Trees 50th Anniversary Edition

[~ / % ? *]

It’s now over fifty years since Trees’ formation, a band who helped define ‘Acid Folk’, creating a sub-category in the lexicon of record dealers and music critics alike. Earth’s new Trees collection brings together both albums adding shiny alternate mixes of key tracks along with a selection of radio sessions and demos, all sounding brighter and cleaner than ever before.

Trees first album, ‘The Garden of Jane Delawney’ (1970) snuggles nicely into contemporary nu-folkies’ idea of the genre, and shares some of the pastoral-whimsy that characterised The Incredible String Band or Donovan, offset by some stunning interpretations of traditional material and Bias’ own songs, which were somehow part of the tradition Trees had adopted. Readings of ‘Lady Margaret’, ‘Glasgerion’ and the old standard ‘She Moved Thro’ The Fair’, and the extended fade of the group’s own ‘Road’, presage the explosive instrumental duelling that would come to characterise the follow up album, ‘On The Shore’.

treesearth.bandcamp.com

[DarknessFish]

Yeah, I quite like 'The Garden...', there's a few quality songs there, I just recall having a bit of a problem with some of the musical choices they made. I'm sure there was a waft of wanky electric great that ruined a few tracks.

[Deleted]

One of a handful of folk acts of the time where I like some of the songs but the shrill vocals can get the better of me. I remember the title track of Garden being singularly beautiful though.

[bungo the mungo]

it's something i'll definitely be throwing my money at, so thanks Gav for bringing it to light.

[DarknessFish]

Aug 28, 2020 10:32:48 GMT @rodya said:

One of a handful of folk acts of the time where I like some of the songs but the shrill vocals can get the better of me. I remember the title track of Garden being singularly beautiful though.

I first heard it through All About Eve's cover version, which I still prefer, even if it's a fairly straightforward reading of it

[toomanyhatz]

I've tried with them. It's not bad, just not my thing, ultimately. But then, I've always been more for the trad side than the whimsy side - give or take maybe a half-dozen or so undeniable songs, I'm not really that big an ISB fan either. And I'm with dark one about the screaming electric guitar - a little bit, fine, but mostly it just ruins the mood. I'd buy an album made of the first halves of all their long tracks.

I've probably said this before, but Mr. Fox does something similar, but much better. Why they don't have the same rep is beyond me, though it might be because they were better-known and promoted at the time they first came out, so it doesn't have the legendary status.