What a fab album, although that is not everyone’s opinion. Having read many reviews of this, the second and last album by the psych folk rock band ‘Trees’, it could be described as marmite. It is a darker and more ambivalent album than their first ‘ The garden of Jane Delawney’. The album features a mix of traditional folk songs, given the Trees treatment and some songs that you assume are traditional, but were written by the welsh maestro Bias Boshell. I have sampled Stewart Lee’s sleeve notes for the CD re-release of this album and will include a full copy with the album. Trees formed in 1969 and disbanded in 1972 and little was heard of them for 35 years. But in 2006, the track ‘Geordie’ was sampled by ‘Gnarls Barkley’ after a recommendation by a London record store proprietor. This propelled Trees and ‘On the shore’ back into public attention.
The band were fronted by the delightfully pure vocals of Celia Humphris (later to marry the DJ Pete Drummond), while the band fused together with the phenomenal Barry Clark (electric lead guitar), Bias Boshell (Bass and keyboards) and David Costa (acoustic 12 and 6 string guitar) all battling to play lead, with Unwin Brown (drums) keeping everyone in place. Celia considered her voice as the fifth instrument and was more interested in the sound than the words, focusing on more on the rhythm and style. The result is a brilliant set of musicians producing a complex and fascinating musical style that pushes the boundaries of folk rock.
The album, like all classic albums, is somehow much greater than the sum of its parts. It even survives the odd flawed track – Celia said ‘The second album was so much more elegant than the first, apart from ‘Little Sadie’, of course; God that was awful’ – and it is. Despite that blip, the rest of the album is awesome.
The traditional ‘Soldiers three’ was learned from Dave Swarbrick before he joined Fairport Convention. ‘Murdoch’ was written by Bias at his mother’s home under the shadow of Cader Idris in North Wales, and has the ‘Pagan’ element that Costa felt defined Martin Carthy’s take on English folk music. It is a masterpiece piece of modern folk rock, with dark unfathomable lyrics and superb vocals from Humphris. The version of the ‘Streets of Derry’ is an utter delight, with some stunning lead guitar from Clarke and tremendous atmospheric drumming from Unwin. The jewel of Side 1 has to be ‘Sally free and easy’ with Bias playing keyboards and Tony Cox (the album’s producer) filling in on bass. The drums, bass and acoustic guitar give the backdrop to Cyril Tawney’s submarine engine, where he composed the song on board. The band recorded the track in one live take, which is staggering to think. Unwin Brown drives the song steadily and persistently forward as the other musicians take their turn to lead the band forward. Of course Celia’s vocals have a purity and emotion that are a complete delight. Apparently they had enough time to record two takes for the vocals, but then couldn’t decide which take to use, so they used them both, to stunning effect.
Side 2 starts with ‘Fool’ was co-written by Bias and David and has really arcane lyrics telling the story of ‘Oswald the smith’, but is probably the most contemporary track on the album, with some great rock guitar from Barry and a superb bass line running throughout, with some outstanding drumming by Unwin. Again Celia shows what a great folk rock vocalist she is. ‘Adam’s toon’ has a real medieval feel and was in fact written in the 13 century by Adam della Halle and was learned by the band from an album of medieval music. ‘Geordie’ is another interpretation of a traditional song and is probably the best version I have heard, so no wonder Gnarls Barkley sampled it. Barry’s lead guitar is once again sublime, sounding delightful and serene, until it slowly starts to growl menacingly. ‘While the iron is hot’ was written by Bias and includes some fabulous delicate harp supporting Celia’s great folk vocals, before Unwin and Barry explode into a total contrast of heavy rock before Celia and the harp retake control. All about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, unfortunately Bias got his dates mixed up, quoting the action was in 1890, whereas it should have been 1819, but what the heck, I for one don’t give a damn – great track. Probably best not to comment further on ‘Little Sadie’, so I won’t. Winding up the album is ‘Polly on the shore’ which is another traditional song, assimilated from Martin Carthy’s repertoire. The song is suffused with a delicious tension, with exquisite and precise lead picking from Barry. Celia’s laid back vocals are slightly dispassionate, but deeply affecting. Karl Dallas, a journalist of the time, affectionately described the track as ‘a collection of people all playing lead’. The stately rhythm is pushed towards an explosive finale by more rock guitar from Barry. A fantastic finish to a rediscovered gem of an album. Highly recommended – I adored listening to it and reviewing it.
Lastly, mention should be made of the iconic cover photo, which stars model Katherine Meehan (daughter of ex-Shadows drummer, Tony Meehan). One of the best album covers ever!!
