Thundertree - Thundertree [ 1970 U.S. Psych-Prog Rock ]
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Artist: Thundertree
Album: Thundertree
Released: U.S. 1970
CD 200? Radioactive (RRCD096)
Genre: Psych-Progressive Rock
*** Thundertree - Thundertree CD. "When the band The Good Idea disintegrated in 1969, organist John Miesen landed a deal with Roulette on the basis of an unreleased The Good Idea track which he later explored with Thundertree. Thundertree, whose members hailed from Minneapolis, was formed by Miesen and vocalist/guitarist Bill Hallquist to exploit the former's fortuitous Roulette contract. The band managed only one eponymous album for Roulette (SR-42038) which appeared in 1970, but a combination of psychedelia and progressivism turned a highly-experimental album into an increasingly hard to find collectable. The emphasis is very much on psych guitar and organ, and generally the album bristles with new ideas and innovation. Strangely, given that most of the band's songs were written by Miesen, he has disappeared without trace, while Hallquist went on to record two solo albums under the name of Persephone Billy, both of which, with their pleasant, dreamy folk-rock style, have become minor collectables in their own right." ( Forcedexposure )
Track List:
01 Head Embers
02 At the Top of the Stairs
03 Summertime Children
04 In the Morning
05 Dusty Road
1225 Suite
06 Alone I Am
07 Softly
08 I Travel Along
09 Not Well Liked
10 With a Tailored Image
11 The Sun Is Shinin' for Me
THE BAND:
Bill Hallquist: Guitar, Vocals
Rick LiaBraaten: Drums
John Miesen: Organ, Producer
Terry Tilley: Bass
Dervin Wallin: Vocals
Quote:
*** It's hard to say why this particular major label release is now worth double the price of a lot of its equally good peers, but there's no predicting collectors. Side one are individual songs while side two is a side-long suite. It's somewhat soulful rock with a mild psych edge. It mixes carefully constructed songwriting with a nice variety of sounds, ranging from quiet and mellow to moderately heavy. It's not exactly poppy, but not exactly heavy either. The singing is a bit pretentious, but the interesting production tricks compensate. Depending on how you look at it, it's either creatively arranged or gimmicky. Hardly the best of its type, but perfectly enjoyable for fans of major label psych. Starts with the great song title "Head Embers". [AM]
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This Roulette obscurity has a fair share of fans, although I was a bit put off by the weak, unconvincing vocals and too-busy drumming. Both the overall sound and mood shifts strangely over the LP, ranging from demo-like Steppenwolf macho rock to fullblown, sophisticated westcoast psychedelia. Songwriting is pretty good but the crude, unfinished feel of several recordings suggests that a significantly better LP from the same material could have been delivered by a different band. The dominating sound is a bit like the non-orchestrated tracks on the Common People LP, but less successful. On the plus side is good use of fuzz leads and some interesting studio tricks, once they were given time to fool around. The long suite on side 2 shows typical UK "Abbey Road" artrock ambitions a la Graffiti or Jasper Wrath, and is rather appealing within the genre. Worth hearing, but I'm not really prepared to join the cheering for this album. The LP was also released in Germany on Vogue. [PL] ( Acid Archives )
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