From the Vault... 01/04/2004 #871 info Spirit "Time Circle (1968-1972)" © Epic/Legacy Records Year of Release: 1991 Rating: track listing Disc One: Fresh Garbage Uncle Jack Mechanical World Taurus Girl In Your Eye Straight Arrow Topanga Windows Gramophone Man The Great Canyon Fire In General I Got A Line On You It Shall Be Poor Richard Silky Sam Sherozode All The Same Dream Within A Dream Aren't You Glad Eventide Model Shoppe Theme (The Moving Van) Green Gorilla Rehearsal Theme Disc Two: Fog Now Or Anywhere Dark-Eyed Woman So Little Time To Fly Ground Hog Ice I'm Truckin' New Dope In Town 1984 Sweet Stella Baby Prelude-- Nothing To Hide Nature's Way Animal Zoo Love Has Found A Way Why Can't I Be Free Mr. Skin When I Touch You Street Worm Morning Will Come Turn To The Right WSVNRadio Archives A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Spirit related sites: Spirit Website Wikipedia

Previous Review: #870 Letia Nichols--Joy To The World Next Review: #872 The Bangles--Greatest Hits Spirit "Time Circle (1968-1972)" Spirit was one of many bands from the late 1960s, yet their name may not have been recognizable as to many others. But when Classic Rock radio station plays the hit "I Got A Line On You," everyone remembers that song, but they may not remember the name of the band who performed it. Two members of Spirit remained constant throughout the years: Drummer Ed Cassidy, and stepson Randy Califonria was the lead singer. Many personnel changes occurred along the years. Time Circle (1968-1972) is a 2-disc greatest hits compilation, taking songs from their albums, and quite a bit of unreleased material. Songs from their 1968 self-titled debut: "Fresh Garbage" has a jazz feel, mixed with a Jethro Tull rock style. "Uncle Jack" has a great 1960s psychedelic style, an easy contender for such bands as the early Jethro Tull, Jefferson Airplane, and the likes. "Mechanical World" has psychedelic guitars worth mentioning, and is another great psychedelic styled song, and could even be classified as a progressive rock song as well. "Taurus" a very impressive tune, inspired by classical music; this instrumental has a great musical accompaniment, and can be compared to another 1960s band, The Moody Blues. "Girl In Your Eye" and "Straight Arrow" are mellow tunes, easily fitting the late 1960s rock style, as say The Moody Blues, especially "Topanga Windows," as it blends into a psychedelic rock boogie as compared to Savoy Brown. "Gramophone Man" has an early Kinks feel, blended with jazz. "The Great Canyon Fire In General" is another 1960s psychedelic number. Songs from 1968's The Family That Plays Together: Their biggest (and most remembered) hit is here -- "I Got A Line On You." The medley of "It Shall Be/Poor Richard/Silky Sam" has a great mix of jazz and 1960s rock. "Sherozode" is fusion jazz at its finest, yet it was an unreleased outtake from the album. "All The Same" has an early Jethro Tull sound, and like them, features a drum solo from Ed Cassidy, as JT had done with their drummer. "Dream Within A Dream" is another typical late-1960s Psychedelic rock tune, likewise "Aren't You Glad," which blends some nice string arrangements, and the solo guitar work is easily compared to Eric Clapton and Cream. The next three songs were unreleased, and was originally recorded for the soundtrack of The Model Shop: "Eventide," "Model Shoppe Theme (The Moving Van)" are wonderful contemporary jazz tunes, very impressive. "Green Gorilla" has a more hard rock/blues feel, compared to the likes of Savoy Brown. The next song was unreleased, "Rehearsal Theme," psychedelic rock mixed with jazz. Unreleased outtakes from The Family That Plays Together: "Fog" is a very impressive rock instrumental, and could be used for movie soundtrack material. "Now Or Anywhere" returns to the harder psychedelic rock style (Cream). Songs from 1969's Clear (note: according to some Spirit discographies, this album was titled as Dear Spirit): "Dark-Eyed Woman" mixing psychedelic hard rock with a blues edge, this song is easily compared to the likes of Mike Bloomfield. "So Little Time To Fly" has a more blues rock approach. "Ground Hog" has a very weird atmosphere about itself, very psychedelic, and odd, comparing to the previous hard rock/blues styled songs from this album, and on this compilation. "Ice" is featured here, as an unreleased full-length version, having a very jazz-tinged mellow style. "I'm Truckin'" has the blues/rock style again, as heard in the music of Savoy Brown, Cream, or even the Grateful Dead. "New Dope In Town" could be compared to the likes of Grand Funk Railroad ("Closer To Home"), and again, this song adds a blend of piano jazz. The next two songs were a single, "1984" (inspired by the George Orwell novel), and it's B-side, "Sweet Stella Baby." Both sonngs have the common late-1960s Rock sound. Songs from 1970's The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus: As the 1970s begin, it is easy to recognize "Prelude--Nothing To Hide" is more of an early 1970s song, as the late-1960s psychedelic rock was merging into the new decade. The psychedelic sound was changing into a more harder rock style, and with Country Rock would later become popular, songs from this original release was pointing in that direction. "Nature's Way," however, is a great ballad, and is heard on most Classic Rock stations. Country Rock (Grateful Dead) is best described on "Animal Zoo," where "Love Has Found A Way" does have a psychedelic touch, likewise "Street Worm," with a harder rock/blues edge. "Why Can't I Be Free" returns to a mellow Country Rock style. "Mr. Skin" is a 1970s classic -- having a great rock sound, "When I Touch You" has a Progressive Rock feel, another style that would later become popular in the '70s decade. "Morning Will Come" definitely has the early 1970s rock sound, as many of the bands heard in the Rhino series Have a Nice Day. "Turn To The Right" is a good hard rock 1970s song, and was taken from the Potato Land Sessions. A great introduction to the music of Spirit -- many songs from each release are contained here, and for those who enjoy the psychedelic rock of the late 1960s, blues, rock in general, and even jazz, Spirit's music will be listened to over and over for enjoyment. Where "I Got A Line On You" is the best remembered Spirit song, "Nature's Way" and "Mr. Skin" may also be remembered to those familar with Classic Rock radio. Throughout the '80s, Spirit has reunited, and even recorded new material. Ed Cassidy and Randy California remained throughout these reunions, but sadly, Spirit's life came to an end in 1997, when Randy California drowned in an accident, when he was pushing his 12-year-old son out of a riptide off the Hawaiian coast. They had just prepared for a new live album, with new recordings to be included. Spirit's music will be remembered as Rock, Blues, and Jazz. They may not be highly remembered as such bands as Jethro Tull and Cream, but they did leave behind a great assortment of music that traveled into different genres, and not just focusing on one particular type of music. © WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Epic/Legacy Records and is used for reference purposes only. Previous Review: #870 Letia Nichols--Joy To The World Next Review: #872 The Bangles--Greatest Hits