This latest Sunrise & Salvation set from Cherry Red brings together their five albums recorded for Mercury Records during the 70’s and 80’s remastered from the original tapes along with an additional 102 previously unreleased live, studio and demo tracks from that same period all wrapped up in eight CD clamshell box compiled and annotated by Mick Skidmore (Spirit archivist). The hopes of another Spirit reunion crashed down in 1997 when Randy tragically drowned while trying to save his son (who survived) from rip tides while swimming near their home in Hawaii. Formed in 1967 the band were put together by Randy Wolfe (California) with stepfather Ed Cassidy on drums but they always struggled to keep up the momentum during a career littered with break ups and reunions despite mixing in the same circles as Hendrix and The Mamas & The Papas. Held back by the shadows of their own personal and chemical demons they also never quite managed to take the step up to join the likes of The Grateful Dead’s or Grand Funk Railroads of the time even in their home territory. Their distinctive laid back California sound not really fitting in with the British scene of the time. With a career peaking in the US with their #25 hit ‘I Got A Line On You’ (which also made the Canadian top 50) Los Angeles band Spirit never really cracked the UK market.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |