Thursday, September 3, 2015

The High Spirits


The High Spirits was a popular teen-beat surf and garage band from Minneapolis, Minnesota signed with Soma Records. The original line-up consisted of lead guitar and manager Owen Husney, drums Doug Ahrens, lead vocals Cliff Siegel, bass guitar Rick Beresford, rhythm guitar Rick Levinson, and Jay Luttio on keyboards. The band was among the Midwest groups that are credited with being the forefathers of the later punk rock scene. Owen Husney later went on to discover and manage the artist, Prince as well as eleven other gold and platinum artists! The group's first hit was a rave-up of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "(Turn on Your) Love Light," recorded in 1965. The record did well in the Twin Cities, and hit Number 1 in both Kansas City and Dallas during the fall of 1965. Their second release was "I Believe" recorded in 1966. In 2006, the band was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame. (Thanks Wiki!)
The song in our Nitro-Retro focus here is from a rare acetate from 1966. "It's Alright With Me" is one of the best reworkings of a Zombies tune I've heard—Just brilliant. Featured on "Back From The Grave Vol. 9" DIGIT! (click the 45 label below to hear the tune on YouTube)





Dig The Original Zombies tune on YouTube!


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