Fairfield Parlour: From Home to Home

Beginning in 1964 the Sidekicks were the early stages in the development of a group that would span roughly a decade and release four albums. Soon, the ensemble was re-christened the Key and then shortly after that again renamed Kaleidoscope when the quartet signed a record deal with Fontana in ’67. That’s alotta change to go through in just a three year period. And while there are a few recordings kicking around from the earliest period of the band, it was all a precursor to Fairfield Parlour, who in 1970 would release a disc entitled From Home to Home.

Prior to that final detachment from their earliest period Peter Daltrey (vocals, keyboards), Eddy Pumer (guitars), Steve Clark (bass, flute), and Dan Bridgman (drums) worked out two startlingly strong efforts as Kaleidoscope. Its first long player, Tangerine Dream, sported work like "Dive Into Yesterday," which may not have become an underground sensation – or even something that’s highly sought today – but the chorus to that track sits calmly amongst anything of its vintage.

That disc’s follow up, the 1969 Faintly Blowing, which despite its title doesn’t suck, ratchets up the obligatory Pink Floyd incursion. The album’s title track, with an eerie vibe, goes on to explain what seems to be a hallucination with “rainbows faintly blowing.” The vibrato guitar solo at about a quarter through the track jump starts the heavy psych portion of the track before shifting into a repeated chorus. Classic stuffs. But for all the psychedelic posturing – and experimentation and I’m not talking about the music – Kaleidoscope would again rechristen itself the very next year.

1970 would mark not just the name change – as they finally became Fairfield Parlour – but also the release of its first album From Home to Home. While there was always a light and airy quality to the work of Kaleidoscope, that part of the band’s balancing act would be pushed to the forefront. It may not have resulted in anything like a drastic departure from what had preceded it all, but to the astute fan/geek/nerd, the name change seems warranted.

The lighter side of Brit combos – the Kinks, maybe – asserts its dominance, alongside an obvious folksy vibe, over the twelve track album. A recently reconstituted version of the disc has cropped up, though, and includes a seven track addition tacked on to the end of the disc. Fairfield Parlour’s first effort, even counting those new additions, falls somewhere into Pentangle/Fairport Convention territory with a bit more rock tossed in. And while those latter bands are unquestionably lauded everywhere from the internets to your parents hippie friends, that brand of folk with a light admixture of psychedelia really isn’t going to be to the liking of folks that enjoy the pair of Kaleidoscope albums.

Peter Daltrey’s vocals are still adequate – in a fey David Bowie kinda way. And on “I Will Always Feel the Same” it almost sounds as if the band has reverted back to it’s previous state. The detachment between From Home to Home and Faintly Blowing might be overstated here, but it’s nonetheless present – and fans should know. And now you do.