Died On This Date (January 2, 1997) Randy California / Spirit

Randy California (Born Randy Wolfe)
February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997

Randy California was the original lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter for the psychedelic rock band, Spirit.  Formed in Los Angeles in 1967, the group is best remembered for their 1969 hit, “I Got A Line On You.”  California mastered the electric guitar as a child and when he was just 15, he was invited to play in Jimi Hendrix’s Jimmy James & the Blue Flames.  It was Hendrix who began calling him Randy “California” to distinguish him from the band’s Randy Palmer who then became known as Randy Texas. It is believed that California would have become a member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  Since he was just 15 at the time, his parents would not allow him to go with the Blue Flames to Europe where Hendrix ultimately formed the Experience.  California soon helped form Spirit who released their first album, Spirit, when he was still just 17.  That album included the song, “Taurus,” a song that includes a California guitar part that many have accused Jimmy Page for lifting when he wrote Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.”  By the early ’70s, California parted ways with Spirit and released his first solo album, but then reformed a new version of the group with original member, Ed Cassidy in 1974.  They continued on until California’s tragic death.  On January 2, 1997, Randy California drowned while rescuing his son from a powerful rip tide while swimming in the ocean off Hawaii.  His son survived, but California was killed at the age of 46.

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