Randy California - The Euro-American Years 1979-1983

A four CD set covering a diverse amount of material recorded by Randy during a five year period commencing in 1979. Disc One features the Randy California Band on the first four tracks. Then Randy is joined by fellow Spirit members John Locke, Marke Andes and Ed Cassidy before we present the entire Euro American album. Disc Two features a plethora of previously unreleased and rare material and all tracks are produced by Randy. Disc Three features Spirit live from 1980 and 1981 with Ed Cassidy. Disc Four is a bonus disc with more previously unreleased and rare material plus a live show from Scotland recorded in 1979. Acadia. 2007. Album Description

More from the Randy California vaults...

Recommended for Randy California(RC) fans. This posthumous collection offers up a sizeable chunk of music from the 1979-83 era.

CD#1 TT= 79:06/ The 'Euro-American' album along with several selections from the Randy California Band *****

CD#2 TT= 78:19/ RC with various musicians, recorded in studio and containing several previously unreleased, as well as demos. *****

CD#3 TT= 77:29/ RC under the 'Spirit' moniker, live from 1980-81, frm venues in Ohio, New York, Missouri, Caifornia and Germany. ***1/2

CD#4 TT= 73:55/ Odd's and Sod's 1981-82, containing The Randy California Band live concert from Ayr, Scotland oct,1979. This is more of a "fans only" hardcore inclusion. Historical interest only (sub-par recording).**

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In the posthumous world of Spirit/RC releases much of the fun, interest and appreciation of the music hinges on the variety of line-ups (over the years) and the enthusiasm of the preformance.The exposition of talent is always present and you never know how a particular music piece will be preformed or what selections are included.

Arguably this later-era Spirit/RC exemplifies a similar vibe as THAT Spirit which was birthed back in the late 1960's. As still more artifacts are unearthed ('Rock and Roll Planet, Spirit 1977-79' just released 2008) fans are having a field day, especially noting that ALL of these multi-cd sets are of surprising above average quality in overall sound.

Mick Skidmore does a great job throughout these releases in presenting a varied selection of old and new. Though duplication appears obvious at first (at least in track title), fans will discover something fresh and revealing as he trolls these "vaults" for insightful glimpses into the later era Spirit/California mystique. June 14, 2008

We miss you Randy

What a great collection of rare material from the archives of Randy California!!! This is a treasure trove of material from Randy's solo career, as well as some live Spirit recordings from the same time frame. Randy was a very talented individual, and these recordings prove it! This collection was lovingly assembled, and preserved for us fans by Mick Skidmore. The packaging may seem a bit sparse, but the liner notes are good, and the music is recorded surprisingly well. I am very glad I picked up this collection from Amazon. This is an amazing 4+ hour collection for very little money! August 27, 2007

I'M SO GLAD

This set of CD's reinforces just how prolific and amazing Randy California really was. The quality and sonic mastering are superb as the music equals or exceeds that of his SPIRIT catalog. If you love the many reincarnations of SPIRIT then you will surely want to add this to your collection; it is really exciting to listen to . . . (NO - it's not arena rock). June 29, 2007

Really Disappointed

I was hoping this would be similar to some of the later Spirit projects Randy California was involved in, but instead, it is lame 70/80's arena style rock. The recordings are pretty weak sounding as well. I really wasted my money on this one. June 24, 2007

Positively Astounding

If only all dead rock stars received such excellent treatment post mortum! Granted, Randy California and Spirit are about as cult as a musical act can get, but this rather obscure period in Randy's musical output is given the definitive treatment. This material stems from Randy's European solo career in the early 1980's and most - if not all - was never released in the US, which is a shame as some of it is pretty good if you like his Hendrix-lite style.

Amazon's track listing is rather abbreviated as there are about 60 tracks on all four CDs. The first CD covers the "Euro American" album plus around 12 bonus tracks. This is excellent hard rock and Randy's guitar playing was never more to the forefront. The second CD covers most of "Shattered Dreams" but since that album was really patched together by the record company the producer does an excellent job of rounding up all variant tracks as well as around 10 additional tracks. The sound quality on the first two CDs is great and they are worth the price alone.

However, it is CD 3 and 4 that make this package truly astonding. Producer Mick Skidmore has gone above and beyond the call of duty and should win an award for his dedication to the "spirit" of Randy California by unearthing some great live and obscure demo recordings. Some of the audio quality is a little challenged but I have heard much worse bootlegs.

CD 3 is an all live collection and shows Randy again at the top of his considerable game as a guitar player. He tended to underplay but this is one period when he let it all hang out. There are one or two rambling cuts, but they are overshadowed by such remarkable performances such as "Shattered Dream" and "Magic Wand", which rank with the best live material I have ever heard by any artist.

CD 4 is a bonus disc, which means the producer doesn't want to get your hopes up as far as sound quality. However, nothing sounds horrible, the demos are fabulous, and the short but manic concert from 1979 is a revelation. No wonder the Europeans regarded Randy California so highly!

Mick Skidmore has produced a series of excellent releases in the last five years or so, each one giving us more and more info on Randy California and Spirit. With this release, he has created a sonic encyclopedia on a criminally overlooked period in the career of one of America's most under-rated performers. Keep up the great work, Mick! April 10, 2007

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