ON THE SHORE

One of the rare examples of a long forgotten band resurrected by a modern DJ sampling a snippet from the past, the London based TREES found its two albums resuscitated from the obscurity bins in 20006 when the Atlanta based neo-soul duo of Ceo Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse better known as Gnarls Barkley sampled the track "Geordie" from this English folk rock band's second album ON THE SHORE. During its brief moment in the sun, TREES actually found itself as the band on the verge of following in the footsteps of better remembered bands such as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span but ultimately fell from grace as quickly as it had ascended into the fleeting limelight.

This band's short history extended from 1970 to 1973 but only two albums emerged in its first year of existence. Like many folk oriented British rock bands of the era, TREES mined the Cecil Sharp Museum for musical ideas from obscure folk artifacts that never were recorded in order to resurrect them from the vaults of history. Ironically the very saving grace that happened to TREES through the sampling process. This band was just one of many who jumped on the folk rock bandwagon in the late 60s when the sudden fascination with British folk music was being revived as it was hybridizing the elements of the nascent progressive rock scene. Suddenly even major labels were signing bands without knowing anything about British folk traditions.

With bands like The Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Pentangle finding critical acclaim and increasing album sales, labels were hoping to cash in on the gold rush. CBS Records was the first to discover the band TREES which featured the robust lineup of Celia Humphis (lead vocals), Barry Clarke (lead guitar, dulcimer), David Costa (guitars, mandolin), Bias Boshell (bass, keyboards, guitar) and Unwin Brown (drums, percussion). Guest musicians also provided the extra touches of a string section and harp. The year 1970 was a busy one for TREES as it quickly ascended from nowhere only to find its chance to record two albums which some claim both were released in 1970 while some sources cite ON THE SHORE as having actually emerged in January 1971. Sadly even the modern remastered editions with extensive liner notes fail to clarify this uncertainty.

Regardless of actual release date, ON THE SHORE came out less than a year after the debut "The Garden Of Jane Delawney" yet found the band undergoing a serious upgrade in its ambitions. After the debut release emerged, TREES experienced a robust touring schedule opening for diverse acts such as Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Fotheringay, Faces and Pink Floyd. This exposure to the burgeoning world of progressive rock and other musical formats such as raga rock and crossover classical bands such as Curved Air inspired primary songwriter / bassist Bias Boshell to infuse his arrangements with more robust doses of psychedelia and progressive accoutrements. The album also benefited from being recorded at Sound Techniques Studios along with sound engineer Vic Gramm who had worked with some of the top folk rock acts of the era. The results guaranteed that ON THE SHORES took the TREES sound to a completely new level in just about every way.

Like its predecessor, ON THE SHORE features both covers of traditionals along with original material. The original vinyl release features a completely different track order from reissues for whatever reason. While both versions start with the cover track "Soldiers Three" and the Boshell original "Murdoch," from there on its completely shuffled but ultimately matters not since the tracks stand on their own and do not necessitate a specific ordering system to make their statements. ON THE SHORE is just simply more musically interesting than the debut album with stronger compositions, better cover choices and an improvement in instrumentation. Likewise Humphris had become more comfortable in the world of folk rock music which before joining TREES she knew absolutely nothing about as she was actually a classically trained opera singer.

TREES successfully infused its folk rock with heftier doses of time signature workouts and a tighter even more feisty instrumental interplay with robust bass grooves as well as Richard Thompson inspired lead guitar moves that tastefully added healthy doses of rock energy to the folky melodic processions. This album often gets cited as one of the true masterpieces of the era but i've never been able to warm up to TREES like i have with the majority of other British folk rock acts of the era. To my ears Humphris' vocal style is a little too fragile and loath to really express any dramatic deliveries and the tracks as good as they are don't jive as well together as i would have hoped for. It's certainly a great album but for my ears not as compelling as the cream of the crop from Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Steeleye Span, Spyrogira or even Comus. The melodies sometimes sound a bit awkward and the instrumentation can even evoke a clumsiness that a top act would eschew. Nevertheless, ON THE SHORE is definitely a great album that was rightfully resurrected from being a footnote in history and a remarkable improvement over the band's debut "The Garden Of Jane Delawney."