Trees On The Shore Columbia (USA)
TITLE COMPOSER 1. Soldiers Three ······················ Trad. Arr. Trees 2. Murdoch ······························· Tobias Boshell 3. Polly On The Shore ·················· Trad. Arr. Trees 4. Adam's Toon ···································· Trees 5. Sally Free And Easy ····················· Cyril Tawney 6. Fool ·················· Tobias Boshell and David Costa 7. Geordie ····························· Trad. Arr. Trees 8. While The Iron Is Hot ················· Tobias Boshell 9. Little Sadie ························ Trad. Arr. Trees 10. Streets Of Derry ···················· Trad. Arr. Trees
TREES: Celia Humphris: Vocals Barry Clarke: Lead Guitar and Dulcimer David Costa: Electric 12-String , Acoustic Guitar and Mandolin Bias Boshell: Bass Guitar, Vocals, Piano and Acoustic 12-String Unwin Brown: Drums, Vocals and Tambourine
Bass on "Sally Free and Easy": Tony Cox Harp: Michael Jefferies, arranged by Tony Cox (partially recorded at Island Studio - engineer: Roger Quested
Recorded October 1970 at Sound Techniques, London Engineer: Vic Gamm/Tod Produced by Tony Cox Remastered at Sound Recording Technology, Cambridge 1993 Original sleeve design and black and white photos by Storm Thorgesen Little girl in photos: Katherine Meehan
Originally released in 1970
Trees - On the Shore (1970, CBS - 1993, Columbia)
Tracks: 01. Soldiers three 02. Murdoch 03. Polly on the shore 04. Adams toon 05. Sally free & easy 06. Fool 07. Geordie 08. While the iron is hot 09. Little Sadie 10. Streets of Derry
TREES biography
A few years into the British folk-rock boom, came along a band called the TREES, that got slagged off by the mindless British weekly press as FAIRPORT CONVENTION sound-alike. If those so-called journalist had actually listened, they might have seen their mistake as the TREES were a lot more like the fantastically fabulous The PENTANGLE but only even more progressive. True the dual guitarist and female singer was a sort of blueprint (almost cliche) for bands of those days into folk-rock, but here the musical interplay got uncommon space to develop and the numbers frequently grew longer in time, something rare in the genre and only followed by COMUS. But that SMBWMP (stupid mindless British weekly music press) would keep on deriding this band that folded after two excellent but unsuccessful albums.
The TREES (along with the other bands mentioned in this article) are recommended to everyone wanted to investigate the folkish side of progressive rock and its acoustic side.
TREES — On The Shore Review by The Lost Chord (Brian Travers)
8.8/10 Great
Trees follow up to their outstanding first album is in many ways a continuation of the great sound, albeit lacking a bit in a few departments. The music on here is not drastically different in any ways, but it is feels much more traditional than did their first album. Tracks from the first album such as "The Garden...", "Nothing Special" and "Snails Lament" all stood out for their uniqueness and folk progishness...but on "On The Shore" we find alot of traditional sounding songs, kind of like what you find on "Leige and Leif" from Fairport Convention. That is not to say the music is bad, it is all fantastic again, but there is nothing on here that struck me as the first album had. So, it is great, but it does not live up to the first. "Polly on the Shore" and "Sally Free and Easy" are by far my favorites on here, and hold a little more true to the more original song writing that I loved on the first album. Everything else is surely great stuff, with the continued if not even better sounding vocals, and an even tighter sounding band at that. Try the first album if you haven't already, and if you love it, check this out right away!
TREES — On The Shore Review by Finnforest (James) Prog Reviewer
I tried very hard to get into this but just could not. I do appreciate acid-folk which makes it strange that I don't like this much. I recognize that there is some quality here but sometimes even a good band can't make an emotional connection with you. I just found a good deal of this record to be bland and not compelling listening. There are a couple tracks that are nice but that's as generous as I can be I'm afraid.
In my opinion, Vashti Bunyan’s “Just Another Diamond Day” covers similar terrain in a more convincing and colorful manner, although she’s definitely more folk than rock. Reading around the Web this band is quite highly thought of, and many people really love their music. So I accept that this may just be a personal taste issue for me and if you are intrigued by the album based on the praise here and elsewhere, go for it!
The album cover is great and the re-issued cd features a very nice band bio.
Posted Saturday, June 02, 2007, 17:04 EST
The beautiful, charming and fragile voice of Celia Humphris, the strongest point on this record, can easily be compared to Jane Relf (Renaissance), Judy Dyble (Fairport Convention) and even Annie Haslam. The music itself, very folkier and quite rock/hard rock, is definitely influenced by Fairport Convention. I find the songs more catchy than on their other album. There is a slight psychedelic dimension, but not too pronounced. The tracks are not very progressive, so that this record stands between the folk prog and the prog related styles. The rare keyboards are quite timid, mainly consisting in very good piano arrangements on a few tracks. This music is definitely acoustic guitars driven. There is a song with very good harp and orchestral arrangements. Some of the electric guitar solos are not very interesting, because they are not very catchy.
Rating: 3.5 stars
The best UK '70's folk rock band bar none. On this their second album from 1971, majestic vocals sweep over misted moors as spiralling electric guitar solos clash like Celtic knot weave in the dawn. Celia Humphris fragile vocals conjure up the England of yore and the band mix westcoast acid rock with a dark and mossy folk yearning. Simply wonderous.
In 1970, this British quintet released a couple of albums that made no bones about aping the approach of Fairport Convention (then at their peak). A mixture of traditional folk songs and originals, extended electric-guitar heavy arrangements, and a female singer who took many of the lead vocals — it worked for Fairport. It didn't work as well for the Trees, for several reasons. First of all, Celia Humphris was no Sandy Denny, nor a Jacqui McShee (Pentangle), Maddy Prior (Steeleye Span), or even Judy Dyble (who sang with Fairport before being replaced by Denny). The Trees' original material (usually penned by Tobias Boshell) was more often than not pedestrian. And their arrangements, prone to plodding lengthy instrumental passages, were often way, way too long. The group broke up after two similar albums for British CBS, although they continued to play for a while in the early '70s with some personnel changes. Boshell, in an unlikely turn of events, joined Kiki Dee's Band, and wrote her biggest hit, "I've Got the Music in Me."
|