be in the first batch of important releases. You betcha!”
These recordings retained much of the Kaleidoscope sound of old but benefitted enormously from Pete and Ed’s ongoing development as songwriters, Symonds’ exceptionally sympathetic production and the employment of extra instrumentation, lending many of the performances fresh and appealing colour.
“This was mostly Dave’s influence. He encouraged us to progress from that
filler here. It’s an unbridled joy to the ears.
“On the final mixing session at Olympic Studios in Barnes, Dave presented us with a mix of ‘Emily Brought Confetti’ [entitled ‘Emily’ on the record] that almost left us in big girl’s blouse tears. The massed vocal harmonies – all of which we had done ourselves – would have done all the angels proud. The playback was at Dave’s usual earthquake-inducing level and we all drove home in a daze, convinced we’d produced the greatest piece of music ever committed to tape. Although the final
“The whole atmosphere was conducive to writing thoughtful, introspective songs. We lived in our own bucolic world of days in the sun-dappled garden, singing in the warm shadows of the house as new days dawned.”
rather limiting two guitars and drums line-up. I bought an electronic clavichord. It was a bastard. It was a stringed instrument, prone to go out of tune with the variations in temperature and humidity. Dan [Bridgman, drummer] got some tablas and a marimba, a bit like a small wooden xylophone that you bashed with hammers. Ed was experimenting with the cello and sitar – he could play virtually anything. And poor old Steve [Clark, bassist], bless him, one day mentioned that he used to play the recorder at school. Dave was straight in there: right pal, you’re going to play the flute.”
From Home To Home includes no actual orchestration, relying instead on that most fabled beast – not to mention bane of many a keyboard player’s life – the mellotron. “All recording studios would have a grand piano as standard but some were also including a mellotron. It was an instrument that had many capabilities, but it was for its orchestral string sounds that it became best known. It was another bastard to deal with. What was fun was the variation wheel that altered the speed of the tapes. You can hear this in action on the introduction to ‘The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh’ where the strings are distorted in a pleasing, dreamlike way – and on the nightmare dive in ‘Sunnyside Circus’.”
The songs themselves run the gamut from fragile love songs to haunting elegies to chipper pop bouncers, mostly eschewing the psychedelic fripperies of yore in favour of lighter, pastoral hues and every one of them a single in waiting. While Kaleidoscope’s previous album, ’69’s Faintly Blowing, contains a couple of tracks that can induce a temporary lack of focus in this listener, there is literally no
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released version is good, Dave lost something of that majesty in subsequent mixes. He did like to fiddle.
“Of course, the album is not the full Fairfield Parlour Sunday roast that it first appears. Anyone who had followed our career to date would realise that there were two courses that had been frozen, reheated and served up anew. In my opinion, ‘In My Box’ should never have been included on the album as it stands out like one of those sore digits. It is recognisably from the late Kaleidoscope “Oh-my-god-let’s-write-a-quick-hit” period. The other side dish – although to my mind, more filling – is ‘Sunnyside Circus’. In fact, we had actually attempted to record this as Kaleidoscope many months before, but were disappointed with the result and binned it. I do love the Fairfield Parlour version – it’s tight and punchy with some inventive instrumentation. For me ‘Aries’ is the standout track on the album. Purely autobiographical. I do recall singing that song to the shadowy friends that lined the walls of Dave’s lounge at about 2AMone morning, and when it ended Ed and I looked at each other and knew the album would be a great success and that our fortunes as a band were about to change...”
But there were some months to go before the album was released so the band continued to gig regularly, supporting the likes of Joe Cocker, Caravan and Tyrannosaurus Rex, and wrote and recorded the theme tune to the Mark Lester movie vehicle Eyewitness. ‘Bordeaux Rosé’ was released on Vertigo in April, its progress stillborn as the result of acute distribution problems at Phillips. “Fans from all over the country were writing wanting to know where they could buy
this record that was being played constantly on the radio,” laments Daltrey. The band even appeared on BBC TV’s Top Of The Pops but it made no difference to the record’s undistinguished fate.
Then, following a June gig at Mother’s in Birmingham, drummer Dan Bridgman suffered a terrifying seizure, the result of a trapped spinal nerve. “Dan was dying in front of our eyes,” Daltrey recalled. Dan made a swift and full recovery but missed the sessions for the band’s second single, ‘Just Another Day’ – on which Moody Blues Graeme Edge and Ray Thomas and pianist Elton John helped out – and several live dates. The single appeared in late July. From Home To Home followed in August to the by now de facto good reviews.
John Peel: “Hey, this is a nice record.” Music Now: “This is a cracking album!” Melody Maker: “An album full of memorable songs, beautifully conceived and executed.”
But kind words butter no parsnips. And what’s more, you can’t pay bills with reviews. ‘Let The World Wash In’, cut by FP but released as I Luv Wight and intended as the “official” Isle Of Wight festival theme song, did nothing upon its release later in the month. The boys even played at the festival, alas, to no avail.
“I never got hardened to the setbacks,” rues Daltrey now, “and, boy, were there plenty of ’em! Lady Luck slapped us down, kicked us with her shiny stilettos then walked off. There is no doubt that we should have had a Top 10 record with the jaunty and quite irritating ‘Jenny Artichoke’ – and ‘Bordeaux Rosé’ should have been a Top Five. It was played to death on the radio but Philips’ lousy distribution kept it from plentiful supply in the shops. That still hurts. Of course, by the time From Home To Home had raised and dashed our hopes and we’d been shipwrecked on The Isle Of Wight, we were well into writing and rehearsing White Faced Lady, which was going to be our mega-selling masterpiece...”
Peter is justifiably proud of the album today. “I can’t help being proud of our recordings as Kaleidoscope and Fairfield Parlour and From Home To Home will always have a special place in my old heart. Yes, it was a sort of new beginning – or was it just the beginning of the end?”
With many thanks to Peter Daltrey and his website
www.chelsearecords.co.uk. From Home To Home is available as a Repertoire Records CD and contains all of the contemporary Fairfield Parlour and I Luv Wight singles.
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