Los Angeles was a very special place in the late 1960's. It was a city of unbound energy and and the musicians who lived and worked there fed on that power. The resulting music was one of the greatest flashes of American pop culture in recent memory. A marriage of numerous musical influences, L.A. rock and roll was in large part an expression of prosperous post-50's America. Spirit was one of the most important groups of that period. Comprised of Randy California (guitar), John Locke (keyboard), Mark Andes (bass), Jay Ferguson (vocals), and Ed Cassidy (drums), Spirit brought together jazz and rock influences that fused a new sound full of energy and excitement.
In addition to their distinctive musical sound, most of the songs on this album demonstrate the vitality and importance of the lyrics to the overall character of Spirit's music. From "1984" to "Mechanical World", "Nature's Way" and "Animal Zoo", the lyrics are an essential element of the songs. Topical lyrics that were realized by the production of the song was a fairly new approach to recording, and Spirit was one of the pioneers of that technique, one which now has become commonplace.
-Liner notes to "The Best Of SPIRIT"
