Locke (yes, as the philosopher) on keyboars and Mark Andes on bass. They were considered the most important Los Angeles band of their time, only topped by The Doors. They released lots of albums with different members, but their most important are the first four: Spirit (1968), The Family That Plays Together (1968), Clear (1969) and Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus (1970), because these four were recorded with the original line up. Of course there are great songs after those, but the escence of the band is in those four. Check them out. And here is the song Led Zeppelin ripped off for Stairway to Heaven:
 
Cool thread. As you know, I don't like all of the songs by Spirit, but then again, I'm not a great fan of any form of Stairway to Heaven - Led Zep or no Led Zep. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I love Led Zeppelin, but once you listen to Stairway to Heaven a few times, it gets rather boring in the end. As for Taurus, the rip-off dilemma has been dragging on and on for ages and itseemed to me like a speculative action by both sides and they all gained by the publicity the song got. My 2 cents eh ! :). Frankly speaking, most of the "iconic" rock songs that most people obsessively love leave me with a rather high dose of indifference: other examples are the overrated Heroes by Bowie, My Sharona by The Knack and Smoke on the Water by DP :).
 
No doubt Randy California is a great guitarist, but he's no Hendrix by far...let that be clear:). Hendrix was and still is the greatest rock guitarist ever to walk this planet.
 
California may not be Hendrix, but he's still awesome, as you say. And to think he has between seventeen and nineteen years when he did the awesome things he did with Spirit. Very few guitarrist did the things he did at that age. Credit must be given for that.
 
Hendrix played guitar for Little Richard at a young age and look what he became later, a killer axeman. Undeniable truth.
 
The big diff between Hendrix and California is that the latter did not follow up with an exquisitely solo career. All the big names in rock did: Hendrix, Clapton, Frampton, Knopfler, Garcia, etc.
 
I think you are missing something important. Hendrix didn't develop his full potential when he was younger and played with Little Richard. California was a great guitarrist from the very start with Spirit. As I said, I prefer Hendrix, of course, but we must be fair and give credit to those who deserve it.
 
The big diff between Hendrix and California is that the latter did not follow up with an exquisitely solo career. All the big names in rock did: Hendrix, Clapton, Frampton, Knopfler, Garcia, etc.
You need to be able to sing though before you can pursue a solo carrer. All those artists are at least fair vocalists, while other great guitarists like Page, Howe, Blackmore, Young eg just can't sing and couldn't go solo.
 
You need to be able to sing though before you can pursue a solo carrer. All those artists are at least fair vocalists, while other great guitarists like Page, Howe, Blackmore, Young eg just can't sing and couldn't go solo.
I'm talking exquisitely about playing guitar, not vocals.
 
I think you are missing something important. Hendrix didn't develop his full potential when he was younger and played with Little Richard. California was a great guitarrist from the very start with Spirit. As I said, I prefer Hendrix, of course, but we must be fair and give credit to those who deserve it.
Nope. There are at least 12 vids (not ezy to view though....) which show the prowess on the axe by young Jimi in LR's band. These vids are kept rather private by Jimi's sister's foundation, but since I am in constant touch with Leon Hendrix, Jimi's brother .........I mean I hope you all know Jimi had a bro, right :):).....thru blogs, mails and msg boards, I know first hand info on Jimi.....things not even his manager knew :). You should try to get first hand info before you state something like that.....Jimi was a guitar hero starting from age 10 !!!!! Oh and not many people know that Leon plays guitar too - he is nowhere near Jimi's level (and he knows it!!), but few people give him credit for being a good guitarist in his own right :)
 
Forum Community

Adminstrator Moderator Member Fanatic

Top