[1] These childhood years of colorful transience were a major influence on later work, as evidenced in songs such as "Lost in the Midway" and "Decatur Street", among others.

[3] The liner notes on his debut album credit friend and fellow songwriter Richie Havens,[4] who introduced Spheeris to Columbia Records executive Clive Davis.

Spheeris' 1972 debut album, Isle of View, garnered a devoted following and FM radio airplay, most notably for the song "I Am the Mercury."

A song on Spheeris' final album entitled "You Must Be Laughing Somewhere" is based on the life of his friend, author John Kennedy Toole (whose novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981).

Recording artist Laura Nyro and Spheeris were also friends, sharing a New York City apartment for a time in the early 1970s.

The following is a partial list of musicians who contributed to recordings by Jimmie Spheeris: Jane Getz, John Goodsall, Dwight David Evans, David Campbell, Geoff Levin, Lee Calvin Nicolai, David Harowitz, Emile Latimer, Buddy Salzman, Bill La Vorna, Felix Cavaliere, Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Bobbye Hall, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Doreen Davis, Vinnie Johnson, John Summers, Jim Cowger, Harvey Mason, Norma Trotter, Charlie Larky, Bart Hall, Johnny Pierce, Chick Corea, Mike Mallen, Paul Lewinson, Dorothy Remsen, Henry Lewy, Morgan Ames, Chuck Findley, Robert Findley, Gary Barone, Mike Anglin, Jonathan Ellis, Stanley Clarke, John Guerin, Jay Ellington Lee, Robin Williamson, Dan Orbach, Emile Pandolfi, Richard Feves, Paul Delph, Rick Parnell, Doug Lunn, Paul Lani, Richard Burmer, Paul Marcus, Charlotte Crossley, Peter Udo, Vida Vierra, Fred Rehfeld, Terry Powers, Lavell Gibson, Michael Stewart, Arnold McUlla.,[8] Bo Tanas