STUCK IN THE VINYL AGAIN - SPIRIT - SPIRIT

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Good morning Wednesday warriors and welcome back to Stuck In The Vinyl Again. Today we find ourselves celebrating the 76th Birthday of Burbank, California native, vocalist and multi- instrumentalist, Jay Ferguson (John Arden Ferguson) , best known for his work in the bands, Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne. Happy Birthday Jay ! With him in mind, we spotlight Spirit's self titled debut album. The LP was released  January 22, 1968 on the Ode label and was produced by Lou Adler, the record and film producer who also is a co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood. The record reached #312 on the Billboard 200 and saw the birth of one single ,"Mechanical World" which peaked at #122 in America and #77 in Canada. It also contains the track, "Taurus", the infamous song that was at the center of the lawsuit against Led Zeppelin, alleging that the intro to "Stairway To Heaven" had been "lifted" from Spirit when Zeppelin opened for them in 1968. That trial ended with Led Zeppelin being found not guilty of copyright infringement. Our copy was purchased a couple of years ago at Lakeland's own, The Wax And The Needle. 

1. "Fresh-Garbage" Jay Ferguson 3:11

2. "Uncle Jack" Ferguson 2:44

3. "Mechanical World"
Mark Andes, Ferguson
5:15

4. "Taurus" Randy California 2:37

5. "Girl in Your Eye" Ferguson 3:15

6. "Straight Arrow" Ferguson 2:50

Side two

7. "Topanga Windows" Ferguson 3:36

8. "Gramophone Man"
Ferguson, John Locke, California, Andes, Ed Cassidy
3:49

9. "Water Woman" Ferguson 2:11

10. "The Great Canyon Fire in General" Ferguson 2:46

11. "Elijah" Locke 10:42

Spirit :

Jay Ferguson – lead vocals, percussion
Randy California – guitars, backing vocals, bass
John Locke – keyboards
Mark Andes – bass, backing vocals
Ed Cassidy – drums, percussion

Production

Lou Adler – producer
Marty Paich – string & horn arrangements

Eirik Wangberg, Armin Steiner & Mike Leitz – engineers
Corporate Head – album design
Tom Wilkes – art direction
Guy Webster – cover photo
Jay Thompson – back cover photo

Terry Clements, Marshall Blonstein, Doug Wallack – assistance
Vic Anesini – mastering, mixing
Nicholas Bennett – packaging manager
Adam Block – project director, project coordinator
Bob Irwin – producer, compilation producer
Jeff Smith – package design
Jay Thompson – photography, insert photography
Douglas Wallack – road manager