Saturday 24 November 2007

Randy California/Spirit

This dude was one of the finest electric guitarists ever to have graced the planet, he played with Jimi Hendeix in New York in ‘66 when he was only 15. He got the name California from Jimi as he had 2 Randys in his band and needed to distinguish between them.

One year later Randy founded the band Spirit with his step father on drums and they went on to record several great albums, with my favourites being The Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus, Spirit of ‘76 and Future Games.

Only got to see them play live once (back in the 80s) and had to make a 170 mile round trip to do it - but it was worth it, they were on great form that night and everyone really enjoyed it.

So here are a couple of short tracks (around 3 mins), I Got A Line On You and Nature’s Way. Last one is around 9 mins but with the added bonus of Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers) guesting on If I Miss This Train - a big ol’ blues jam to brighten up your weekend.

5 comments:

Sezme said...

Yay! I knew one of the songs! "Gotta line on you," but I think I've heard someone else do it.

DBA Dude said...

rt, could be Alice Cooper or The Jeff Healey band - according to a quick Google search they have both covered it.

Sezme said...

Probably Alice Cooper--heh.

phlegmfatale said...

That song - It's Nature's Way was brilliant when that girl sang it in This Mortal Coil, which was a fantastic collaborative effort from a lot of artists in the 4AD stable. Good song. Never heard the original before - thanks!

DBA Dude said...

Do not think that I have heard that version Phlegmmy - will have to try and find it somewhere.

Glad that you enjoyed it.