Emerging in the late 1960s from Los Angeles, Spirit were an odd band even by the standards of an era when rock was in its infancy and genre rules hadn’t yet ossified. Spirit’s members ranged in age from 16 to 44, and melded jazz, rock, and pop. Frontman Jay Ferguson was an oddball lyricist, eschewing puppy love and lust to write about litter, the theatre, and whatever else popped into his head.
Most bizarre of all was the 1969 b-side, ‘Sweet Stella Baby’. It was written about a mega-fan of the band. That’s not unusual in itself – ‘Coral’, another 1969 Spirit outtake, was named for Coral Shields, the sister of famous groupie Sable Starr. What’s unusual is the specific mention of Stella’s weight – Ferguson croons that “she’s 200 pounds of lovely woman set free”. The Allmusic Guide dryly reports that “Some bandmembers felt that Jay Ferguson’s mention of her immense weight was a bit off color.”
It’s strange lyrically, but ‘Sweet Stella Baby’ works musically – John Locke’s funky piano underpins the song, California’s fuzzed-out guitar lines provide some propulsion, and California’s step-father Ed Cassidy gets a neat miniature drum solo. It’s a nice little tune that, for my money, overshadows its a-side, California’s ‘1984’.
Ferguson outgunning California in the writing department is unusual for Spirit – California wrote Spirit’s biggest hit (1968’s ‘I Got A Line on You’) and dominated their best album (1970’s Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus). Spirit are best-known nowadays for their court case against Led Zeppelin, where it’s justifiably alleged that the intro section of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is similar to Randy California’s instrumental ‘Taurus’.
Ferguson eventually wrote the best-known piece of music to emerge from the Spirit camp. It’s not his 1978 yacht-rock solo hit ‘Thunder Island’, featuring Joe Walsh on guitar. It’s his theme for American TV show The Office – the show’s cast picked it from four different contenders. Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight K. Schrute, wrote that:
The theme we eventually ended up with was a beaut. Composed by former seventies rock/pop star Jay Ferguson, it was fun and catchy with just a hint of melancholy. It perfectly set the tone for the show. I’ve written pretend lyrics to it on many occasions. Perhaps I’ll sing them to you one day if you’re nice.
Rainn Wilson, from The Bassoon King: My Life In Art, Faith, And Idiocy
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Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person. It features album reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
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Graham Fyfe has been writing this website since his late teens. Now in his forties, he's been obsessively listening to albums for years. He works as a web editor and plays the piano.
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That was cool. I kind of thought I heard the name Jay Ferguson before but couldn’t remember where until you mentioned Thunder Island. I remember that song from oldies radio when I was a kid. It was that kind of 70s Radio Rock that you remember your whole life. Silly and catchy, and any time it happens to come on I’d be happy to hear it. Oldies radio used to be fantastic, but I don’t even know if they have it anymore. That’s actually where I got my musical education. lol.
I listened to 1960s and 1970s hits in my early teens – my parents didn’t really like rock music, so it was all fresh to me. Never heard ‘Thunder Island’ though.
I don’t know much about Spirit except “I Got A Line On You” which I really like…and of course the infamous “Taurus”…. this is really cool…love the piano in this song…I like their sound from what little I’ve heard…very solid track…
I think they had four really good players. Do you know ‘Nature’s Way’? Probably their next most famous song – it’s pretty simple, but the dual lead vocals of California and Ferguson sound really good together.
I just listened to it…and yes it does sound familiar but regardless…that is a cool song! I might cover that song soon. Thanks, Graham I really like that.
It’s all about how well the voices blend and how spontaneous they sound. Pretty cool chord sequence too.
I quite like that term, ossified.
And I didn’t know that about the office theme either, neat bit of trivia!
Who knew that the guy who wrote a song about a heavy groupie in the 1960s also wrote a popular TV soundtrack in the 2000s….
I guess I only knew Spirit from “I Got a Line On You” and writing the key theme of “Stairway to Heaven” – oops, I meant “Taurus,” of course – how could I possibly compare them with the mighty Zep? And let’s not forget their slick lawyers?
To be clear, I dig Zep and think “Stairway” is one of the best rock songs ever written. I just don’t like they didn’t give credit where credit was due. It wouldn’t have taken anything away from the song. Sadly, “Stairway” isn’t the only case where Zep generously borrowed from other artists without initial acknowledgment.
As for “Sweet Stella Baby,” I have to say this is a great tune I wouldn’t call inferior to “I Got a Line On You”. Love the harmony singing. I can hear some CSNY vibe in here.
If you like the CSN vibe, it’s worth listening to ‘Nature’s Way’ too – that’s my favourite Spirit song.
I think it’s way too close for comfort for Zep, especially as they opened for Spirit and covered the song ‘Fresh-Garbage’. Artistically, Zep tower over Spirit IMO – but it still annoyed me when the story was in the news a few years ago and lots of comments were like “Spirit must suck because I’ve never heard of them”.
I like this Aph. Never heard it before.
It’s a b-side, so I’m not surprised. Do you know Spirit.
Just in passing other than that one popular cut, which I like.