Spirit

One of my favorite California bands was Spirit. Randy California was a great player and singer who met his unfortunate demise trying to rescue his son from the surf in Hawaii in 1997. Randy, born Randy Wolf, played for a short time with Hendrix and the band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames as a young man.  California wrote the song Taurus as a 16 year old, a song that was purloined by Led Zeppelin and turned into Stairway to Heaven.

California's stepfather and Spirit member Ed Cassidy was a jazz drummer who had played with Monk, Adderly and Kirk. Unsung band, and one with a unique sound. I put Dr. Sardonicus up there with Forever Changes and Sergeant Peppers in terms of seminal rock albums.