Album Reviews

Look, if your idea of “jazz-rock” fun is David Clayton Thomas’ edition of “Blood Sweat and Tears, I’m not going to try to change your mind, but if you want the real jazz-rock and psych star of that era, you need to hear this ridiculously neglected Spirit album originally issued on Epic in the fall of 1970 that Sundazed has smartly resurrected.

It’s got fuzz guitar, it’s got horns, its got syncopation, it’s got psychedelic sound effects and cowbells, it’s got bongos and backwards tape loops, it’s got some country-rock and neat harmonies, it’s got funky sax and overdriven, feedback drenched guitar parts, it’s got a song called “Mr. Skin” that the guy who’s got the naked in the movies website probably copped, it’s got an ecological plea ballad for Christ’s sakes and it was produced by Neil Young’s late cohort, the great David Briggs so you know it kicks ass!

The tune “Nothing To Hide” has a dynamite horn riff that was probably copped by Whitfield/Strong for “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and the group had a Jewish guitarist named Randy Wolfe who played in Jimi Hendrix’s pre- Experience band The Blue Flames. In fact, Jimi named him Randy California. California died in a 1997 boating accident in Hawaii at the age of 45 but not before saving the life of his son.

I could go on, but if you don’t know this classic and what’s already been written isn’t sufficient enticement to get you to get this, nothing else I might write will.

Sundazed’s reissue gives you the original gatefold artwork but it can’t quite give you the original’s warmth, depth and high frequency extension. However, it does have excellent clarity, particularly on the vocals, which are much better here than on the original and it also has pleasing image specificity and compactness so let’s just say it’s somewhat different but neither better nor worse than the original, being better in some ways and not as good in others (I think the original had some echo added in the mastering that Sundazed smartly leaves out).

The review copy had some bad non-fill on side two probably courtesy of the not so benign neglect at Music City’s United pressing plant. They’ve gotten better over time but need to be better still and especially more consistent if they are to be taken seriously compared to the world’s premier pressing plants. They’ve got the equipment there. They just haven’t the will and that’s a shame.

Sundazed says the problem with my copy is not endemic to the run and that they’ve not had many returns so do your record collection a favor and add this classic to it!