Honeybus - Under The Silent Tree. Gentle Sounds With Strings And Things At The BBC @ 320

Over the course of their stop-start five years together, Honeybus ventured into the BBC studios on a dozen occasions, leaving a catalogue of recordings that mirrored their latest releases as well as offering up a fascinating alternate history. The songs that make up 1970’s much-loved “almost didn’t happen” Story album (reissued by Hanky Panky/Mapache in 2018, along with the rest of the group’s output) began appearing as early as the summer of 1968. The likes of ‘Scarlet Lady’, ‘Black Mourning Band’ and ‘Under The Silent Tree’ appear almost fully-formed, played as ensemble pieces, suggesting that their album counterparts were captured quickly and without fuss during snatched studio sessions throughout late 1968 and 1969. They also demonstrate Honeybus’s often overlooked skills as a live unit – BBC sessions notoriously allowed little scope for re-takes or overdubbing; you went in and you laid it down while the men in white coats watched the clock. Thrilling as it is to finally hear these alternate versions of familiar Honeybus cornerstones, it’s the surfeit of otherwise unrecorded material that’s the most startling revelation here. Under The Silent Tree: Gentle Sounds With Strings And Things At The BBC 1967-1973 presents no less than 10 unique Honeybus songs (plus a further four on the CD version only) that virtually constitute an entire second album’s worth of unheard material. We find ourselves in a kind of musical hall of mirrors, revealing in a whole new perspective on one of the last great cult pop groups of the ’60s, where every track offers a fresh outlook, a fresh thrill, a fresh sound. With strings and things.

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CD1 

 01.  Pete Dello Interview (1:06)

 02.  [Do I Figure] In Your Life (2:25)

 03.  Like An Old Time Movie (2:53)

 04.  Maxine's Parlour #1 (2:08)

 05.  Arise Sir Henry (2:48)

 06.  Maxine's Parlour #2 (2:12)

 07.  I Can't Let Maggie Go (2:56)

 08.  She Comes To Me (2:28)

 09.  Ain't That Just Bonnie  For You (2:36)

 10.  Francoise (2:10)

 11.  Goin' Back (2:51)

 12.  Ray Cane Interview (2:01)

 13.  Girl Of Independent Means #1 (2:43)

 14.  Scarlet Lady (2:32)

 15.  How Long (2:42)

 16.  Black Mourning Band (3:03)

 17.  Ray Cane Interview (1:20)

 18.  She Sold Blackpool Rock (4:11)

 19.  Girl Of Independent Means #2 (2:39)

 20.  My Suzanne (2:58)

 21.  Too Long #1 (2:29)

CD2 

 01.  Ray Cane Interview (1:53)

 02.  Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water (2:37)

 03.  Walking Aphrodisiac #1 (2:06)

 04.  You Live Good Life (2:31)

 05.  Walking Aphrodisiac #2 (2:53)

 06.  Ceilings No.2 (2:58)

 07.  Story (3:21)

 08.  Broken Wings (3:20)

 09.  Go Away (2:24)

 10.  DJ Intro (0:34)

 11.  She's A Lady (2:45)

 12.  The Lady's Not For Burning (3:50)

 13.  DJ Intro (0:25)

 14.  For You (2:57)

 15.  Be Thou By My Side (3:56)

 16.  Warwick Town [Special Extra Track] (2:36)

 17.  Looking Down [Special Extra Track] (2:28)

 18.  Would You Believe [Special Exra Track] (2:54)

 19.  Incredibly Bad [Special Extra Track] (4:44)

 20.  Too Long #2 [Special Extra Track] (2:58)

 21.  Under The Silent Tree [Special Extra Track] (3:12)

 22.  My Suzanne #2 [Special Extra Track] (2:41)

 23.  Follow The Plan [Special Extra Track] (2:17)

 24.  Melinda [Special Extra Track] (3:36)

 25.  I Can'Say It But I Can Sing It [Special Extra Track] (2:58)

 26.  Big Ship [Special Extra Track] (3:08)

 27.  The Writing On The Wall [Special Extra Track] (2:06)

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