When asked 'Who is your favorite guitar player?' Jimi Hendrix always said Randy California. Randy had played with Jimi in New York in 1966 as part of Jimi James and the Blue Flames, before returning to Los Angeles to form the group Spirit.
Spirit was a virtuoso ensemble of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals.
Their repertoire consisted of unique rock songs as well as Jazz and experimental free-form improvisations. As a live band they were second to none, with Randy's Echoplex guitar effects and drummer Ed Cassidy's quadruple bass drums creating textures that no other band could duplicate. They were not well known when the band played Toronto and only drew a few die-hard fans. Their masterpiece album 'The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus' was still a year away. Perhaps the most under-rated band of the 60's, Spirit turned down a gig at Woodstock. Had they played, they would have been recognized as one of the most talented bands of the era.