Trees - On The Shore (1970/2007 Remastered & Expanded 2CD)
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Artist: Trees
Album: On The Shore
Released: 1970/2007
SONY/BMG (88697316542)
Genre: Prog/Folk/Rock
Very much influenced by Fairport Convention, Trees released their only two albums in 1970. While guitarist David Costa may find the previous effort special but a little embarrassing, On The Shore is a disc to be proud of. Split about half and half between traditional arrangements and original compositions, the result is cohesive with little discernable difference between the two. "Soldiers Three" and "Murdoch" open the album with a good example of both, if not exactly setting expectations of anything far out of the ordinary. "Polly on The Shore" follows, raising the stakes considerably. It's a classic melody, with Celia Humphris' crystal clear vocals carrying the song most of the way. Barry Clarke introduces some great guitar punctuations that he'll use to hook you in here and later on "Fool", cavorting in and out and toying with his volume pedal. Though they are good musicians, they are no match for Fairport or The Pentangle, and I wondered how badly their version of "Sally Free And Easy" would pale compared to The Pentangle' s. Opening with an almost melodramatic, unaccompanied piano, it soon introduces the theme, exposing its massive beauty with utter simplicity. This version is entirely different, doing for this song what Fairport did with Reynardine, but where the latter maintained its air of profound mysticism throughout its length, Trees took "Sally Free And Easy" to glorious heights. Yes, this is goosebump territory as the band slowly builds a sweeping epic to a simple yet stunning crescendo. The rest of the album is solid as well, and fans of British folk-rock should certainly have it. Gnosis
In 1970 TREES released their 2nd album with "On The Shore" blending strong elements of Prog, Psychedelia and Folk. Led by the strong and beautiful voice of Celia Humphris (sounds like a mix of Annie Haslam and Sandy Denny), "On The Shore" delivers a wild contrast of soft 70's classical Avante Garde folk rock. What is truely addictive here is their juxtaposed sounds, blending piano with guitar (acoustic and electric). The longer songs are simply "to die for" with the extended psychedelic jams and fuzzy electric guitar droned solos. For those who love a great album cover you will be delighted here with Storm Thorgeson's psychy camera work (best known for designing PINK FLOYD's "Dark Side Of The Moon"). Without a question "On The Shore" is a fabulous and highly eclectic piece of Psychy 70's Folk which definitely has my ear.
The traditional oriented “Soldiers Three” opens this extraordinary wonderful psychedelic folk album, and it’s vocal arrangements for several voices and medieval like guitar interludes gives a strong first impression. “Murdoch” has a strong tempo driven by acoustic guitar, and an enchanting verse with overdubbed double vocals. “Polly on the shore” is one of the essential tracks here, a long psychedelic voyage with beautiful features. “Adams Toon” is a short medieval like guitar piece introducing “Sally Free & Easy”, which creates a fine tension with piano driven opening, and powerful verse from the whole band. “Fool” is also a great song, this being more conventional folk rock with traditional oriented melodies and lyrics. ”Geordie” resembles the early FAIRPORT CONVENTION minor ballads from it’s melody, which is truly beautiful, and the weeping electric guitar accompanies Celia’s voice. The rest of the tracks are quite average as compositions, but still fine performances. The re-mastered sound on the CD is very clear, and there's an informative booklet within, so if you like psych oriented folk, I recommend to check this album out! The original vinyl version of this record should be quite hard to find and very expensive.
A five piece psychedelic,progressive folk band.This is a great album that i'm so glad i took a chance on.I really like the fact they have two lead guitarists.Now i know were not talking about a prog metal band ,but i really enjoyed listening to them both playing a different ,yet complementary melody at the same time,just beautiful!There are both female and male vocals,although Celia does most of the singing,and she has a very nice tone to her vocals.Highlights for me are "Polly on the Shore" that actually has a celtic feel to it,and a fabulous guitar melody towards the end ."Sally Free and Easy" may be the best song.Again the guitar melodies are to die for.I found as i was making notes as i listened to this record ,that i kept writing down time after time "amazing guitar melodies",and this is true of "Fool" and "Streets of Derry" both wonderful songs."While the Iron is Hot" is another favourite,the instrumental section is the most energetic on the album,great tune!Lastly is the song "Little Sadie" which has a country feel to it,but it's fun and they pull it off perfectly.A real gem from 1970.As good if not even better than their debut masterpiece. Read the other reviews , because as usual , James describes the music better than I could. It is notable that this band dared a bit more electrical music than most of their counterparts. However as they started pretty late into the folk-rock movement , they never managed to get the attention they deseved as the focal point was on bands well established . Comus and Spyrogyra also paid that price. I guess there was so many place at the top of the pyramid......progarchives.com
Track List:
Disc 1:
1. Soldiers Three
2. Murdoch
3. Streets Of Derry
4. Sally Free And Easy
5. Fool
6. Adam's Toon
7. Geordie
8. While The Iron Is Hot
9. Little Sadie
10. Polly On The Shore
Disc 2:
11. Soldiers Three (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased)
12. Murdoch (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased)
13. Streets Of Derry (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased)
14. Fool (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased)
15. Geordie (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased)
16. Little Sadie (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased
17. Polly On The Shore (New Arrangement) (Previously Unreleased)
18. Forest Fire (BBC Session) (Previously Unreleased)
19. Little Black Cloud (Demo) (Previously Unreleased)
Line-up/Musicians
- Bias Boshell / guitar, vocals
- Unwin Brown / drums, vocals
- Barry Clark / guitar
- David Costa / guitar
- Tony Cox / bass
- Celia Humphris / keyboards, vocals
- Michael Jeffries / harp
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