THE GARDEN OF JANE DELAWNEY

One of the many folk rock bands that emerged in the 60s only to leave the scene in the early 70s and fall into obscurity, the London based TREES found an unexpected resurrection of their material with the sampling of the band's second album "On The Shore" on Gnarls Barkley's platinum selling album "St. Elsewhere." Due to the sudden interest in the source and a wider exposure through the modern day miracle of the internet, TREES has found both albums experiencing a renaissance of sort and while the second album was re-released first, this debut THE GARDEN OF JANE DELAWNEY has at long last found a second life as well.

The band's history was quite short actually and only existed from 1969-72 and released two albums but despite a rather weak reception during their existence despite a vigorous touring schedule, the two albums have nonetheless found more interest has time has elapsed. THE GARDEN OF JANE DELAWNEY consisted of nine tracks. Four were traditional British folk songs that the band made their own by adding rock elements which included the soaring electric guitar solos of Barry Clarke and the other five were originals written by the bassist and secondary vocalist Bias Boshell who had a knack for writing songs that sounded like the timeless classics. All tracks mix together surprisingly well.

The music consists of acoustic, 6- and 12-string as well as electric guitar, bass, drums and the female vocal charm of Celia Humphris dominating the flow. Occasionally Bias Boshell takes on the lead vocals and during a few moments they share the spotlight. The songs themselves are very much of the era as they tackle a traditional folk song approach in the ways of Fairport Convention with the extra rock gusto of bands like Spyrogyra however the tunes overall are on the softer side of the spectrum with Humphris' vocals taking on a fragile role like a much less dynamic version of Linda Perhacs. The psychedelic elements are minimal however the progressive elements tucked into the traditional sounds breathes new life into the classic sounds with extended jams and lengthy embellishments.

The lyrics are quite poetic and sometimes sound a bit too hippie hippie for my tastes but all in all not horribly out of fashion with the trends of the era which add an aura of West Coast hipness to the whole affair as heard by the psychedelic interpretation of the 1938 Orkney folk standard "The Great Silky of Sule Silkie" transmogrified into "The Great Silkie." Generally speaking the electric guitars are reserved for supplemental leads as the acoustic guitar riffs provide the main impetus for the folky feel. Tracks like the twin vocal "Road" sound more like traditional jigs but in fact are originals with a more uptempo rock feel. Newer remastered versions have several bonus tracks that are as worthy as the original material and surely would've been released had this been a more modern creation.

THE GARDEN OF JANE DELAWNEY was a noble effort indeed but it doesn't quite compare to the highlights of the era such as the Fairport Convention's outstanding "Unhalfbricking" or "Liege & Lief" nor does it contain the sublime melodies found on Spyrogira's excellent debut "St. Ragibunds." Likewise it isn't freaky enough to fall into the Comus or Jan Dukes de Grey camp and doesn't compare in the excellent authenticity of traditional British folk songs like bands like the Pentangle dished out. While there are no bad tracks on here some are clearly better than others. I find the album starts out sluggishly generic and only picks up towards the end with "Glasgerion" providing an uptick in quality. While i can understand the big bugaboo about this album, in the end for me it doesn't quite stack up to the other greats of the era but by no means a throwaway, just not up to par with the best including the band's own second album. Still though, quite a decent folk rock album from 1970 focused more on the traditional side of the folk equation.

3.5 rounded down