Kaleidoscope (US) - 4 Albums 1967 - 1970

Side Trips (1967) - Mp3@320kbps - 60Mb
A Beacon From Mars (1968) - Mp3@320kbps - 98Mb
Incredible! Kaleidoscope (1969) - Mp3@320kbps - 68Mb
Bernice (1970) - Mp3@320kbps - 78Mb

Kaleidoscope was an american psychedelic band which covered a range of influences from country to folk to blues to jazz to acid rock to eastern ragas and points in between. They released four albums and then members ended up in other bands and session work, most notably David Lindley and Chris Darrow. Jimmy Page often called Kaleidoscope his favorite band of all time.

Kaleidoscope's music was so wide-ranging that it is difficult to categorise. Not surprisingly therefore, all of their albums have become obscure collectors items. However, compilations of material from their first three albums are now available, and all the original albums have been reissued on CD.

An explanation for the range of this group's music can be found in the backgrounds of its personnel. Lindley, born in L.A., had previously played with a number of bands, including The New Christy Minstrels and The Greenwood Singers and had also played banjo for several labels. He formed the group in September 1966. They initially called themselves The Baghdad Blues Band. Feldthouse originated from Ismit in Turkey and played a wide range of exotic instruments which included the saz, bouzouki, dobro, vina, doumbeg and dulcimer as well as the more mundane 12 string guitar and fiddle. He was responsible for the Eastern influence on tracks like Egyptian Gardens, Why Try and Keep Your Mind Open on their first album. Darrow was born in South Dakota, but raised in Claremont, California. His musical taste encompassed bluegrass, country, blues, jug band, R&B and old time jazz. Percussionist Vidican grew up in Hollywood, and Epp was from Oklahoma City. Apart from the Eastern-influenced songs, other tracks on their first album included the traditional Come On In, Oh Death and the offbeat Minnie The Moocher. Another cut Please was chosen as the 'A' side for their first single with a non-LP track, Elevator Man, a more straight ahead rock track with some superb guitar playing from Lindley, on the flip. The single went nowhere. Next off they tried a remixed version of Why Try and a version of Little Orphan Annie, written by Darrow and Epp, which later turned up on the Bernice album in a very different form. However, this 45 made no commercial impression either.

A Beacon From Mars contained an incredible 12-minute 'live' version of the psychedelic title track and an 11 minute 'live' version of their Eastern-jam Taxim. Indeed, their 'live' performances were quite a show with a belly dancer performing to the latter track and flamenco dancers accompanying their Spanish guitar work. The remainder of the album comprised more traditional country-influenced songs like Greenwood Sidee, Life Will Pass You By, Louisiana Man and the goodtime rag Baldheaded End Of A Broom.

By the time of Incredible Kaleidoscope, Darrow and Vidican had left. Side One of Incredible… opens with the Eastern-influenced Lie To Me and the goodtime rag Let The Good Times Flow. The bluesy Tempe Arizona is followed by the country-influenced Petite Fleur and Banjo. Side Two contained the group's arrangement of the traditional ballad Cuckoo and the 11.30 minute Seven-Ate Sweet.

However, Bernice was comparatively weak and the group disbanded in 1970. The album was to have included many tracks which were censored by Epic, including three that were removed for taking stands on major political issues of the day, including the Chicago riots.






Wildly eclectic mixture of Psychedelia, Mid Eastern music, Appalachian Folk, jug band, hokey jump blues and undefinable weirdness that could only have come from the 60's California music scene. The original 10 song album is only 26 minutes long, yet it goes through such a wide variety of styles that it really does feel like a full listening experience. Best tracks are the Mid Eastern opening track "Egyptian Gardens", the very psychedelic antiwar song "Keep Your Mind Open" and that cheery little Appalachian folk ditty "Oh Death" (lately best known from the more traditional, dirge-like rendition on the hit soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou). There's also an oddly faithful cover of "Minnie The Moocher".

1. Egyptian Gardens
2. In The Night
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Please
5. Keep Your Mind Open
6. Pulsating Dream
7. Oh Death
8. Come On In
9. Why Try
10. Minnie The Moocher











More wildly eclectic psychedelic world music Cajun folk blues from Kaleidoscope. This album's big centerpieces are the two epic 12 minute jams, the authentic sounding Mid Eastern workout "Taxim" and the psychedelic freak out title track, which is built on the riff to "Smokestack Lightning". Those are fantastic (assuming you're into that sort of thing), but another one I really liked is the creepy traditional English murder ballad "Greenwood Sidee", it's a damm shame Fairport Convention never got around to this one when Sandy Denny was in the group.

1. I Found Out
2. Greenwood Sidee
3. Life Will Pass You By
4. Taxim
5. Louisiana Man
6. Baldheaded End Of A Dream
7. You Don't Love Me
8. Beacon From Mars











Kaleidoscope's third album is perhaps not quite as fresh-sounding as their previous two releases, but it's still a solid effort featuring such diverse fare as an odd version of "Killing Floor", the Cajun "Petite Fleur", a particularly grim reading of the folk chestnut "Cuckoo", and another cool 11 1/2 minute psychedelic workout with a stupid title: "Seven-Ate Sweet".

1. Lie To Me
2. Let The Good Love Flow
3. Killing Floor
4. Petite Fleur
5. Banjo
6. Cuckoo
7. Seven-Ate Sweet










Kaleidoscope's last album is a dismal affair. You can just hear the group giving up entirely, going through the motions solely to fill up enough tape to slap together an album and fulfill their contractual obligations. None of the exotic multi genre experiments of the earlier albums here, no one has any interest in making that sort of effort. The closest they get to any sort of creativity is a pair of would-be humorous "social commentary" type songs that are really just half assed Zappa imitations.

1. Chocolate Whale
2. Another Lover
3. Sneakin' Thru The Ghetto
4. To Know Is Not To Be
5. Lulu Arfin Nanny
6. Lie And Hide
7. Ballad Of Tommy Udo
8. Bernice
9. Soft And Easy
10. New Blue Ooze