"I myself played with john bonham and Robert Plant I have studied music since six and also played with Terry Reid and a lot more. I had left Terry due to an illness and came back to the Birmingham England area and saw an advert for a keyboard player for a band called the Cheetahs
(Check them at  http://brumbeat.net/    There was a guy involved named Nigel Husselby who financed and produced us. He died a few years ago from a heart attack. The name came from his girlfriend a PAN AM flight attendant named Ski from Fairfield  USA.
I wrote the arrangements for some and others were done by session guys. We all wrote music and lyrics and Nigel was not influenced by anyone in particular maybe Buddy Holly.. We disbanded after Matt quit and fell apart. I learned of this from Dave Hynds. There is an album coming out in Europe this June with a follow up from recordings we made back then.
Nigel and I also played in Sight and Sound another Birmingham band then we both came to the USA in 1975. I stayed and he went back home. I stay in touch with all of them still.
We never made a dime from anything and I suppose progressive rock is a correct term.
I was quite shocked to learn about the album a disc was found at an airport in Germany a while ago and after searching they found Dave and so it goes on.. Not sure how I feel as I have had so many disappointments through the years. The music business was hijacked by the attys who fear anything new and creative they want only what works that is why music is all the same these days
You can also find more from me at www.billbonham.com and at the brumbeat site. Bill"


It should be noted by me and as said by Matt Bridger that it was actually the bankrupt state of their publishing company that is the accurate reason for why the band split up, but despite this handicap the band are all still the best of friends and are very proud of the work they did together back in the early 70s.
        -Fairfield Ski The Legend The Betrayal By A Long Gone Geek The Vindication Coming-
     Bill Bonham became a Christian, but it was Matt Bridger who wrote "Man From Galilee" which sounds like Sweet gone subtly Christian progressive. A more progressive Move or Sweet may be a good comparison for their music, but with the meaningful name of Fairfield Ski especially in light of manager/man behind the band name Nigel Husselby's sadly not being here with us any longer changed to Fairfield Sky it is a really awful ending that on the scant few pressings done some years ago their name is changed from "Ski" to "Fairfield Sky" which is blatant skullduggery. The "reissue" came with a horrible wronger-than-wrong paste on liner note and no cover except for a tiny pasted on black and white bit of nothing on the front. This is the long gone asshole who shall go nameless's slandering of the band and it is also unfortunately the only way you'll hear this. The acetate barely exists and when copies were found they sold on the high thousands range making this rare hack job the only way you can hear their music. I can see why Bill Bonham would have mixed feelings, but at least if you fork over $125 or under for this less than satisfactory necessity you can tell that this is one of the most impressive albums ever made- that alone is a sign of coming vindication. If I had my own reissue label this would be the first album I'd put out. I suppose you want to know what makes it the best melodic psych into mellow progressive record ever. Can I back up my high praise? Oh I can you bet! For one thing Fairfield Ski could write intelligent, melodic, and inventive songs in several different genres yet be able to fit their sound under the "progressive" banner more for the inventive arrangements and powerful organ work than some of the more overblown aspects of that genre. A perfect case in point is the wistful strings and brass augmented ballad "Silver Tavern" which begins the record. Nigel Wright's soft high vocal never strains despite the Clifford T. Ward alike fragility of his voice on this track which is about how lonely a musician can be. So many songs have been written about being in a dead end pub and drinking your sorrows away, but there is a twist to "Silver Tavern." He has gone to the tavern not in search of a few 15 beers which is a small amount for an Englishman, but he is trying to persuade someone he meets in the tavern to be his romantic partner. The song is all about the hardships of a musician which is almost spooky as no sooner would Fairfield Ski complete their album than it wouldn't even see a release come about. The session players take the arrangement of this song into the stratosphere, but the most impressive thing is Nigel's voice and the atmosphere the band are able to create whilst they string pop right along with progressive. 
    "Circus" is much heavier yet still ultra melody oriented. Not a hard rock band really and they weren't intending this to be a hard rock album, but for hard rockers "Circus" with its light Uriah Heep meets Sweet meets Queen sound will be the album's standout. Bonham comes in with forceful organ work, the rhythm section fire high with the attack, and Matt Bridger's voice  is very gentle almost  sounding like Pete Dello or Ray Cane of Honeybus meets the late lamented Sweet frontman Brian Connolly. Since Brian Connolly is my favourite singer practically and Sweet my favourite band I guess I can come right out and say I was big into this one from the start! However, there is the vocal similarity to Brian Connolly and Sweet at their most pop psych/light glam, but other perhaps even better points of reference are The Left Banke, The Zombies, and Yorkshire's equally ill-fated Angel Pavement. Like Angel Pavement's singer Paul Smith Bridger and Wright tend to be very quiet and mellow in his delivery and you could also say they sometimes sound a little bit like Colin Blunstone. However, there is just enough force there to make Brian Connolly an even more apt comparison. Also, like Sweet, Fairfield Ski were four multitalented individuals who formed a very cohesive unit. "Circus" is the one out and out rocker, but they stay really sharp and focused without going into a pointless barrage of noise. The organ solo rivals Keith Emerson, though, bringing a heavy keyboard into melodious progressive pop. 
     "Would You Mind/The Writer" is both a medley and a long two part epic. Easily the best progressive track ever recorded by a British band along with the likes of bands like England, Yes, Northwind, Shape Of The Rain's "Broken Man" rocker, Kestrel (someone please get me an original of that!), and a few other really brilliant ones (I'm thinking Yes and Camel, but this is even better!)  it really is shocking, horrendous, and unfathomable that Fairfield Ski were completely fucked over without the album coming out at all! You won't believe me until you hear this probably, but it rivals even Yes!!!!! Yes for me are the best progressive band that made it- Yes and Uriah Heep. I also have to give a high ranking to Procol Harum so I think you know what's coming- Bridger sings just as well or better (if such a thing is even possible) than Jon Anderson and the inventive huge sound created by the band is grandiose in a Procol Harum/mellow Uriah Heep kind of way. "Would You Mind" the first part reminds me heavily of the late 60s when everything was really happening and music had become a way of blowing the mind and taking it new places. Lay back and let the waves of sound wash over you. The lyrics, like the whole album, are friendly and inviting asking you to come on in and have a good time. Glam was big in 1973 when this was recorded, but there was already beginning to be the split between the serious musicians like Sweet and throwaway rubbish like Paper Lace with Fairfield Ski firmly the former not the latter. There are glam like moments on the album, but here the sound is very progressive. Bonham's majestic organ is the main instrument and soars above the rhythm section. There are some psychedelic effects at irregular intervals, but this song isn't just an average progressive epic it says something important.The lyrics are Anti men who hate and destroy and have no love with a strong Pacifist/Anti Bigotry message:
    "I"d Like To Write A Book For Future Eyes To Read/Men Without Love Are Souls That Are Dead Like A Book That You've Got, But Already Read"
I couldn't agree more. Most soldiers I've met in person haven't been without love, but they've been a both with a lot of love and a lot of fighting spirit in them. I've had a lot of good times with soldiers so I can't say they are "Men Without Love," but the line in this song nails it to any man who doesn't have love and only has hate. If you hate everybody and can't give or receive affection you should be dead.  I probably am going to have to mention The Move and The Beatles here as influences too with a bit of Roy Wood here and there and some Lennon/McCartney magical vibes too. You listen to this track and the amount of love and effort put into it makes the band's bad luck heartbreaking. Most people will never hear this and it beats out anything else. Nothing else is as good as this that I can think of! Certainly the bullshit that was/is/always will be Pink Floyd failed miserably at attempting to create a similar kind of huge wall of sound. Pink Floyd sound like pompous prats compared to "Would You Mind/The Writer." The song also comes to a very psychedelic ending with backwards vocal effects and lots of phasing. The bastard who put this out compared this to Forever Amber and that is both relevant and way off the mark. Forever Amber is another example of one of the most amazing records ever made and a band that ran into a lot of bad luck and personnel issues amongst themselves which also did not help them to gain a proper release. However, there is a big difference among many big differences. Forever Amber had only a measly 99 copies pressed of their masterpiece THE LOVE CYCLE, but it is an actual album release and was later given royal treatment by the great Tenth Planet label only to go out of print as soon as it was officially put out! Don't know why! 
       Side Two of Fairfield Ski is something different altogether and shows a more overtly pop side to their progressive ambitions with plenty of brilliant hooks and amazing vocals from Nigel, Bill on "Meet Me At The Station," and Matt on the rockin' stuff. The harmonies are beautiful and some tracks like "Meet Me At The Station" in particular sound like fellow Brummies The Idle Race had Jeff Lynne reformed the group. Jeff Lynne, well there's another genius I could say I'm reminded of by Fairfield Ski. If you want hooks, melodies, beautiful music look no further. "Something On Your Mind" should have gained the band a worldwide album release and gone to number one the world over, but how many times am I gonna have to express that this band was given the worst letdown ever for a band with so much going for them. Maybe The Magic Lanterns gaining a US release (it probably was a comp) and a smash hit with "Shame Shame" was just luck. Maybe it all is just luck if you go anywhere at all! If I had more hair left (I have some, but not like my old big page boy bangs and seductive locks!) I'd be tearing it out over how bad things were for Fairfield Ski! And not even an official release to introduce the world to their great music. I would not put them in with Northwind or Dog That Bit People because they don't have rural or folkrock leanings despite the melodic sound all 3 bands share. Fairfield Ski are coming more from a progressive pop side and that makes for a different masterpiece than many other British early 70s releases. The songs on Side Two are all fairly short and some are very much like Clifford T. Ward, Honeybus, The Zombies, The Left Banke, and McCartney, but even with all those other superb artists named this is pure Fairfield Ski all the way. Standout tracks are "Something On Your Mind," "Meet Me At The Station," "Si Te Dois Partis," "Suddenly I'm sure" with lovely harmonies, and the beautiful closing track "Time Is Fast Approaching/Goodnight." I've mentioned the whole side I think! This is really something special. England was going through something of a musical upheaval and musical brilliance in the 60s and 70s, but this may well be the best it ever got and it wasn't even a record at the time. So the best thing to do is unfortunately to try and find this bad release from 1996 long out of print and be contented with what matters most- the music.
   My sincere thanks and appreciation to Bill Bonham and Matt Bridger for helping me out on this one. You made amazing music and you made some dreams come true in a life that is full of pain and fearfulness. May your brilliant music live on for eternity!