SPIRIT Guitarist And Co-Founder Randy California Dies Aged 45
January 2nd, 1997
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 Randy California |
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Randy California, guitarist and co-founder of Californian rock group Spirit, died on January 2nd, 1997 at the age of 45.
To celebrate the New Year, California and 12-year-old son Quinn went swimming off of the coast of Molokai, Hawaii. The pair were caught by a tidal wave, but California was able to push his son away from the riptide. He himself was subsequently pulled out to sea, however.
Randy Craig Wolfe was born on February 20th, 1951 in Los Angeles, California into a musical family, guitar basics being taught to the man by mother Bernice Pearl Wolfe. Bernice Pearl Wolfe would eventually file for divorce and subsequently marry drummer Ed Cassidy, who had performed with the likes of Thelonious Monk, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal.
By the age of 13, Wolfe was playing guitar with friend Jay Ferguson handling vocals and Mark Andes occupying bass, forming the group the Red Roosters.
At the age of 15 in 1966, Wolfe met Jimi Hendrix at Manny’s Guitars, a New York music store. Conversing and playing slide, Hendrix asked Wolfe to sit in with his band, Jimmy James And The Blue Flames, at the Cafe Wha? In Greenwich Village – a tenure which lasted three months. Hendrix gave Wolfe the name Randy California to differentiate him from bassist Randy Palmer, who was given the name Randy Texas.
The Red Roosters had evolved by May 1967 into the band Spirits Rebellious, named after a book by Kahlil Gibran. Rounding out the line-up were California’s drummer stepfather Ed Cassidy and keyboardist John Locke, an old associate of Cassidy’s. Spirits Rebellious soon shortened its moniker to Spirit.
An eponymous debut arrived in January 1968 on the Ode label; produced by Lou Adler, the album reached number 31 on the Billboard 200. Touring that year, Led Zeppelin acted as support. The Zeppelin composition ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was compared to the Spirit track ‘Taurus’ through the years, later becoming the subject of a lawsuit from California’s estate.
Second studio album Family That Plays Together emerged in December 1968, reaching position 22 on the Billboard 200, the single ‘I Got A Line On You’ climbing to position 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969. Spirit was meant to have played at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969 immediately prior to Hendrix, but that was nixed in favour of a promotional tour of radio stations to promote the forthcoming Clear, which was issued in October of that year.
Concept effort Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus was released in November 1970, achieving gold certification by June 1976. Frontman Jay Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes left the fold in 1971, a raft of musicians passing through the Spirit line-up during the early 70s – Spirit at one point featuring no original members. The pair went on to form Jo Jo Gunne, Andes later becoming a part of Heart. March 1972 Spirit effort Feedback was the first without the duo.
California suffered a horseriding accident around this time, suffering from a head injury. Debut solo studio record Kapt. Kopter And The (Fabulous) Twirlybirds was released in 1972.
California and Cassidy reformed Spirit proper in 1974, signing to Mercury Records. In the mid and latter half of the 70s, Spirit issued the likes of Spirit Of ’76 (May 1975), Son Of Spirit (October 1975), Farther Along (June 1976), and Future Games (April 1977). Ferguson appeared onstage with Spirit for several gigs at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during 1976. By 1979, Spirit had disbanded once more.
Cut during 1973 by California and Cassidy, The Adventures Of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy In Potato Land emerged in 1981, charting at position 40 on the UK album charts. Second solo studio record Euro-American was released in 1982, with Restless surfacing in 1985 and subsequently Shattered Dreams in 1986.
Signing to the IRS label, Spirit released Rapture In The Chambers in 1989. Follow-up effort Tent Of Miracles was released in 1990.
A Spirit ensemble featuring California, Cassidy, Andes’ brother Matt on slide guitar and Matt’s daughter Rachel on vocals cut December 1996 swansong California Blues, comprised of original tracks and cover versions. A European trek was slated to begin in January 1997, but was cancelled in the wake of California’s death.
