The Family That Plays Together
Studio album by
Spirit
ReleasedDecember 1968 (1968-12)
RecordedMarch 11–September 18, 1968
Genre
Length34:44
LabelOde
ProducerLou Adler
Spirit chronology
Spirit
(1968)		 The Family That Plays Together
(1968)		 Clear
(1969)
Singles from The Family That Plays Together
  1. "I Got a Line on You"
    Released: 1968
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone(positive)[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]

The Family That Plays Together is the second album by the American rock band Spirit. It was released by Ode Records in December 1968. It was voted number 575 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).

The cover was photographed at the Sunset Highland Motel, 6830 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, across the street from Hollywood High School.

Title

The title alludes to the slogan "The family that prays together stays together", created by ad-writer Al Scalpone for the Family Rosary Crusade and popular in American and British parlance beginning in the 1940s. During this time the band lived together in a house in Topanga, California, near Los Angeles. The title was also inspired by the stepson-stepfather relationship between lead guitarist Randy California and percussionist Ed Cassidy.

Music

The group expands on psychedelic rock and moves toward an early form of progressive rock. "It Shall Be" and "Silky Sam" incorporate jazz influences. "Jewish" has Hebrew lyrics taken from the traditional song "Hine Ma Tov", based on King David's Psalm 133.[4] The album's string and horn arrangements were by Marty Paich, who also created arrangements for the group's self-titled debut album.

Release history

After the first issue, the stereo master tapes for this album were locked in storage and unavailable. Because of this, subsequent CD releases by Sony, as well as the recent vinyl reissue by Sundazed Records, are taken from new stereo mixes made from the original multi-track tapes by Bob Irwin, Randy California and Ed Cassidy in 1996. Liner notes on the 1996 CD reissue state that it was "mixed and mastered by Vic Anesini, Sony Music Studios, New York". (The tracks that appeared on the Time Circle, 1968–1972 compilation were remixed as well, though those mixes are different.)

The 1996 CD reissue also contains five bonus tracks. Two of these appeared on the Time Circle, 1968–1972 compilation, while the other three are previously unissued.

In 2017, Audio Fidelity reissued the album as a numbered limited edition hybrid SACD. This was the first release to use the original stereo mixes since the 1970s. This edition also includes bonus tracks in the same mixes as on the 1996 reissue.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Got a Line on You"Randy California2:39
2."It Shall Be"
3:24
3."Poor Richard"Jay Ferguson2:31
4."Silky Sam"Ferguson4:57
5."Drunkard"Ferguson2:27
6."Darlin' If"California3:37
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."It's All the Same"
4:41
8."Jewish"California3:23
9."Dream Within a Dream"Ferguson3:13
10."She Smiles"Ferguson2:30
11."Aren't You Glad"Ferguson5:25
1996 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Fog" (instrumental)
  • Locke
  • California
2:23
13."So Little to Say"Ferguson2:58
14."Mellow Fellow" (instrumental)Locke3:46
15."Now or Anywhere"Ferguson4:20
16."Space Chile" (instrumental)Locke6:25

Personnel

Spirit

Production

  • Lou Adler - producer
  • Bob Irwin - producer
  • Marty Paich - horn arrangements, string arrangements
  • Vic Anesini - mastering, mixing (reissue)
  • Armin Stiener - engineer
  • Adam Block - project director
  • Tom Wilkes - art direction
  • Guy Webster - photography

Charts

Album

Chart (1969) Peak
position
US Billboard Top LPs 22
Canada RPM Magazine Top 50 46

Singles

Song Chart Position
"I Got a Line on You" RPM Magazine 28

References

  1. 1 2 3 Allmusic review
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hansen, Barret (March 15, 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  4. ↑ Bernarde, Scott (2003). Stars of David: Rock'n'roll's Jewish Stories. UPNE. pp. 164–169. ISBN 9781584653035. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
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