Monday, October 20, 2014

Spirit's early '70s chart action

Spirit's "Mr. Skin," which is either about pimping or pornography, crept into Billboard's Hot 100 three years after the release of their 1970 Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus album, thanks to a promotional boost from Epic's Best of Spirit compilation. Too bad the classic lineup of the LA quintet, after releasing four heady albums between 1968 and 1970, had disbanded by then: vocalist/ songwriter Jay Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes focused on their new boogie rock group Jo Jo Gunne; Ed Cassidy and John Locke joined forces with Texas brothers Al and John Staehely for a revamped boogie rock version of Spirit; and guitarist Randy California got busy with his Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds album, a future cult favorite.

Here's a chronological list of Spirit's early '70s singles chart appearances:

1. Spirit - "1984" (Billboard #69, entered 2/7/70). Written by Randy California. Produced by Lou Adler. 45: "1984"/"Sweet Stella Baby" (Ode 1970). LP: The Best of Spirit (Epic 1973).

Whatever the intention, this single comes off a bit as a cash-in on Zager and Evans's "In the Year 2525," but it does feature Randy California's distinctive lead guitar. It was Spirit's second-best charting performance, next to "I Got a Line on You" (#25 in 1969). Side B was a non-album groupie-tribute song.

2. "Animal Zoo" (Billboard #97, entered 9/12/70). Written by Jay Ferguson. Produced by David Briggs. 45: "Animal Zoo"/"Red Light Roll On" (Epic 1970). LP: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (Epic 1970); The Best of Spirit (Epic 1973).

The A-side is a city-gripe companion piece to "Nature's Way," which also appears on the Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus album. The B-side is an (uncharacteristically) crude non-album recording of a rocker written by Randy California about being given "the shaft."

3. "Nature's Way" (Billboard #111, entered 3/20/71). Written by Randy California. Produced by David Briggs. 45: "Nature's Way"/"Mr. Skin" (Epic 1970). LP: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (Epic 1970); The Best of Spirit (Epic 1973).

The ecology-tinged A-side peaked at #111. The appearance of "Mr. Skin" on the B-side tricked Billboard chart archivist Joel Whitburn into mistakenly listing the 1973 charting version of "Mr. Skin" as the "Nature's Way" B-side in his Top Pop Singles 1955-2010.

4. "Mr. Skin" (Billboard #92, entered 10/20/73). Written by Jay Ferguson. Produced by David Briggs. 45: "Mr. Skin"/"Soldier" (Epic 1973). LP: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (Epic 1970); The Best of Spirit (Epic 1973).

This was a fresh reissue of "Mr. Skin," not to be confused with its appearance as a B-side to "Nature's Way" in 1971. The confusing copyright date on the single's label is 1972, even though it charted in late '73 as a result of Epic's push for the 1973 Best of Spirit compilation.

Bonus:
Jo Jo Gunne - "Run Run Run" (Billboard #27, entered 3/18/72). Written by Jay Ferguson and Matthew Andes. Produced by Jo Jo Gunne. 45: "Run Run Run"/"Take It Easy" (Asylum 1972). LP: Jo Jo Gunne (Asylum 1972).

Although the band that ex-Spirit members Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes formed in 1972 scored a Top 40 hit right out of the gate with this hippie joyride, it would be their only chart appearance.


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