Lost In Tyme Blog

Kaleidoscope (US) - 1976 - When Scopes Collide

Tracks :
1. Ghost Riders In The Sky
2. Canun Tune
3. You Never Can Tell
4. Little Egypt
5. My Love Comes So Softly
6. Your Love
7. Black & Tan Fantasy
8. Hard On The Trail
9. Stu's Balkan Blues
10. Man Of Constant Sorrow
11. It's Love You're After
12. So Long

Musicians
* Chris Darrow - guitar, vibes, keyboards, mandolin, saxophone, violin, vocals
* Max Buda (aka Chester Crill) - harmonica, keyboards, vocals
* Solomon Feldthouse - guitar, oud, finger cymbals, tuba, caz, canun, doumbeg, vocals
* Stuart Brotman - bass, penny whistle, gudulka, cemenche, oud, vocals
* Paul Lagos - drums, vocals
* Tempelton Parcely (aka Chester Crill) - violin, organ, vocals
* De Paris Letante (aka David Lindley) - guitar
* John Ware - drums

"Six years after the end of the Kaleidoscope, members Stuart Brotman, Chris Darrow, Solomon Feldhouse, Paul Lagos, and Chester Crill (alias Max Buda, alias Templeton Parcely) teamed up again to record this reunion album for Mike Nesmith's Pacific Arts label. (It has also been reported that the "De Paris Letante" credited on the album is in fact another ex-member, David Lindley.) The song selection is, if anything, even more eclectic than the band's earlier work. Covers of the Coasters ("Little Egypt"), Duke Ellington ("Black and Tan Fantasy"), and Chuck Berry ("You Never Can Tell") are included, along with the traditional folk song "Man of Constant Sorrow," Middle-Eastern-inspired music, and even an Eastern European bit, "Stu's Balkan Blues." Feldhouse's bag of exotic instruments has expanded, and both he and Brotman play tuba (!). There are some highlights, the most effective being the Feldhouse-sung recasting of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" as a slow, spooky tune (it's reminiscent of Gregg Allman's solo version of "Midnight Rider") featuring two ouds — where else could you hear that?"
~Stephen Raiteri