The High Spirits was a garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 band from Minneapolis, Minnesota active in the 1960s and signed with Soma Records

Soma Records

Soma Records may refer to...*Soma Records , an American record company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota best known for issuing recordings by The Fendermen and The Castaways...

. While there was a small rotation of members, the original line-up consisted of Owen Husney, Doug Ahrens, Cliff Siegel, Rick Beresford, Rick Levinson and Jay Luttio. 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 manage Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

.

Charts and Awards

The group's first hit was a raveup of Bobby "Blue" Bland's "(Turn on Your) Love Light

Turn On Your Love Light

"Turn On Your Love Light" is an R&B-style blues song recorded by Bobby Bland in 1961. It was a both an important R&B and pop chart hit for Bland and has become one of his most identifiable songs...

," recorded on May 7, 1965 and issued on Soma Records. The B side was "Tossin' and Turnin'

Tossin' and Turnin'

"Tossin' and Turnin" is a song written by Ritchie Adams and Malou Rene, and originally recorded by Bobby Lewis. The record reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 on July 10, 1961, and R&B chart,, and has since become a standard on oldies compilations. It was named Billboard's number-one...

," recorded at the same session. The record did well in the Twin Cities

Twin cities

Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...

, and hit Number 1 in both Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

 (the band performed in KC on two occasions) and Dallas during the fall of 1965, and also was beginning to do well in California and Colorado. A Top 40 chart from San Jose in September 1965 showed that the record was ranked Number 33 in that market.

Their second release was "I Believe" (not the Frankie Laine

Frankie Laine

Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...

 song), recorded on January 12, 1966 and released on Soma. it was written by rhythm guitar player Rick Levinson. The flip side, recorded at the same session, was "Bright Lights, Big City

Bright Lights, Big City

Bright Lights, Big City may refer to: *""Bright Lights, Big City" ", a 1961 song by Jimmy Reed*Bright Lights, Big City , a 1984 novel by Jay McInerney*Bright Lights, Big City , a 1988 film based on McInerney's novel...

," a cover of a Jimmy Reed

Jimmy Reed

Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...

/Animals tune.

In 2006, the band was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for their contribution to music history.