Spirit Had already had success on the west coast and were popular on the “Boogie Belt” tours through the southwest in Texas etc. but they never quite made the splash they were looking for. Founding member, Randy California, lead guitar, at one time playing and recording with a Sears Silvertone electric guitar, had performed in New York with Jimi Hendrix. Expectations were high when the album “Twelve Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus” was released and the LP did well in the Texas market, but for some reason the record just didn’t catapult them to the level of fame they had sought. In frustration the original band members broke up after that, and a great band was lost to the roll of the dice we call fate. Bass player, Mark Andes, would go on to play with the bands “Firefall” and “Heart” playing lead guitar for the Wilson Sisters. Randy California would carry on with a solo career and various incarnations of Spirit that never lasted long. He died in 1995 tragically saving his son from a rip tide, but he drowned. This happened in Hawaii. 12 Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus was the culmination of 4 years of varying degrees of popularity and development of their unique artistic music. During their live gigs in San Francisco many British Invasion bands came to see them such as the members of Led Zeppelin.

https://youtu.be/eEz_1R-bIMU