Spirit

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #44 An album by a band with members over 10 years apart in age (40th Album)

Spirit was a band formed in 60s California that took a stab at the growing psychedelic counterculture of America. What differentiates them from the others is that right from the beginning, you can feel the vast influence of classical music, psychedelia, blues, and jazz. The latter is partly due to the drummer, Ed Cassidy, being a jazz head who
performed with many famous jazz musicians like Art Pepper, Cannonball Adderley, Roland Kirk, and Lee Konitz. That influenced his jazzy, and loose style of playing that gives the whole record a laid back approach.

Ed is that backbone that holds this album, but the rest of the guys create a really surreal and atmospheric vibe. Randy California has a lot of good moments like Taurus (which Led Zeppelin got sued over), The Great Canyon Fire in General (that has such a "big" sound) and Elijah (which showcases the stepfather-son dynamic of Randy and Ed).

And with a mellow voice like Ferguson's, Spirit gives us something not many psychedelic bands do: an atmosphere that doesn't turn into a slogfest, but a book full of fun passages and intricacies.