Sunday, November 27, 2011

Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. SardoniCus; what I found out about them...


Spirit.  Their big song was was called I Got a Line on You.  But that song is not on this album.  A somewhat obscure group - here is what I found out about them:   Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is the fourth album by the psychedelic rock ensemble Spirit.  Produced by David Briggs, who is best known for his work with Neil Young. The original LP was released in 1970 by Epic.  The album was re-issued on CD in 1996 by Sony in remastered form, with bonus tracks.   The original lineup of the group evolved from an earlier Los Angeles band, The Red Roosters, which included Randy California (guitars, vocals), Mark Andes (bass) and Jay Ferguson(vocals, percussion). With the addition of California's stepfather Ed Cassidy (drums), and keyboard player John Locke the new band was originally named the Spirits Rebellious (after a book by Khalil Gibran) but was soon shortened simply to Spirit. Randy California had also played with Jimi Hendrix (then known as Jimmy James) in Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in 1966.  Cassidy was instantly recognizable by his shaven head (hence his nickname "Mr. Skin") and his fondness for wearing black. He was around twenty years older than the rest of the group (born in 1923). His earlier career was primarily in jazz and included stints with Cannonball Adderley, Gerry Mulligan, Roland Kirk, Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz. He was a founding member of Rising Sons with Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder.

1 comment:

  1. Mr Skin -- know where you been!

    Also one of my all-time faves "Nature's Way"

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