• Genre: Rock
• Active: '70s

Biography

Maxfield Parrish was a band with a great degree of promise and inventiveness, born of the mores of the 60's counterculture and ultimately destroyed by the same energy that made them so unique. Drawing on influences as far back as Romantic poets like Lord Byron and Percy Shelley and as contemporary (to them) as the Byrds and Grateful Dead, their unique style was much like the country-rock of the era with a transcendental sheen, termed "Western Gothic".

The phrase was provided by Kaleidoscope's Chris Darrow, who acted as the band's producer, harmonizer and sometime bassist on their only album, It's A Cinch To Give Legs To Old Hard-Boiled Eggs. Darrow was not the first inspirational musician in the band's career: singer/guitarist David Biasotti and banjoist Randy Groenke both took lessons on their respective instruments from a local Palo Alto instructor by the name of Jerry Garcia. Biasotti and Groenke were high school friends from the San Francisco Bay area, and both got heavily into bluegrass and Romantic poetry right as most of the San Franciscan musicians were heading in their own, non-traditional directions. Moving down to Claremont, California for college in 1967, the duo met fellow student David Perrin Muir and, based on a mutual love of the Byrds, they formed the obviously-titled Jim McGuinn Memorial Band with a younger local drummer named David McClellan. Biasotti and Muir quickly moved beyond the tributary affectations of their cover band and began a fruitful songwriting partnership. Basing their lyrics in the storytelling style of Child Ballads, and their music on the more pop-oriented, layered harmony approaches of the Beatles, the duo created a handful of memorable tunes that owed much to the directions being taken by the Band and the Byrds, but with a more cosmic feel.

Several slots as a semi-acoustic country-rock band helped hone Maxfield Parrish's direction, and an opening slot for John Fahey in 1969 was a particular inspiration. Fahey, himself an expansive, idiosyncratic acoustic player, was impressed by the band's songs and dedication to their artistic vision, and gave them his endorsement, which in turn strengthened the band's confidence and prompted them to record their music for broader exposure. One of the audience members at the Fahey concert was Chris Darrow, of psychedelic-folk and world-music pioneers the Kaleidoscope, who would come to produce Maxfield Parrish's first - and only - album. Darrow knew the band through drummer McClellan, as he had been the latter's mandolin teacher, and was also impressed by the unique direction his student's band was taking.

Although Maxfield Parrish was comprised of competent players, the musicians weren't always able to capture on tape what they heard in their heads. Much like their heroes the Byrds, sessions for the debut album were augmented by seasoned musicians who were sympathetic to the band's needs. Among them were other ex-members of Kaleidoscope, David Lindley and Chester Crill, both of whom contributed heavily to the mystical atmosphere of the record, as well as more straight-ahead players deeply steeped in country, like Bernie Leadon and John London, who would make important contributions to the canons of Gene Clark, Linda Rondstadt and the Eagles.

The studio may have revealed the players' instrumental limitations, but the success of Maxfield Parrish's fusion of disparate styles was the keen ears of its main songwriters, who credit, among the above influences, Skip Spence's Oar - meaning that they must have been some of the only people in the world to have heard the album upon its 1968 release! Sadly, even fewer listeners had the opportunity to be exposed to Maxfield Parrish themselves - the band created its own label to release It's A Cinch…, but business considerations and the pitfalls of self-promotion meant that their only album, recorded in 1969, wasn't to be released until 1972, at which point they had long since disbanded.

Biasotti and Muir remained a close-knit songwriting partnership, and upon the release of their old band's debut, the two got together to record their entire songbook for publishers' considerations. Not much of an impact was made by either the record itself or the pair's demos, and the strain split them apart, too. Biasotti moved back up to San Francisco to try and start a rock band while Muir spiraled farther out into the realm of spirituality, traveling the world in search of life's deeper meaning. It's A Cinch… was finally reissued on CD in 1999 with some of the aforementioned acoustic demos as bonus tracks; though such individualistic, impressionistic music may never be able to be widely-accepted, it's at least available again for the consideration of those who enjoy the often-times excellent music made in the 60's that unfortunately never got its just due. ~ Alex Stimmel, All Music Guide

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For more information on Frederick Maxfield Parrish, visit Britannica.com.

Parrish, Maxfield (1870–1966), American painter, muralist, illustrator, and commercial artist. Encouraged by his father, an etcher, and by Howard Pyle, Parrish began his long and phenomenally successful career in 1895 with a cover for Harper's Magazine and a mural of Old King Cole for the Mask and Wig Club in Philadelphia. From the outset, he specialized in fantasy—in idyllic landscapes and cloud castles peopled with whimsical or idealized figures, controlled by a strong sense of design and rendered in a luminous, photo‐realistic style entirely his own. Often, his pictures are suffused with colour—gold, crimson, or the intense ‘Parrish blue’. The first book Parrish illustrated was L. Frank Baum's first as well, Mother Goose in Prose (1897), followed by The Golden Age (1899) and Dream Days (1902) by Kenneth Grahame. These illustrations were executed in black and white, using a stippled pen‐and‐ink technique; improvements in colour printing enabled Parrish to illustrate later books with glowing full‐colour plates. Among his most notable were Eugene Field's Poems of Childhood (1904), The Arabian Nights (1909), Tanglewood Tales (1910), and The Knave of Hearts (1925). For Hearst Magazine, Parrish created a series of covers based on fairy tales, including ‘The Frog Prince’, ‘Snow White’, and ‘Sleeping Beauty’, now much sought after by collectors. Eventually, Parrish grew tired, as he said, of ‘girls on rocks’ and devoted the remainder of his life to landscapes.

Bibliography

• Gilbert, Alma, Maxfield Parrish: The Masterworks (1992).
• Ludwig, Coy, Maxfield Parrish (1973).

— Suzanne Rahn

1870–1966, American painter and illustrator, b. Philadelphia; pupil of Howard Pyle. He is known for his original and highly decorative posters, magazine covers, and book illustrations and for his murals, including decorations for the building of the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia. His glowing colors, especially the blues, are characteristic. He illustrated Washington Irving's “Knickerbocker” History of New York, Eugene Field's Poems of Childhood, The Arabian Nights, Kenneth Grahame's Golden Age and Dream Days, and many other volumes.

Bibliography

See biographies by P. W. Sheeter (1973) and C. Ludwig (1973); S. Yount et al., Maxfield Parrish, 1870–1966 (1999).

American artist known for his colorful murals, magazine covers, and book illustrations.

(British design firm)

• Founded: by designer Nigel Preston, 1972. Preston born in Reading, Berkshire, 1946; studied painting and graphic art at Dartington Hall, then interior design; by late 1960s was designing for popular musicians.
• Company History: Maxfield Parrish cloth collection launched, 1983; signed Fashion Stage as distributor, 1991.
• Company Address: 5 Congreve St., London SE17 1TJ, England.

For centuries it was believed that by adorning the body with the skin of an animal, the wearer was thereby encouraged to develop its attributes. Accordingly, a lion denoted strength and courage, while a rabbit implied a rather inferior metamorphosis. In time certain types of fur, especially those more difficult to find such as ermine, became symbols of wealth, power, privilege, and—ultimately—in Western culture, eroticism. The history of wearing animal skin is varied and responses to it differ from culture to culture and have changed with time. In contemporary Western culture, there is still a certain amount of prestige attached to the fur, yet less due to pressure by groups such as Lynx, the Green movement, and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Leather, however, and its more "well-bred" counterpart suede, are still generally acceptable; in fact a whole mythology exists for the rebellious black leather jacket. These seemingly arbitrary distinctions and distortions can be set against the continuing success of the company Maxfield Parrish, whose name for some brings to mind the production of well-cut and crafted suede, sheepskin, and leather garments. The company was founded twenty years ago by designer Nigel Hayter Preston who was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1946. After studying painting and graphic design at Dartington Hall, Devon, Preston moved into interior design, toyed for a time with music, and in turn began designing clothes for his friends in the record industry.

This low-key venture took off so successfully that by the end of the 1960s Preston was producing stage outfits for names such as Suzy Quatro and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. From these humble beginnings Maxfield Parrish was to become an international label, synonymous in womenswear with the design and production of suede, leather, and sheepskin clothing which displayed unusual combinations of color— thanks to Preston's studies in fine art—and classic relaxed styles whose defined cutting betrays the discipline of a training in graphic design.

During the production cycle of the company's definitive garments it is the choosing of the skins which is of the utmost importance for the designer. Those of the softest, supplest kind are selected so they can be cut into and shaped like cloth, one of the company's trademarks. Preston handles the materials confidently, using the same methods other designers would utilize with more malleable wool, seen in classically styled outerwear such as the 1982 voluminous loose coats and jackets in soft blues, faded rose or beige, worn over softly draped skirts and cropped trousers. One of his more innovative methods is to overlap several skins to produce a montaged patchwork textured effect. This is used as a bolt of cloth from which he cuts various garments such as tubular or sarong skirts and tops.

For years, Preston and partner Brenda Knight worked in a design studio based in a Normandy chateau to creates sample collections of elegant, easy to wear garments which are then manufactured and distributed from the company's administrative base in London. By the middle 1990s Maxfield Parrish had become an international brand name in retail; the goods bearing the name were available in boutiques and stores in Europe and the United States.

Despite the fragmented nature of women's fashion at the end of the 20th century with its changing styles and alternative looks, there have always been lower profile designers more interested in producing elegant styles in the most refined materials. Maxfield Parrish is one such firm; it has relied on the ongoing development of new techniques in the cut and construction of leather, suede, and sheepskin, using only the finest materials, and availing its luxurious garments to a certain segment of society for which wearing fur or related accoutrements is of the utmost importance.

Publications

On Maxfield Parrish:

Books
• McDowell, Colin, McDowell's Directory of Twentieth Century Fashion, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1985.

Articles
• d'Aulay, Sophie, "Cologne Delivers the Crowds; Three-Day German Show Had Excitement…," in DNR, 12 August 1994.
• Socha, Miles, et al., "New York Trade Shows: Getting Fancy for Spring," in WWD, 30 September 1999.

— Caroline Cox; updated by Owen James

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