Spirit: Fresh Garbage

Mélange Monday gives me the opportunity to find music that doesn’t fit any of the predetermined categories for the rest of the week. I thought I’d dip into the well of great 60s album rock with a cut from one of my favorite, but little played bands: Spirit.

The lead cut from the band’s debut LP on Lew Adler’s Ode records was the tune “Fresh Garbage.” I love this tune especially John Locke’s jazz influenced keyboard leads. This band was way ahead of the times in 1968 – very fusion oriented. The song was penned by Jay Ferguson and features he and Randy California on guitars, Mark Andes on bass, and the old man of the band Ed Cassidy on drums. Cassidy was Randy California’s step-father.

The cover of the album was a montage of the five members of the band into one persona – quite “Fresh . . . fresh . . . fresh.”