Spirit - Son Of America '2005

Tracks list

 Archivist Mick Skidmore, assembling his fourth collection of largely
unreleased Spirit recordings for the British Acadia label (following Sea Dream,
Blues from the Soul, and Live from the Time Coast), puts more of an emphasis on
[bandleader Randy Californias] songwriting abilities, as he reveals in his liner
notes. In particular, Californias political views come out on several of the
songs, his views for the most part reliably left-wing, with the possible
exception of City of Angels, an acoustic ballad that sounds like it may have
been written around the time of the Los Angeles riot of 1992. In the song,
California laments the rise of gangs and sympathizes with the outnumbered
police, while taking something of an anti-immigrant posture, noting that his
grandparents came to the U.S. through the front door, while later immigrants
have overrun the country, arriving through the backdoor. As Skidmore notes, this
seems a change in attitude from the more critical view of the police expressed
in Californias 60s song 1984. Skidmore intersperses the songs with what are no
doubt many guitar instrumental interludes to be found in Californias archives,
filling up the albums first disc to 79-plus minutes. The second disc runs just
as long, but some of it may sound familiar to Spirit fans. The first archival
Spirit album to be released after Californias death, Cosmic Smile was compiled
by Bruce Gary, and Skidmore presents what is essentially his version of that
album on the second CD here, although most of the songs are presented in
alternate or remixed form. This CD is billed as a bonus disc, and indeed Acadia
is charging only £1 more for the album than it does for its single-CD
collections. But the U.S. list price is $24.95, so for Americans the bonus
aspect of the set will be lost. Still, given that the poorly distributed Cosmic
Smile sold fewer than 1,500 copies and is out of print, this album allows fans a
second chance to acquire the material, another good bunch of California and
Spirit songs consistent with the tracks on the first disc. 
:: TRACKLIST ::

CD 1
1. Space Jam (2:28)
2. Prophecy (4:40)
3. Interlude #1 (1:27)
4. Thomas Q and Jennifer (4:14)
5. Sai Jam #1 (2:12)
6. 20 Years (3:10)
7. Gyrations of War (1:29)
8. Son of America (4:18)
9. In the Dark (0:51)
10. Storm in the Night (2:47)
11. Gopal (3:41)
12. Sai Jam #2 (3:15)
13. Shock Values (4:33)
14. Times They Are a Changing (4:28)
15. Interlude #2 (1:20)
16. Who Are You? (1:45)
17. Breaking My Heart (Soul on Fire) (3:05)
18. Barking Up the Wrong Tree (4:07)
19. Back Home (2:59)
20. French Apartment (1:33)
21. City of Angels (2:35)
22. 2007 (4:25)
23. Sai Jam #3 (4:53)
24. Let It Be (3:57)
25. Medley: Maybe Youll Find/When/Farther Along (5:18)

CD 2
1. Intro (0:44)
2. One by One (Alternate Version) (7:22)
3. Love from the Heart (Alternate Mix) (3:44)
4. Denise (2:35)
5. Loverman (2:31)
6. No Time to Pretend (Alternate Mix) (4:55)
7. Fire (3:07)
8. Close to You (4:03)
9. River (Alternate Version) (4:45)
10. Evil Is, Evil Does (3:39)
11. Mean and Beautiful (Alternate Version) (5:20)
12. Compromise (Alternate Version) (7:10)
13. Mean Little Sister (2:54)
14. 12,000 Miles (Studio Version) (3:39)
15. Break My Back (Alternate Version) (4:10)
16. Land of Bismo (3:52)
17. Line by Line (Water in the Eyes) (Full Version) (3:11)
18. Take Me Down (To the River of Love) (4:02)
19. Living on Love (Vocal Version with Instrumental Reprise) (7:49)

Line-up / Musicians
- Randy California / guitar, vocals
- Ed Cassidy / percussion, drums
- John Locke / keyboards
- Jay Ferguson / guitar, vocals
- Mark Andes / bass, vocals
- Matt Andes / guitar, vocals
- Scott Monahan / keyboards, vocals
- Mike Nile / bass, vocals
- Janet Wolfe / backing vocals
- Bruce Gary / percussion, vocals

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