  randy california (born randy craig wolfe; february 20, 1951 â january 2, 1997) was a guitarist, singer and songwriter and one of the original members of the rock group spirit, formed in 1967. ==biography== california was born into a musical family in los angeles and spent his early years studying varied styles at the family's los angeles folk club, the ash grove. his uncle, ed pearl, was the founder of the ash grove. he was 15 years old when his mother bernice pearl and new stepfather, ed cassidy (later to become a founding member of the band spirit, with randy), moved to new york city in the summer of 1966 because cassidy had a number of jazz gigs lined up. it was there, at manny's guitars, that randy met jimi hendrix. he played in hendrix's band jimmy james and the blue flames that summer. california, cassidy and pearl lived in an apartment building in forest hills (queens), new york called the balfour, whose other residents included future steely dan co-founder walter becker, who cites california's blues-based guitar style as an influence on his own playing. the stage name "randy california" was given to him by hendrix to distinguish him from another randy in the band, randy palmer, who hendrix dubbed "randy texas". when hendrix and california were invited to come to england by chas chandler, former bassist of british invasion band the animalsâwho became hendrix's manager and producerârandy's parents refused to allow him to go, insisting the 15-year old stay and finish high school. by some accounts, chandler wanted hendrix as the only gui
1951_births 1997_deaths Accidental_deaths_in_Hawaii American_male_singers American_rock_musicians American_rock_singers American_singer-songwriters Deaths_by_drowning Jewish_American_musicians Musicians_from_Los_Angeles,_California Spirit_(band)_members