The Canterbury Fair

Though Canterbury Fair was able to release little music during the late '60s, they did record a good deal of material -- much of it issued on CD about three decades later -- that was unusual for California psychedelia both in its incorporation of classical influences and its absence of a bass player. Formed in Fresno, the band, although initially including a female vocalist, evolved into a trio featuring keyboardist John Hollingsworth, his brother Philip Hollingsworth on bass, and drummer James Holley (later replaced by Sean Corsaro). Featuring original material by both brothers, they developed a sound combining the fashionable ominous heavy rock of late-'60s psychedelia with Baroque classical touches (particularly on keyboards), somewhat along the lines of some other classical-influenced psychedelic bands with keyboards in the lineup, such as the Mandrake Memorial and Ars Nova. Canterbury Fair was not able to attract record company support, however, although they managed to play a fair amount in San Francisco in the late '60s, and kept going until 1980. In 1999, Sundazed released a CD of largely previously unreleased Canterbury Fair material from 1967-1969, also including the A-side of their late-'60s single "Song on a May Morning." ~ Richie Unterberger