The original group were one of the first bands to fuse rock and experimental music. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably the United States of America), they were consciously trying to fuse the contemporary sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde compositional ideas.
The group comprised three core members: founder and bassist Louis "Cork" Marcheschi, guitarist David Blossom, and his wife, vocalist Nancy Blossom, augmented by Kim Kimsey (drums) and Larry Evans (guitar).
Cork Marcheschi (born 1945) grew up in Burlingame, California. In his teens, he performed with the Ethix, who played R&B music in clubs around San Francisco and in Las Vegas, and released one experimental and wildly atonal single, "Bad Trip", in 1966, with the intention that the record could be played at any speed. Interested in the ideas of experimental composers like Edgard Varèse, John Cage, Terry Riley, and George Antheil, he constructed his own custom-made electronic instrument from a combination of elements like theremins, fuzzboxes, a cardboard tube, and a speaker from a World War II bomber.
David and Nancy Blossom brought both psychedelic and jazz influences to the band. Together, the trio recorded a demo which led to a deal with Limelight Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records. They released one album, Cauldron, in December 1967. It contained eleven songs, including "Fantasy", "Red the Sign Post" and "God Bless the Child", a Billie Holiday cover. It was an intriguing mix of jazzy psychedelic rock tunes with fierce and advanced electronic sound effects. "I don't know if they are immature or premature", said critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The record sold few copies at the time, although the group had a small but intense following in San Francisco and also toured with other acts including Blue Cheer, Chuck Berry and Fairport Convention, when the band was augmented by Robert Goldbeck (bass). They broke up in late 1969 when most of its members joined the musical Hair, Nancy Blossom becoming the lead in the San Francisco production and later singing in Godspell. Larry Evans returned to his hometown of Muncie, Indiana where he fronted several club groups until his death in 2008.
Fantasy
Fifty Foot Hose Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Please stay with me
Please stay even though you know my reality
Stay close to me
Stay fantasy
Please stay and protect the lands of my sanity
Floating up with the clouds of wonder
I did need, I did need
the time to understand
The meaning of your flight of fancy land
The lyrics to the song Fantasy by Fifty Foot Hose evoke a sense of longing and escapism. The singer is pleading with their fantasy to stay with them, even though they know that their reality is vastly different. The use of repetition in the plea, "Please stay with me, Please stay even though you know my reality," emphasizes the desperation and desire for a better, more fantastical world. The singer wants their fantasy to protect the lands of their sanity, which suggests that their reality is overwhelming and potentially dangerous to their mental health.
The second verse portrays the fantasy land as a place of wonder and magic, where the singer can escape the mundanity of daily life. They float up with the clouds and step off stairs down under, suggesting that this fantasy land is both ethereal and underground. The singer admits that they needed time to understand the meaning of this flight of fancy land, emphasizing the transformative power of imagination.
Line by Line Meaning
Please fantasy
Oh, delightful imagination, don't depart from me.
Please stay with me
Please don't abandon me in this harsh reality.
Please stay even though you know my reality
Please don't disappear, even though you are aware of my ordinary reality.
Stay close to me
Remain in my vicinity, dear unreal world.
Stay fantasy
Stay as my pleasant fantasy world, beautiful and mesmerizing.
Please stay and protect the lands of my sanity
Please protect my mind's peace and stability, amazing fantasy world.
Floating up with the clouds of wonder
Floating in the air with my thoughts full of amazement.
Stepping off the stairs down under
Stepping down from the ladder of realistic thoughts.
I did need, I did need
I truly yearned, I deeply desired.
Contributed by Nicholas C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.