Sold Date: December 13, 2023
Start Date: June 29, 2023
Final Price: €37.99 (EUR)
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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.

Trackliste

A1 Pete Dello Interview
A2 (Do I Figure) In Your Life
A3 Like An Old Time Movie
A4 Maxine's Parlour #1
A5 Arise Sir Henry
A6 Maxine's Parlour #2
A7 I Can't Let Maggie Go
A8 She Comes To Me
A9 Ain't That Just Bonnie For You
B1 Francoise
B2 Goin' Back
B3 Ray Cane Interview
B4 Girl Of Independent Means #1
B5 Scarlet Lady
B6 How Long
B7 Black Mourning Band
B8 Ray Cane Interview
B9 She Sold Blackpool Rock
B10 Girl Of Independent Means #2
C1 My Suzanne
C2 Too Long #1
C3 Ray Cane Interview
C4 Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water
C5 Walking Aphrodisiac #1
C6 You Live Good Life
C7 Walking Aphrodisiac #2
C8 Ceilings No 2
D1 Story
D2 Broken Wings
D3 Go Away
D4 DJ Intro
D5 She's A Lady
D6 The Lady's Not For Burning
D7 DJ Intro
D8 For You
D9 Be Thou By My Side