Randy California
Kapt. Kopter and The (Fabulous) Twirly Birds

There are stories that should be told in schools, if these places were truly dedicated to the spiritual and cultural growth of individuals... but alas...

Randy Craig Wolfe was born and raised in California in a family that immersed him right away in the musical atmosphere of the Ash Grove, a famous folk venue in Los Angeles, founded and managed by his uncle. However, during his adolescence, the family moved to New York where, at the age of fifteen, Randy met Jimi Hendrix who wanted him as the guitarist for his Jimmy James & the Blue Flames. Hendrix renamed him Randy California (due to his origins) to distinguish him from the other Randy who played with him (also renamed, due to his origins, Randy Texas). The young man was a prodigy, so much so that Jimi wanted him with him when Chas Chandler called him to England to form the Experience. However, Randy's parents (as he was sixteen) did not grant him permission, perhaps inadvertently supporting Chandler who wanted Hendrix as the only guitarist for the new band. Losing this, in hindsight, incredible opportunity did not discourage him; instead, he returned to Los Angeles and, together with his stepfather-drummer Ed Cassidy, formed his band... Spirit, with which he released four magnificent albums between 1967 and 1971, showcasing the astonishing talents of the young guitarist. These talents did not go unnoticed, and it's still a controversial subject today whether Jimmy Page plagiarized the guitar riff from Spirit's "Taurus" to create the introduction to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven," although Page has always denied it.

In '71, Randy was exhausted, and a horseback fall resulting in a hospital stay gave him time to reflect, leading to his decision to leave Spirit. "Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds" saw the light at the end of 1972 and represents the turning point in the young guitarist's career, having just turned twenty-one.

The recent loss of his friend and mentor Jimi Hendrix must have deeply shaken him, so much so that the entire album resonates with his presence, and Randy seems conscious of it; it seems he even wants to sublimate his sound as a posthumous tribute, making every structure, every bridge, note, riff... manic depressive. Noel Redding (credited on the album as Clit McTorius) and the drummer from his band Road, Leslie Sampson (credited as Henry Manchovitz), certainly assist him in this endeavor, which is why the opener "Downer" is a haunting journey to the center of his own dirty and tired soul, a catharsis that leads him to meet his demon and establish some kind of truce in the subsequent "Devil," where everything is softer and more rarefied. The covers present teach us how it is possible to revisit others' songs in such a personal manner as to make them entirely one's own and new, like "I Don't Want Nobody" by James Brown, which maintains its sexual lewdness, while surrounding it with a haunting, deranged hard-blues whirlwind or for Paul Simon's "Mother And Child Reunion," which is transformed by Randy into a splendid Southern ballad, filled with anger and melancholy introducing the sickly funk of his "Things Yet To Come," where the intentionally crooked and unsettling guitar dominates, and the voice emerges almost subdued directly from his tormented and twisted guts. Remembering what Hendrix did with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," Randy takes "Day Tripper" and especially "Rain" and grinds them down into a subtle acid powder mixed with a unhealthy bluesy slush, truly becoming something else and different from the originals while remaining faithful and devoted to the mood that generated them, creating what I believe to be the best tribute ever offered to Lennon and McCartney. The conclusion is the most direct and heartfelt homage to the friend who is no longer there, where "Rainbow" lives for three minutes and forty seconds of pure Hendrixian blues, directly inspired by the murky sessions of "Electric Ladyland."

Randy California would return to firmly lead Spirit and throughout the years would release more solo works (unfortunately without ever reaching the magic of "Kapt. Kopter and the (Fabulous) Twirly Birds") until the cursed January of 1997, when the turbulent sea of the Hawaiian island of Molokai claimed him, after he launched to rescue his son Quinn.

These stories, unfortunately, are not taught in schools, and therefore will always remain available only for those who have the desire and courage (combined with luck and sensitivity) to seek them out.

Rest In Peace Randy (California) Craig Wolfe.