Spirit is the debut studio album by American rock band Spirit, released on January 22, 1968 by Ode Records. The album was commercially successful, spending more than six months on the Billboard album charts,[4] peaking at #31. It was voted number 658 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).
The guitar part of "Taurus" is said to have influenced Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page in writing "Stairway to Heaven".[5] Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit on an American tour in 1968, and also borrowed from "Fresh Garbage" in live performances of the song 'As Long as I Have You'.[6]
In 1973, Epic released a two-disc LP repackage of Spirit and Clear simply entitled Spirit.
The album was first issued on compact disc in 1996 by Sony. The original 1968 stereo mixes were not available for this release, so the album was remixed in stereo from the original multitrack tapes. This edition also includes four previously unreleased bonus tracks.
In 2017, Audio Fidelity reissued the album as a numbered limited edition hybrid SACD. This edition was remastered from the original 1968 stereo master tapes, which had not been commercially available since the LP release was discontinued in the 1970s. The 2017 edition also includes bonus tracks in the same mixes as those on the 1996 reissue.
^"Whammy Bar" Guitar World April 1997: 19 "But California's most enduring legacy may well be the fingerpicked acoustic theme of the song "Taurus," which Jimmy Page lifted virtually note for note for the introduction to "Stairway to Heaven."
^Sleeve notes to 1996 reissue of Spirit's debut album, booklet included with CD EPC 485175
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