My Top 1000 Songs #869: My Friend
[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]
Semi-legendary late 60s SoCal band Spirit went through so many convolutions, it's no wonder history finally gave up on them, with little of their material (a few hit singles from the psychedelic era aside) getting the love it deserves. After their initial run of 60s albums, they splintered into various factions--some of the band continuing as Spirit, some splitting off into Jo Jo Gunne, and frontman Randy California recording a 1972 solo album as Kaptain Kopter. California then recorded an intended follow-up (joined by Spirit drummer, and his father-in-law, Ed Cassidy), entitled The Adventures of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy in Potato Land.
That album was shelved for nearly a decade; instead, a newly-formed Spirit was constituted, recording a series of 70s albums that ranged from the truly mindblowing to the frustratingly bizarre. But Potato Land finally saw light of day in 1981 (credited to Spirit). It's an odd little record, a concept album of sorts with some spoken-word dialog, though set all that weirdness aside and you've got a handful of surprisingly great stand-alone songs, at least as noteworthy as the band's original heyday. My favorite track is album-closer "My Friend," full of chiming pop hooks and sweet vocal melodies, a truly winning song that you hear once and it instantly feels like something you've been listening to all your life.
The album wasn't done any favors by its lo-fi production, though over the years it saw a series of reissues that cleaned it up considerably.
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