Spirit - Salvation...The Spirit of '74

A three CD set at the bargain dealer price of £8.40 cut from the vaults of the late great RANDY CALIFORNIA. Discs 1 and 2 are live sets from the fabled Agora Ballroom capturing 3/5 ths of the original line up comprising RANDY, ED CASSIDY and MARK ANDES in power trio mode. Disc 3 comprises studio material from 1974 and 1975 originally designed to make up the long lost SPIRIT OF SALVATION album. Album Description

More posthumous Spirit/California, era 1974-75

Ok, here's where the rubber meets the road. The good, bad, and ugly. Ok, not THAT bad or ugly.

According to Mick Skidmore (Spirit compiler and friend) all of the 3cds contained herein are " first generation sound board tapes, cassettes, acetates, copies of copies of early album projects, a few 2-track masters and an odd multi-track or two." Not perfect sound by any means as you can see (think 1974 technology also), but then the compilers never intended it so.

CD#1 Live, Total time= 70:40 15 tracks
CD#2 Live Total time= 70:40 16 yracks
CD#3 Studio Total time= 72:14 25 tracks

The 2 live cds taken as a whole:

18 tracks from Ebbetts Field, Denver Colorado, 10/30-31/1974
8 tracks from Agora Ballroom, Cleveland Ohio, 06/30/1975
3 tracks from Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin Texas 06/19/1975
3 tracks from unknown locations

On the live cds...Randy California, Ed Cassidy, Mark Andes on 25 tracks, Mark Andes replaced by Barry Keene on 6 tracks.
The live stuff is of varied quality (see Skidmore's liner comments in begining of this review) BUT, for the fan it's decent enough with plenty of fascinating small venue performances of material Spirit played while on-the-road after Kaptain Kopter (72) and before 'Spirit of '76'. As prior reviewers infered this is like the discovery of King Tut's tomb for fans.

This is not necessarily a "die-hard fans only" release, though arguably fans might appreciate this OVER the formal releases which brackett this period in the band's history. It turns out to be quite amazing that a band with a limited timespan (1968-70 for the classic yrs,patchy after that) still can reveal itself in fetching posthumous packages such as this. With terrific liner notes putting it all in perspective (kudos Skidmore!). I am more into Spirit and Randy California now than I was back in 1968 at the age of 16.

CD#3, Studio recordings between Aug,1974 and March,1975:

The majority of studio recordings here have a raw edge to them. Some are proto-types of material found on future releases 'Spirit of '76', 'Son of Spirit' and 'Farther Along'. Also, some seem under-produced and/or incomplete.
All though are fascinating examples of behind-the-scenes work which best articulates a Spirit in transition, and a group that was constantly honing its artistic vision through sheer perserverence. Even with Randy California's solo stuff I always hear some semblance of the Spirit of yore too. Randy and Ed Cassidy were/are the backbone of Spirit, period.

In California's later years he manages his vocals better but in alot of these early studio takes his vox comes across unfiltered (light or unnecessarily in high range). I am reminded of a undisciplined Curtis Mayfield or Jon Anderson (Yes).The lyrical telling of a song must compete with the musical presentation in much of Spirit's studio stuff here (as well as most post 1972 Spirit for that matter), not always a smooth ride. But hey, when it does?....WOW!

This is another great offering of posthumous Spirit/California. Everything in this box set has never been released before though several versions have appeared elsewhere. About 3 1/2 hours of excellent music, really.
If you want to explore this band from a safer perspective start with the first 4 classic line-up from 1968-70. If that does'nt hook you I don't know what to say. After that, still in the safe zone, go for 'The Mercury Years' (a 2cd collection which is essentially California & Cassidy, a grouping which becomes the core of all remaining releases). The posthumous material is just that, "warts'n all" unofficial stuff not exactly essential to everyone but necessary (and perhaps essential) which also includes most of the remaining Spirit albums in developing guises, live AND studio.

Recommended for those really "under-the-influence" of this awesome band and its incredible visionary guitarist.
May 16, 2008

i'm saved

randy california never got his due. the man not only was a great guitarist but also a great composer. this disc has it all. lots of live material and quiet studio cuts. this set is a steal!!! you should get it asap!!! April 9, 2008

Treasures from the Time Coast

Released last October (well a little earlier in the UK)Salvation- Spirit of 74, is a new collection of music by Spirit, which is one of the best ever retrospective releases of live songs by the band.As Spin over in the UK notes: " From the same label (Acadia) that brought you 'The Euro-American Years', this is a 3 CD set made up of live and studio material all taken from the archives of Randy California. CDs One and Two are made up of tracks recorded in the Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ebbetts Field, Denver, Colorado and the Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin, Texas. CD three is all unreleased studio material."

From looking at the track listing from discs 1 and 2 what you are getting is live versions of most of the songs found on Spirit of 76, only these are from live performances in 1974, with a Spirit line up consisting of mainly Randy California, Ed Cassidy, and Mark Andes.

For Spirit fans, it is as if the temple has finally opened to treasures we didn't even know existed.
Look at the listing for Disc 1:
1 Veruska
2 Storm In The Night
3 Like A Rolling Stone
4 I've Got To Use My Imagination
5 Fresh Garbage
6 Devil
7 Kristee
8 My Road
9 Old Blue
10 Joker On The Run
11 So Little Time To Fly
12 All Along The Watchtower
13 I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)
14 Same Old Thing Urantia

Some of these songs, I don't believe 'live' versions have been available before. Veruska has to be one of the more powerful pure pyschedelic songs ever recorded .Highlights for me from Disc 2 are :'Electro Jam/Mr Skin ', On The Road Again ,Happy , Guide Me , It's All The Same , Goin Down, and Hey Joe. Disc 3 are studio recordings and has a Spirit cover of Dylan's 'Positively Fourth Street', something I had no idea they had ever done.Other cuts that intrigue me are: Maybe You'll Find , Looking Into Darkness , Circle , It's Time Now , So Happy Now , Miss Lani , and You're So Beautiful .

On Disc 2 I have found that on Randy California's version of the old Freddie King number "Goin Down", he lets loose with his Stratocaster, and it is one of the hottest numbers of the set. It smokes. So also does both versions of Sunrise.

I have now been listening to Disc 3 on my car stereo for some time and I notice from So Happy Now on, it is like a Hawaiian suite of songs. Likely highly influenced by Randy California having lived on Maui in 1973. Very mellow tunes, but heartfelt, and with nice arrangements. Listening to Sparkling Sands makes you feel like you are on a Hawaiian beach. Also both Future in My Hands and Salvation are enjoyable rockers on this disc.

For me personally, I am discovering songs I have never heard before, and had no idea Spirit had ever done them. In a way it's a shame such Spirit releases didn't come out earlier, say in the late 70's or early 80's. One can speculate about a live version of Veruska being played on radio, and I believe if this had been released by the mid-80s it would have sparked a lot of interest in Spirit as it was in its Tent of Miracles phase.

For hard core Spirit fans it has to be a must have , and for others who might be interested in how this unique band sounded at live concerts in 1974, this could be a revelation, if not salvation. I have found that getting this 3 disc set is worth it just for Disc 3 alone. It also comes with a nice booklet written by Mike Skidmore that goes into detail about how this set was arranged and remastered for sound, plus information about the concerts. All in all a major plus for Spirit fans.

December 25, 2007

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