Johan of Tiliqua Records has now placed The Tree People reissue CD with an additional distributer, Aquarius Records of San Francisco, They have a huge mailing list worldwide of some 100,000 people. Here is their review:
TREE PEOPLE, THE s/t (Tiliqua)
Not to be confused with Doug Martsch's amazing nineties outfit, the Treepeople, -these- Tree People are equally amazing, but are a whole different proposition.
This disc was originally released as a super limited lp way back in 1979 and managed to quietly disappear. Now, here we are nearly three decades later, and whattaya know? There's a whole movement of modern free folk, 'freak' folk and the like, and if you didn't know better, pretty sure we could pass this off as some strange super limited cd-r by some modern folk revivalists. But keen ears would certainly be able to tell. This is so entirely original (especially for the time) and genuine sounding. Mostly acoustic guitars, flute and vocals, the Tree People had two distinct sounds, the first, a lilting melancholy moonlit folk, like Cat Stevens or Van Morrison, a gorgeous lazy drawl, rich and lustrous, over simple folk and fluttering flutes, dreamy and gorgeous, sounding like some lost folk classic one minute, a strange "Girl From Ipanema" style shuffle the next. But even at it's sweetest and softest, the record seems to always have a hint of melancholy, sometimes even a trace of ominous foreboding. Which definitely gives the songs a subtly dark undercurrent. The majority of the record however is spent in full on hippy jam mode. Very Comus-like at times (especially on track two, "Sliding"), wild steel string excursions, dense tangles of fingerpicked melodies and aggressive strummed riffs, with a definite raga like vibe, all over a smattering of hand drums and tablas, a glorious drifting buzzing steel string dronefolk, that just sounds so incredibly timeless. Elsewhere, the same jams evolve into more tranquil acoustic dreaminess, with the flutes floating over sweet lilting melodies, but even then, the songs will be peppered with sudden bursts of buzzing slide guitar, or brief squalls of atonal fingerpicking. SO cool. And considering the current love of all things freaky and folky, it's sort of amazing that stuff like this was already being made 27 years ago!
Obviously, fans of the current crop of modern folk troubadours will find this absolutely essential, Devandra, Vetiver, Espers, Newsom, whatever your particular poison, the Tree People will fit in frighteningly well. Hard to say whether it speaks to the prescience of the Tree People, or just to how much these modern bands have actually been 'borrowing'. Either way, this is absolutely essential.
Packaged in a super deluxe Japanese miniature gatefold style cd sleeve, with a printed obi, and extensive liner notes in English and Japanese! www.aquariusrecords.org
Monday, November 27, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
Other Music review of The Tree People
Other Music of New York City is now carrying The Tree People, thanks to some good work by Johan of Tiliqua Records. This is really nice because they might reach some new listeners with their big city connections. Here is what they have to say on their web site:
The Tree People
(Tiliqua)
Thought this might've been unreleased songs by Doug Martsch's old band, but this is a reissue of a legendary late '70s private-press folk album out of Oregon, led by guitarist and songwriter Stephen Cohen. Within lie nine thoroughly stunning examples of outsider folk, informed by the heat of Delta blues and the darker direction of serious, post-Woodstock singer-songwriter a la Joni Mitchell or Van Morrison, all the while serving within and without the traditions of American folk. The arrangements here are cunning yet gentle; the playing assured in stature but evocative and searching in execution. Rests aside the Gary Higgins and Virgin Insanity reissues as a pinnacle of beatific, pristinely executed 20th century folk. Cohen's musicianship is something you could get lost in for hours on end. [DM]
The Tree People
(Tiliqua)
Thought this might've been unreleased songs by Doug Martsch's old band, but this is a reissue of a legendary late '70s private-press folk album out of Oregon, led by guitarist and songwriter Stephen Cohen. Within lie nine thoroughly stunning examples of outsider folk, informed by the heat of Delta blues and the darker direction of serious, post-Woodstock singer-songwriter a la Joni Mitchell or Van Morrison, all the while serving within and without the traditions of American folk. The arrangements here are cunning yet gentle; the playing assured in stature but evocative and searching in execution. Rests aside the Gary Higgins and Virgin Insanity reissues as a pinnacle of beatific, pristinely executed 20th century folk. Cohen's musicianship is something you could get lost in for hours on end. [DM]
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Brunch, Music, and Talk, with Rachel and Jeff
We had a Tree People reunion of sorts on a rainy Oregon October Sunday. I have met with Jeff a few times this year, but we had not seen Rachel for over 25 years. After brunch at a funky old school breakfast place near my house in Portland, Oregon, we went to Jeff's house in Lake Oswego,Oregon, where we played music together and talked. We improvised a few simple instrumental pieces on guitar, recorder and flute and it was amazing to hear the Tree People sound returning like it had never left. We then did Morning Song with me on guitar and voice, Jeff on hand drums and Rachel on flute to close our brief musical interlude. Afterwards we talked about the possibility of performing as a group again if the opportunity presented itself. Rachel and I at first said no, what would be the point? But Jeff said, why not? After tossing the idea around, we decided that maybe, yes, if travel and lodging were provided,we would put together a set of Tree People pieces from the Tree People albums, add a few new instumental pieces, and go wherever (Europe or Japan) for a few weeks. That may never happen, but who knows? And it was fun to talk about it.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
nice note from the United Kingdon
Hello Stephen,
Just thought i'd drop you a quick note. Came across your Blog, and know your music. Really love the Tree people album..help run a little night in Cornwall, UK, playing folk and psychedelic tunes, and with bands and acoustic performers stepping up, and often play bits of the Tree people album, People always dig it. Thought you might like to know something you did, back in the past still resonates happy ripples far away today. Ben
Just thought i'd drop you a quick note. Came across your Blog, and know your music. Really love the Tree people album..help run a little night in Cornwall, UK, playing folk and psychedelic tunes, and with bands and acoustic performers stepping up, and often play bits of the Tree people album, People always dig it. Thought you might like to know something you did, back in the past still resonates happy ripples far away today. Ben
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
some thoughts and feelings about the reissue, breakfast with Jeff
It is now 27 years after we recorded The Tree People album in 1979. I am very, very happy with the reissue CD. Everything Tiliqua did they did very well, from the graphics, artwork and liner notes to the remastered sound. One side was taken from a master tape, and because the master tape could not be found for the other side, one side was taken from the original vinyl itself. There was some question as to how that would work out. The question was answered with an exclamation point before the final pressing. I took a test CD Johan sent me from Japan to my long time engineer Dean Baskerville at one of the best studios on the West Coast, Dead Aunt Thelma's here in Portland, Oregon. I asked him to listen to several songs and tell me which was from the vinyl and which was from the master tape. It all sounded clear as a bell to him on the studio speakers and he could not guess which was which. I then knew everything would be ok! It has been a wonderful feeling to live through this whole process, from the the weekend recording in the woods so long ago, to all the adventures between, and to now be able to share this music with so many nice people from all over the world. I had breakfast a few weeks ago with Jeff Stier, my main musical partner from the Tree People days, and he was also very happy with the reissue and the job Johan and Tiliqua Records did with it- he was all smiles (and Jeff can be something of a perfectionist)! We both agreed that we are just happy it all happened, and if anything else comes of it that will be fine, but it is all good so far whatever happens.
Stephen Cohen, September 6th, 2006
Stephen Cohen, September 6th, 2006
The Tree People reissue CD starting to surface all over
We also have an amazing new CD on the always great Tiliqua Records from Japan. The Tree People CD - highly recommended Pacific Northwest weird folk from the late 70's.
Beta-lactam Ring Records
Tiliqua Records is psyched about being able to present a whole new audience and generation with the lysergic beauty of the Tree People's sole recorded artifact, a privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. In http://www.volctimes when people are all getting excited about media-created scenes like “New Weird America” and “Freak Folk”, they seem to overlook the fact that such music was already being created decades ago. The Tree People is evidence of such a splash of creativity that sadly enough was doomed to disappear within the cracks of obscurity. Until now. Tiliqua was granted the opportunity to restore this gem and with the kind collaboration of Mr. Cohen of the Tree People, who provided me with the master tapes and a seemingly unlimited support, Tiliqua was able to prepare this reissue. To me, this album is one of the singular most beautiful gems to have crossed my path and words always fall short in an attempt to describe the aural sensation it unleashes. “Upon listening today this hushed and intimate feeling still resonates through the music – the record possesses an extraordinarily potent atmosphere that still intoxicates the senses after so many years. Over a combustible backing dominated by shimmering strings, bone-shaking hand percussion rhythms, and quivering sensuous threads of eastern-toned flute playing, the group succeeded in concocting up a syncretic combination of meditative Indian raga, western folk stylings and idiosyncratic melodic ideas. The music breathes out intimacy and communicates with a rare directness - hooking you instantly with sheer aural bliss derived from the melody, from the flowing beat, from the sound of the words and syllables and of all those separate elements interacting with each other, rendered into a concentrated, gracious flow of lunar notes. The album's compositions have so many hidden qualities, all breathing out deep and affectionate sentiments that reveal, just like a lotus flower centered on the axis with its petals unfolding towards the circumference, a streamlined adhesion towards the group's' own singular creed. Listen to it and you may feel like awakening from a deep slumber, your unconsciousness leaking away as aspects of reality slowly mix in with the rest of your already blurred mindset.” First time ever official reissue, housed in a sturdy mini-LP styled gatefold sleeve http://www.blrrecords.com/prod/1252/til5003.html
from the Johan Wellens' CD liner notes, on the Beta-lactam Ring Records (the United States distributer) web site
Beautifully presented reissue of this legendary real-people/outside psych-folk side, originally released in 1979. Johan Wellens talks of it as being in the lineage of "Dino Valente, Erica Pomerance, Didi Favreau, Virgin Insanity, Gary Higgins, Kenneth Higney and Roger Rodier" but you might wanna throw in a touch of Roky's acoustic demos, a more lugubriously-stoned Tim Hardin, some pastoral modal guitar/hand-percussion jams that could almost be Six Organs Of Admittance, Roy Harper's classic Harvest recordings, psychedelic Donovan and even a hint of Help Yourself. Very beautiful/intimate atmosphere and possessed of *that* necessary star-crossed/lost in time element that gets record collectors hot under their three chins. Beautiful heavy duty gatefold sleeve with obi strip and booklet with liners by Johan. http://www.volcanictongue.com/artist.php?art=The+Tree+People
from the Volcanic Tongue (distributer out of Scotland) web site- I don't know all the musicians mentioned but it sounds good to me!)
Singer-songwriter Stephen Cohen gathered around him two good musicians to work with : percussionist and recorder player Jeff Stier, and flautist Rachel Laderman, forming a trio under the name Tree People. After a year of performing and practicing the group had the chance to make a recording in a local recording studio in the forest, with additional guest musician James Thornbury, (who was going to be a member of the Canned Heat later, in their second period) on bass, slide-guitar and vocals. The recording session showed all qualities of a one chance in a lifetime where everything seemed to come together, even when they only had just one weekend to record. The album was pressed as a 1000 copies. Due to personal obligations, the group never was launched properly after the recording. Even when in 1984, they still did a second cassette-only release, “Human Voices”, this couldn’t prevent Tree People to slowly submerge. Stephen Cohen however continued with a comparable musical style interest with three more releases during this new century (2 of them I will check out later).
The first quality which I noticed immediately on the opening track, “Stranger” is Stephen Cohen’s beautiful and emotionally rich voice, a song where the lyrics becomes rich with feeling through this performance. Each track lands into an instrumental improvisation of a rare affectionate concentration. “Sliding” with handpercussion and slide-guitar has an acid folkblues feeling. Also the song “Pot of Gold” has a delicate rhythmic evolution carried out by the song with a great emotional strength, and some improvisation on flute, bass, guitar. The calmness and delicacy of the unfolding instrumental “Opus” is from a rare quality, which makes it fit well with the Ptarmigan release I also reviewed on this page. “Morning Song” on side B is based upon a happy, traditional fast Cuban rhythm with a jazzy evolution, finding its own personal way of song into it. “Space heater” once more digs back into the delicacy of the acid folk inspiration, simple and powerful, creating blushes of warmth with a vivid acoustic body. It is this feeling which is held strong during the whole recording, and makes this release so special to be appreciated wholeheartly and easily.
The CD is released in a mini LP sleeve.
PS. Tiliqua Records is run by former Antwerp Radio Centraal DJ Johan Wellens, who moved to Japan after his stdies in Japanology with a case study in Japanese electronic and progressive music. He also is a record collector. This album is one of his favourite of all time. The label will bring out the 2nd Tree People, "Human Voices" soon, in a couple of months, on LP and CD. The first Tree people will be published on LP too, on subscription basis only and limited to 300 copies : gatefold & obi.
Gerald Van Waes, radioshow "Psyche van het Folk" web site (Belgium)
Beta-lactam Ring Records
Tiliqua Records is psyched about being able to present a whole new audience and generation with the lysergic beauty of the Tree People's sole recorded artifact, a privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. In http://www.volctimes when people are all getting excited about media-created scenes like “New Weird America” and “Freak Folk”, they seem to overlook the fact that such music was already being created decades ago. The Tree People is evidence of such a splash of creativity that sadly enough was doomed to disappear within the cracks of obscurity. Until now. Tiliqua was granted the opportunity to restore this gem and with the kind collaboration of Mr. Cohen of the Tree People, who provided me with the master tapes and a seemingly unlimited support, Tiliqua was able to prepare this reissue. To me, this album is one of the singular most beautiful gems to have crossed my path and words always fall short in an attempt to describe the aural sensation it unleashes. “Upon listening today this hushed and intimate feeling still resonates through the music – the record possesses an extraordinarily potent atmosphere that still intoxicates the senses after so many years. Over a combustible backing dominated by shimmering strings, bone-shaking hand percussion rhythms, and quivering sensuous threads of eastern-toned flute playing, the group succeeded in concocting up a syncretic combination of meditative Indian raga, western folk stylings and idiosyncratic melodic ideas. The music breathes out intimacy and communicates with a rare directness - hooking you instantly with sheer aural bliss derived from the melody, from the flowing beat, from the sound of the words and syllables and of all those separate elements interacting with each other, rendered into a concentrated, gracious flow of lunar notes. The album's compositions have so many hidden qualities, all breathing out deep and affectionate sentiments that reveal, just like a lotus flower centered on the axis with its petals unfolding towards the circumference, a streamlined adhesion towards the group's' own singular creed. Listen to it and you may feel like awakening from a deep slumber, your unconsciousness leaking away as aspects of reality slowly mix in with the rest of your already blurred mindset.” First time ever official reissue, housed in a sturdy mini-LP styled gatefold sleeve http://www.blrrecords.com/prod/1252/til5003.html
from the Johan Wellens' CD liner notes, on the Beta-lactam Ring Records (the United States distributer) web site
Beautifully presented reissue of this legendary real-people/outside psych-folk side, originally released in 1979. Johan Wellens talks of it as being in the lineage of "Dino Valente, Erica Pomerance, Didi Favreau, Virgin Insanity, Gary Higgins, Kenneth Higney and Roger Rodier" but you might wanna throw in a touch of Roky's acoustic demos, a more lugubriously-stoned Tim Hardin, some pastoral modal guitar/hand-percussion jams that could almost be Six Organs Of Admittance, Roy Harper's classic Harvest recordings, psychedelic Donovan and even a hint of Help Yourself. Very beautiful/intimate atmosphere and possessed of *that* necessary star-crossed/lost in time element that gets record collectors hot under their three chins. Beautiful heavy duty gatefold sleeve with obi strip and booklet with liners by Johan. http://www.volcanictongue.com/artist.php?art=The+Tree+People
from the Volcanic Tongue (distributer out of Scotland) web site- I don't know all the musicians mentioned but it sounds good to me!)
Singer-songwriter Stephen Cohen gathered around him two good musicians to work with : percussionist and recorder player Jeff Stier, and flautist Rachel Laderman, forming a trio under the name Tree People. After a year of performing and practicing the group had the chance to make a recording in a local recording studio in the forest, with additional guest musician James Thornbury, (who was going to be a member of the Canned Heat later, in their second period) on bass, slide-guitar and vocals. The recording session showed all qualities of a one chance in a lifetime where everything seemed to come together, even when they only had just one weekend to record. The album was pressed as a 1000 copies. Due to personal obligations, the group never was launched properly after the recording. Even when in 1984, they still did a second cassette-only release, “Human Voices”, this couldn’t prevent Tree People to slowly submerge. Stephen Cohen however continued with a comparable musical style interest with three more releases during this new century (2 of them I will check out later).
The first quality which I noticed immediately on the opening track, “Stranger” is Stephen Cohen’s beautiful and emotionally rich voice, a song where the lyrics becomes rich with feeling through this performance. Each track lands into an instrumental improvisation of a rare affectionate concentration. “Sliding” with handpercussion and slide-guitar has an acid folkblues feeling. Also the song “Pot of Gold” has a delicate rhythmic evolution carried out by the song with a great emotional strength, and some improvisation on flute, bass, guitar. The calmness and delicacy of the unfolding instrumental “Opus” is from a rare quality, which makes it fit well with the Ptarmigan release I also reviewed on this page. “Morning Song” on side B is based upon a happy, traditional fast Cuban rhythm with a jazzy evolution, finding its own personal way of song into it. “Space heater” once more digs back into the delicacy of the acid folk inspiration, simple and powerful, creating blushes of warmth with a vivid acoustic body. It is this feeling which is held strong during the whole recording, and makes this release so special to be appreciated wholeheartly and easily.
The CD is released in a mini LP sleeve.
PS. Tiliqua Records is run by former Antwerp Radio Centraal DJ Johan Wellens, who moved to Japan after his stdies in Japanology with a case study in Japanese electronic and progressive music. He also is a record collector. This album is one of his favourite of all time. The label will bring out the 2nd Tree People, "Human Voices" soon, in a couple of months, on LP and CD. The first Tree people will be published on LP too, on subscription basis only and limited to 300 copies : gatefold & obi.
Gerald Van Waes, radioshow "Psyche van het Folk" web site (Belgium)
Friday, June 16, 2006
The reissue of The Tree People on Tiliqua Records
NEXT RELEASE: THE TREE PEOPLE: "S/T". (TILAR-5003). First ever reissue of this excellent privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. One of the best discs in its genre and we are totally psyched about being able to present a whole new audience with this masterpiece. Totally mind blowing disc, one of my personal top 10 records of all time. Due end of July, housed in sturdy gatefold mini LP sleeve jackets, with obi and linernotes. Approved by the Tree People and with the cooperation of Mr. Cohen himself.
Johan Wellens, Tiliqua Records web site
Johan Wellens, Tiliqua Records web site
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Where are they now? and links!
Stephen Cohen: I now live in Portland, Oregon with my wonderful wife Kate and three dogs (my children have been all grown up for some time and both are doing great, thank you). I continue to compose music and write songs (I have won several national awards for my song writing), now using acoustic guitar, voice, and original sculptural percussion instruments made from various metals, woods, recycled and found objects, and a revolving roster of guest musicians playing everything from lap steel guitar, cello, acoustic and electric bass, mandolin, bouzouki, accordion and drums, in my recordings and performances. My newest CD, Here Comes the Band is a children's album suitable for adults and vice versa with original paintings and drawings by Portland artist Christopher Shotola-Hardt and a 20 page booklet with lyrics, activities and more. In my 2004 CD, Stephen and the Talk Talk Band, I asked each musician to tell a story before leaving the studio, and then I layered some of the stories they told into some of the music on that CD.
You can find out more on my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~threehandstephen
Jeff Stier (percussion and recorder): After leaving Eugene, Jeff moved to Washington D.C. to work at the U.S. Congress for Peter DeFazio and was on the progressive congressman's staff for many years. Jeff now works for Bonneville Power Administration. He is very excited and proud of his relatively new daughter. After living in the Washington D.C. area for quite some time, Jeff has recently returned to Oregon and now lives in Lake Oswego. He still plays recorder and flute and even some percussion, now and then, and recently took time off his busy work schedule to add two small but wonderful recorder parts to my new children's album.
Rachel Laderman (flute): Rachel now lives in Olympia, Washington, still plays flute a lot and plays with an all-flute ensemble, The Olympia Flute Choir. She married her old high school sweetheart and has three teenagers. She has been doing environmental education for Thurston County Environmental Health for 10 years.
James Thornbury (bass, background vocals, slide guitar on Bring in The Water: After leaving Eugene, James lived for a time in Los Angeles, then joined Canned Heat as a lead guitarist, vocalist and harmonica player. He toured internationally with Canned Heat for ten years. He then resettled in Australia, where he is still doing it (playing the blues!). He sent me some of his recent CDs and he sounds fantastic! If you ever get to Australia look for him and his current band at one of the many festivals and events he plays every year. You can read about his story,
his latest CDs and more at http://www.jamesthornbury.net
Michael Ayling, now Michael Brewer (engineer and owner, Rockin' A Ranch): Michael now runs a very successful business creating, recording and making music available for film and television sound tracks, businesses and such: http://www.pbtm.com/
And in a quite amazing story, his L.A. band from the 1960's, Mary Butterworth, has been rediscovered in a big way. They recorded just one album, which they just distributed to a small group of friends and fans at the time, but that album has been since been bootlegged and sold in Europe several times over. And most recently a song from that album was used in the movie, Lost in Translation. You can read more at: http://www.marybutterworth.com
You can find out more on my web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~threehandstephen
Jeff Stier (percussion and recorder): After leaving Eugene, Jeff moved to Washington D.C. to work at the U.S. Congress for Peter DeFazio and was on the progressive congressman's staff for many years. Jeff now works for Bonneville Power Administration. He is very excited and proud of his relatively new daughter. After living in the Washington D.C. area for quite some time, Jeff has recently returned to Oregon and now lives in Lake Oswego. He still plays recorder and flute and even some percussion, now and then, and recently took time off his busy work schedule to add two small but wonderful recorder parts to my new children's album.
Rachel Laderman (flute): Rachel now lives in Olympia, Washington, still plays flute a lot and plays with an all-flute ensemble, The Olympia Flute Choir. She married her old high school sweetheart and has three teenagers. She has been doing environmental education for Thurston County Environmental Health for 10 years.
James Thornbury (bass, background vocals, slide guitar on Bring in The Water: After leaving Eugene, James lived for a time in Los Angeles, then joined Canned Heat as a lead guitarist, vocalist and harmonica player. He toured internationally with Canned Heat for ten years. He then resettled in Australia, where he is still doing it (playing the blues!). He sent me some of his recent CDs and he sounds fantastic! If you ever get to Australia look for him and his current band at one of the many festivals and events he plays every year. You can read about his story,
his latest CDs and more at http://www.jamesthornbury.net
Michael Ayling, now Michael Brewer (engineer and owner, Rockin' A Ranch): Michael now runs a very successful business creating, recording and making music available for film and television sound tracks, businesses and such: http://www.pbtm.com/
And in a quite amazing story, his L.A. band from the 1960's, Mary Butterworth, has been rediscovered in a big way. They recorded just one album, which they just distributed to a small group of friends and fans at the time, but that album has been since been bootlegged and sold in Europe several times over. And most recently a song from that album was used in the movie, Lost in Translation. You can read more at: http://www.marybutterworth.com
Monday, April 17, 2006
some quotes about The Tree People, then and now
Then:
Light and Unjaded
"In the age of new wave music, it's nice to be reminded that some musicians are still in touch with a quieter, more meditative sensibility. Because they're so soft spoken, one rarely hears about them. And a hunger for publicity and financial success may not churn their stomachs, but they are out there. One of the best is Eugene's Stephen Cohen, a guitarist and singer whose group (Cohen, Jeff Stier, and Rachel Laderman) recently released it's first album, called The Tree People, which is also the name of the trio.
The album was recorded and produced last August at the Rockin' A Ranch in Greenleaf, Oregon almost as if it were a live performance. Very little was over-dubbed and several custs were played straight through on the first take. Furthermore, the music's intensity is enchanced because the group carefully timed its studio appearance, recording when the were total control of the material and when their energies were at their creative peak, Cohen says. All nine songs were composed by Cohen and arranged by Cohen and Stier.
Because Cohen's music is so distinctive, it creates a problem for those unimaginative reviewers who explain new music only in terms of which major artist it sounds like. I know I've never heard anything like it. But from the child-like cover illustration through the final note, the album is so fresh and unjaded it's like a breath of clean air.
Certainly, as Cohen himself says, his music has a foreign feel, particulaly on instrumental numbers such as "Sliding", in which percussionist Stier cooks along on his bongos and Cohen makes his guitar alternately whine like a sitar and pound like a piano while following an almost Mid-Eastern rhythm. Stier, a versatile musician, is equally at ease adding eerie, mystical effects with a cymbal and wimsical, airy touches with bells throughout the album. The strong, classical elements in Cohen's music are highlighted by Laderman's flute and Stier's recorder. There's also James Thornbury's tasteful bass and back-up vocal work. Thornbury took time out from his own band, "The Raccoons" to sit in with the Tree People and his appearance is an impressive departure from his usual hard-driving style. But above all, Cohen's guitar dominates.
For some unexplicable reason, the few critics who reviewed the album nagged Cohen for mixing vocal and instrumental numbers. Acually, it's a much stronger record because of the blend.
Cohen refuses to single out his influences because it's impossible: there are just too many. And he has difficulty describing his music in words. "The main thing I go for is mood... that's why I play it I guess. There's a certain mood I'm just trying
to get and I just play it... When I first started playing at 14, I could hear the way I should be playing guitar and it wasn't any way I heard anybody else playing. I could even hear notes that I would be playing and years later I was playing them. I still work that way a lot."
The 1,000 albums he pressed are gradually selling- some at stores but mainly at the group's performances and straight out of Cohen's and the other Tree People's backpacks. Whatever happens, The Tree People proves that unadulterated acoustic music is alive and well. Although it may be a little hard to find, it's worth the search."
-Peter Leibik, Eugene Magazine, May 1980
Cohen's album draws raves
"Eugene singer-guitarist Stephen Cohen has produced an excellent album. What's more he's done it on his own and with his own finances. The sacrificies were worth the pain. The Tree People, recorded in Greenleaf by Michael Ayling, is simply a beautiful album.There is much here to like; maybe too much. In an effort to display all of Cohen's talents, the album contains five vocals and four instrumentals. The result is disconcerting. Just when the listener settles into one of Cohen's fine guitar grooves, Cohen breaks the mood with a vocal. And visa versa. The next time out Cohen might do well to settle on one style or another. The question is, which one? Cohen's vocals are wispy affairs reminescent of Leonard Cohen's. His voice is full of gentleness and melancholy, his songs long on fragmented melodies. The appeal is immediate. His guitar playing is delightful. His uses a variety of techniques to effectively tell his stories. Although every cut is a winner, the most rewarding are the vocals "Stranger," "Pot of Gold," and "Morning Song" and the instrumentals "Sliding," "Opus," and "Space Heater." Accompanying him is an excellent trio consisting of Rachel Laderman, flute; Jeff Stier, recorder; and James Thornbury, bass. They greatly enchance Cohen's haunting moods."
-Fred Crafts, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, November 15, 1979
LPs- The Tree People
"New musicians, especially local musicians, often receive a great deal of scrutiny before being accepted into the "musical world." But Stephen Cohen is one step ahead of the rest of the new artists who pop up on the scene. Cohen's album, The Tree People, recorded at Rockin' A Ranch near Eugene, is a fresh look at traditional "coffee house music", interweaving the guitar, flute, vocals, percussion and recorder into simple, exciting pieces... Overall, Cohen and The Tree People have established themselves in Eugene as top coffee house musicians. Their music, as demonstrated in The Tree People, is fresh and exciting and worth listening to, whether on the album or live at the Home Fried Truck Stop. -Tamara Swenson, The Daily Emerald (University or Oregon), 1979
Now:
"I'm a big fan of The Tree People record. It really amazes me that a record as great as this stayed within the bounds of a relatively small collegetown. " -Magnus Lundgren, Umea, Sweden
"The Tree People album is one of my best finds in 10 years! I played it on my radio show and my listeners bought all the extra copies I had." -Jerome Bessinger, Brussels, Belgium
"Recently, I found a copy of The Tree People in a record fair in Paris. Unfortunately, the record had a defect and doesn't play very well. But I liked very much the few songs I heard. I searched on the web to find another copy and found your website! I own a small record shop in Paris and would like to purchase a few copies of your lp. What about 20 to begin?"
-Laurent Meriguet, Paris, France
"You now can say you have a Tree People fan club in Japan... I unexpectedly have gotten the record of The Tree People and often listen to it. I was moved and surprised at the good songwriting and private atmosphere."
-Sota Tomayasu, Tokyo, Japan
I really dig the LP, (The Tree People) and a few of my friends did too, I would love to get 5-10 copies. Thanks for putting out a great record. Hisham Mayet, Seattle, Washington
"Your Tree People album website led me to conduct a search through a box of old cassette tapes in my garage, which uncovered a tape I made God knows how many years ago of the album. It was a poor quality tape, but I was kind of amazed. It has been maybe 15 years since I have listened to that album and hearing it after this long was the nearest thing totime travel I have experienced lately. Also - it's pretty good."
-Jeff Stier, recorder and percussion on The Tree People album
"Four sources caught up with me to say you were looking for me, and what a surprise that after all these years you're having renewed interest in your "Tree People" projects. As the Aussie's say, "Good on Ya." From the first time I heard you at the "Truckstop" I dug what you were doin'. That sound is unique to only you. I was always partial to "Bring in the Water." Your Tree People album was the first I was ever a part of and I remember you telling me there would be many more."
-James Thornbury, bass, backup vocals and slide guitar on the Tree People album
It's amazing to read your reminiscence of our days playing in and around Eugene, Stephen. For one thing, amazing that you have the memory for the places and atmosphere and all those details that bring it right back. I remember putting together our pieces - getting together in your tiny apartment, hearing your ideas and then Jeff and I improvising our solos and duets and background bits, liking something and playing it again until it became the song, though never the same twice. For a shy person it was a great atmosphere to be able to feel free to experiment and even let loose now and then. One small concert you didn't mention was in the house I was living in, we had a little wine tasting and going away concert, just for friends, and it was a high point of my days then. Also I should mention when I played the tape I have for my family (not exactly the record, has some different songs), my son who's an avid electic guitar player, was actually impressed and said he would listen to it from time to time! Now that's amazing. Thanks. Rachel Donnette, aka Rachel Laderman (flute player on The Tree People album)
I just received the Tree People LP, put it on the record player and was... well, just blown away. I am still taking it all in... very powerful work. I'm very happy you managed to get hold of a copy for me. Many thanks. I look forward to the CD release (easier to listen to on the CD-walkman on the way to school!). Stefan
NEXT RELEASE: The TREE PEOPLE: "S/T". (TILAR-5003). First ever reissue of this excellent privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. One of the best discs in its genre and we are totally psyched about being able to present a whole new audience with this masterpiece. Totally mind blowing disc, one of my personal top 10 records of all time. Due end of July, housed in sturdy gatefold mini LP sleeve jackets, with obi and linernotes.
Johan Wellens, Tiliqua Records
Light and Unjaded
"In the age of new wave music, it's nice to be reminded that some musicians are still in touch with a quieter, more meditative sensibility. Because they're so soft spoken, one rarely hears about them. And a hunger for publicity and financial success may not churn their stomachs, but they are out there. One of the best is Eugene's Stephen Cohen, a guitarist and singer whose group (Cohen, Jeff Stier, and Rachel Laderman) recently released it's first album, called The Tree People, which is also the name of the trio.
The album was recorded and produced last August at the Rockin' A Ranch in Greenleaf, Oregon almost as if it were a live performance. Very little was over-dubbed and several custs were played straight through on the first take. Furthermore, the music's intensity is enchanced because the group carefully timed its studio appearance, recording when the were total control of the material and when their energies were at their creative peak, Cohen says. All nine songs were composed by Cohen and arranged by Cohen and Stier.
Because Cohen's music is so distinctive, it creates a problem for those unimaginative reviewers who explain new music only in terms of which major artist it sounds like. I know I've never heard anything like it. But from the child-like cover illustration through the final note, the album is so fresh and unjaded it's like a breath of clean air.
Certainly, as Cohen himself says, his music has a foreign feel, particulaly on instrumental numbers such as "Sliding", in which percussionist Stier cooks along on his bongos and Cohen makes his guitar alternately whine like a sitar and pound like a piano while following an almost Mid-Eastern rhythm. Stier, a versatile musician, is equally at ease adding eerie, mystical effects with a cymbal and wimsical, airy touches with bells throughout the album. The strong, classical elements in Cohen's music are highlighted by Laderman's flute and Stier's recorder. There's also James Thornbury's tasteful bass and back-up vocal work. Thornbury took time out from his own band, "The Raccoons" to sit in with the Tree People and his appearance is an impressive departure from his usual hard-driving style. But above all, Cohen's guitar dominates.
For some unexplicable reason, the few critics who reviewed the album nagged Cohen for mixing vocal and instrumental numbers. Acually, it's a much stronger record because of the blend.
Cohen refuses to single out his influences because it's impossible: there are just too many. And he has difficulty describing his music in words. "The main thing I go for is mood... that's why I play it I guess. There's a certain mood I'm just trying
to get and I just play it... When I first started playing at 14, I could hear the way I should be playing guitar and it wasn't any way I heard anybody else playing. I could even hear notes that I would be playing and years later I was playing them. I still work that way a lot."
The 1,000 albums he pressed are gradually selling- some at stores but mainly at the group's performances and straight out of Cohen's and the other Tree People's backpacks. Whatever happens, The Tree People proves that unadulterated acoustic music is alive and well. Although it may be a little hard to find, it's worth the search."
-Peter Leibik, Eugene Magazine, May 1980
Cohen's album draws raves
"Eugene singer-guitarist Stephen Cohen has produced an excellent album. What's more he's done it on his own and with his own finances. The sacrificies were worth the pain. The Tree People, recorded in Greenleaf by Michael Ayling, is simply a beautiful album.There is much here to like; maybe too much. In an effort to display all of Cohen's talents, the album contains five vocals and four instrumentals. The result is disconcerting. Just when the listener settles into one of Cohen's fine guitar grooves, Cohen breaks the mood with a vocal. And visa versa. The next time out Cohen might do well to settle on one style or another. The question is, which one? Cohen's vocals are wispy affairs reminescent of Leonard Cohen's. His voice is full of gentleness and melancholy, his songs long on fragmented melodies. The appeal is immediate. His guitar playing is delightful. His uses a variety of techniques to effectively tell his stories. Although every cut is a winner, the most rewarding are the vocals "Stranger," "Pot of Gold," and "Morning Song" and the instrumentals "Sliding," "Opus," and "Space Heater." Accompanying him is an excellent trio consisting of Rachel Laderman, flute; Jeff Stier, recorder; and James Thornbury, bass. They greatly enchance Cohen's haunting moods."
-Fred Crafts, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, November 15, 1979
LPs- The Tree People
"New musicians, especially local musicians, often receive a great deal of scrutiny before being accepted into the "musical world." But Stephen Cohen is one step ahead of the rest of the new artists who pop up on the scene. Cohen's album, The Tree People, recorded at Rockin' A Ranch near Eugene, is a fresh look at traditional "coffee house music", interweaving the guitar, flute, vocals, percussion and recorder into simple, exciting pieces... Overall, Cohen and The Tree People have established themselves in Eugene as top coffee house musicians. Their music, as demonstrated in The Tree People, is fresh and exciting and worth listening to, whether on the album or live at the Home Fried Truck Stop. -Tamara Swenson, The Daily Emerald (University or Oregon), 1979
Now:
"I'm a big fan of The Tree People record. It really amazes me that a record as great as this stayed within the bounds of a relatively small collegetown. " -Magnus Lundgren, Umea, Sweden
"The Tree People album is one of my best finds in 10 years! I played it on my radio show and my listeners bought all the extra copies I had." -Jerome Bessinger, Brussels, Belgium
"Recently, I found a copy of The Tree People in a record fair in Paris. Unfortunately, the record had a defect and doesn't play very well. But I liked very much the few songs I heard. I searched on the web to find another copy and found your website! I own a small record shop in Paris and would like to purchase a few copies of your lp. What about 20 to begin?"
-Laurent Meriguet, Paris, France
"You now can say you have a Tree People fan club in Japan... I unexpectedly have gotten the record of The Tree People and often listen to it. I was moved and surprised at the good songwriting and private atmosphere."
-Sota Tomayasu, Tokyo, Japan
I really dig the LP, (The Tree People) and a few of my friends did too, I would love to get 5-10 copies. Thanks for putting out a great record. Hisham Mayet, Seattle, Washington
"Your Tree People album website led me to conduct a search through a box of old cassette tapes in my garage, which uncovered a tape I made God knows how many years ago of the album. It was a poor quality tape, but I was kind of amazed. It has been maybe 15 years since I have listened to that album and hearing it after this long was the nearest thing totime travel I have experienced lately. Also - it's pretty good."
-Jeff Stier, recorder and percussion on The Tree People album
"Four sources caught up with me to say you were looking for me, and what a surprise that after all these years you're having renewed interest in your "Tree People" projects. As the Aussie's say, "Good on Ya." From the first time I heard you at the "Truckstop" I dug what you were doin'. That sound is unique to only you. I was always partial to "Bring in the Water." Your Tree People album was the first I was ever a part of and I remember you telling me there would be many more."
-James Thornbury, bass, backup vocals and slide guitar on the Tree People album
It's amazing to read your reminiscence of our days playing in and around Eugene, Stephen. For one thing, amazing that you have the memory for the places and atmosphere and all those details that bring it right back. I remember putting together our pieces - getting together in your tiny apartment, hearing your ideas and then Jeff and I improvising our solos and duets and background bits, liking something and playing it again until it became the song, though never the same twice. For a shy person it was a great atmosphere to be able to feel free to experiment and even let loose now and then. One small concert you didn't mention was in the house I was living in, we had a little wine tasting and going away concert, just for friends, and it was a high point of my days then. Also I should mention when I played the tape I have for my family (not exactly the record, has some different songs), my son who's an avid electic guitar player, was actually impressed and said he would listen to it from time to time! Now that's amazing. Thanks. Rachel Donnette, aka Rachel Laderman (flute player on The Tree People album)
I just received the Tree People LP, put it on the record player and was... well, just blown away. I am still taking it all in... very powerful work. I'm very happy you managed to get hold of a copy for me. Many thanks. I look forward to the CD release (easier to listen to on the CD-walkman on the way to school!). Stefan
NEXT RELEASE: The TREE PEOPLE: "S/T". (TILAR-5003). First ever reissue of this excellent privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. One of the best discs in its genre and we are totally psyched about being able to present a whole new audience with this masterpiece. Totally mind blowing disc, one of my personal top 10 records of all time. Due end of July, housed in sturdy gatefold mini LP sleeve jackets, with obi and linernotes.
Johan Wellens, Tiliqua Records
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Some history
some history of The Tree People, by Stephen Cohen
"I moved to Eugene, a college town in Oregon in 1977, as a young songwriter and guitarist, and began playing at local coffee houses and concert venues there. At a Eugene coffee house called The Home Fried Truck Stop (which no longer exists), I heard an amazing percussionist and recorder player named Jeff Stier playing with an acoustic trio. When I played at the same place a week later he was in attendance, and I asked him if he was interested in performing with me in the future. He had a friend at the time, Rachel Laderman, a classical flautist and daughter of the classical composer Ezra Laderman. Thus The Tree People came into being.
After a year or so of performing and practicing as a group, we went into a studio in the woods called Rockin' A Ranch (which also doesn't exist anymore, but the engineer Michael Ayling, now Michael Brewer, is still involved in music). James Thornbury, a Eugene blues musician at the time, joined us on bass and background vocals and played slide guitar on the last song. We recorded the entire album in one summer weekend at the Rockin' A Ranch. I remember Michael's wife Linda bringing us fresh warm cookies at one point in the proceedings. I recall a new born baby in the house. I remember the feeling of waking up in that A-frame studio in the woods knowing that this was where I was supposed to be: surrounded by good musicians and good people and creating music.
Because my two children were very young at the time, and because Jeff had work commitments (he was a bike mechanic and then a car mechanic during those years) and Rachel was attending the University of Oregon, we never thought about touring. But we did perform all the time in Eugene: at coffee houses , outdoor market places , concert venues, local festivals and live radio shows. Rachel moved away when she finished school, but me and Jeff kept performing as The Tree People, with various guest musicians, for about 7 years. We made one more recording as The Tree People, a cassette called Human Voices. Jeff eventually moved to Washington D.C. to work for a U.S. congressman, and The Tree People came to an end.
"I just remembered one other thing about the history of The Tree People album. Soon after it was released I sent a copy to a record company in Seattle on the recommendation of my engineer. The people at the company loved it, and wanted to press additional copies and market it across the United States through college radio stations. They even sent me a preliminary contract. But before they could do anything with it, there was an economic recession in the United States (this was now the early 1980's), especially in the northwest United States, and the company decided to put the whole project on the shelf. By the time things got better economically the A&R person from that record company had left the music business entirely and was selling real estate, and the deal was effectively dead. "
"Some memories about some of the venues that The Tree People played around the time of the album:
The Home Fried Truckstop was not really a truckstop but a cooperatively run coffee house and restaurant near the University of Oregon that had a nice wooden stage and featured music 7 days a week. If someone was passing through town and asked where they could hear some music, The Home Fried Truckstop would be the place they would hear about. It attracted students, professors, working people, people passing through, people hanging out, artists, musicians, people in the community- there was always an audience there. Sunday brunches always drew the biggest crowds and I remember playing there on many a Sunday morning, letting our music merge with the sounds of plates and muted conversations and scattered applause, walking out back during breaks and looking out at the hills in the distance, and then eating the breakfast that came with the gig afterwards of eggs and homefried potatoes with band members and friends.
The Loft was a short lived venue a few blocks from the Home Fried Truckstop that was a loft perched on the second floor of an old wooden building and provided an intimate concert setting for local folk and jazz performers and theater groups. We did several concerts there and I remember the winding staircase leading up to The Loft, the good acoustics with the music bouncing off the wooden walls, and the good audience of listeners that made it up the staircase when we played there.
In July of 1979 we played in the woods east of Eugene near Elmira, Oregon on the main stage of the Oregon Country Fair, a counter-culture festival like no other (which still happens for 3 days every July) that features music, arts and crafts booths, vaudeville performers, marching bands in colorful states of dress and undress, stilt walkers, fire-swallowers, drummers, buskers, and what have you. In our short set there we did some of the pieces that we would record on the Tree People album a month later down the same road further into the Coast Range at the Rockin' A Ranch in Greenleaf, Oregon. That main stage overlooked a field, and I remember playing a song I was working on called "Fields of Light"("I had a most wonderful dream, dreamt I was in a field, everything was just so bright, and the warm wind blew ever so nice") that we recorded at The Tree People session but didn't end up using on the album. I do remember someone approaching me years later and telling me he had recorded that set at the Oregon Country Fair on a little tape recorder and still listened to "Fields of Light" on occasion.
We played at the Eugene Saturday market, an outdoor marketplace with food, arts and crafts and music that still goes on every week in Eugene. And I remember us playing at an event at the Erb Memorial Student Union at the University of Oregon soon after we released the album and selling all of the albums we brought with us that day during and after our set.
We also put on some of own concerts at various settings, including art galleries and The Eugene Garden Club (which, yes, was a real garden club that you could rent for events).
We did several live radio performances on the local NPR station KLCC's Music from the Center program, which was recorded live from the WOW Hall (a local concert and event venue in Eugene which still is around.) And when The Tree People Album came out, the whole album was played on a KLCC show called From the Leff Side (Howie Leff was the host of the show). I never met Howie Leff until a few years later when we each were coaching our sons in a 5th grade basketball league.
That's the way I remember Eugene back then- we all were just living our lives, music was a big part of it- and that seemed to be enough in that college town back then.
But The Tree People still live! In the last few years I have been getting e-mails about and orders for that 1979 vinyl album,The Tree People, from all over the world. Here in Portland, Oregon, I have placed The Tree People album at Jackpot Records, which has two Portland locations. The people at Jackpot Records have been very enthusiastic about the record and to my suprise they have been selling! I was down to just a few of the original vinyl copies, when I found out there were 25 more in Ezra Laderman's house (Rachel's father) in Cape Cod. My son Oryx and his wife Kristin picked them up there for me and sent them to me. As soon as they arrived Jackpot Records bought half, a man in Seattle bought the other half, so now I am back again to just a few personal copies.
But when I told the owner of Jackpot Records, Isaac Slusarenko, that I am now down to just a few Tree People albums, he told me that Jackpot Records would like to be the company doing the re-issue. It is an album they and their customers like, an album with a history and a story behind it, and an album he feels they can get to more people around the world this time around. So on September 8th, 2005, I signed a record deal with Isaac and Jackpot Records, and they will be releasing and distributing the re-issue of The Tree People album as a CD in the spring of 2006!
The Missing Side!
"I've been searching and searching for that missing side and I haven't found it yet. I also just called and e-mailed Michael (the original engineer) in Eugene to see if he has anything stored away from that long ago project. I'll keep looking and let you know as soon as I come up with anything. If we can't find that missing side, can that side be made using the actual vinyl?
I'm going to go back down to the cellar now to look again!" Stephen
"Hi Stephen,
I don't have anything from that era. I would have givin up the masters to you. Probably a 1/2 track stereo master and 15 ips. Sorry but congrats on the re-release." Michael Brewer
"Hey Stephen,
If you can't find the reel for side one, can you find the original 2 inch master? We can remix the tapes to match the sound like the sound of the side 2 of the album. As far as transfering off vinyl, we won't be able to because after listening to the vinyl and the master tape I noticed that there is a slight echo on the entire vinyl mix that is not on the master tape, and the quality of the side from the vinyl would come close to matching the quality of the side from the master. But the good news is that we were all able to get all of side 2 taken care of today and it sounded fantastic!!!! Let me know what you find out about the missing tapes." Isaac
Some stories have their twists and turns, and now the Tree People story has taken another turn. I gave Isaac of Jackpot Records what I believed to be the two master tapes for that first Tree People album. But Isaac discovered that while one tape was side two of The Tree People,
the second tape was actually a master from our second recording, Human Voices. I have searched and searched but so far I have found only 2" track tapes from that second Tree People project, and no tapes from the album in question, the first Tree People album. So the story of the missing side goes on: I am checking on several houses that I lived in the last 26 years and searching our house now, but so far nothing. If this was something I recorded recently on CD, there would be no problem, since the digital process retains the same quality in the copies as in the masters, but that is not the case with an old vinyl project: we must have the original master on tape to proceed. So the search for side one continues!
The missing master of side could not be found, but the reissue will still happen in 2006 because of this new development:
Jackpot steps out, Tiliqua steps in:
To: threehandstephen@earthlink.net
Subject: Little question from Tokyo
Dear Mr Stephen Cohen,
Please forgive me to barge in like this. I guess you receive rantings like this mail on a fairly regular basis but I thought I would give it a try. Recently, I got my hands on a copy of the Tree People from a contact I have in Seattle Washington. He suggested it to me and I followed his
recommendation. The end result is that I am hooked to the disc now. Just plain fantastic.
I wondered if you still have some copies of the LP available and if so if you are willing to part of them since I have some musician friends here who would love to have a copy. I would be grateful if you had any. Next thing I wanted to ask is weather there is a reissue of this disc in the works or not. If not, my label Tiliqua Records would love to restore the album to its former glory, on LP as well as CD (CD housed in a mini-sizedcarton LP jacket - no plastic cases of course). Please let me know if you might be interested in a project like that. I hope to hear from you soon, and until then I continue to spin my just found copy with much pleasure.
Thanks you for the nice music,
Kindest regards,
Johan
Johan Wellens - Tiliqua Records
Please do let me know what Jackpot decides. I do certainly not want to intrude Jackpot's intentions and hope they are willing to reissue the album. Only if they back down, I will be more than interested to step in. Of course I am interested in releasing the Tree People, even if the original master doesn't show up. Of course I hope it does show up and that Jackpot Records reissues it. Stuff like this have to get out, it is just too beautiful. Working with only a vinyl copy as source is fine, I have another project scheduled that is similar, one master survived, one went missing over the years. But it is the music that counts so I really do not mind, it gives it even an extra edge?(remember to pre-war blues recordings they reissue now, all crackling and dusty sounding, it does not affect the quality of the music).
Johan Wellens - Tiliqua Records
I am sorry to hear that Jackpot Records steps out of the project, but then again I am more than happy to step in. I just love the music and that is the main driving force of my label. Until now I have released only Japanese artists but I was already for a long time on the look out in order to include European and US artists on the label's roster. Only problem was that there is not so much stuff out there that make me go wild. But then I heard the Tree People record and I went ballistic. While everyone is raving about Six Organs, Tower recordings and that kind of bands I discovered that you were doing basically similar stuff but only way ahead of everyone else so I was so (and still am) so excited!! Hell, even my 2 year old daughter loves it.
Johan Wellens - Tiliqua Records
Sometimes waiting becomes part of the process:
Waiting for the reissue:
Hello,
I really enjoyed your chronicle of the Tree People LP... I don't suppose you ever turned up any additional copies of the record since your last post? I would love to get a copy if you have any to spare.
Thanks again for all the info -
Josh
Chicago, IL
Dear Mr. Cohen,
I'm a composer/performer, originally from Belgium, based in Tokyo. Some people around
me have been raving about your Tree People album, but so far I haven't been able to
locate a copy of it. Would you happen to have any (well, one will do fine) left?
Thanks in advance - best wishes for 2006,
Stefan
"I moved to Eugene, a college town in Oregon in 1977, as a young songwriter and guitarist, and began playing at local coffee houses and concert venues there. At a Eugene coffee house called The Home Fried Truck Stop (which no longer exists), I heard an amazing percussionist and recorder player named Jeff Stier playing with an acoustic trio. When I played at the same place a week later he was in attendance, and I asked him if he was interested in performing with me in the future. He had a friend at the time, Rachel Laderman, a classical flautist and daughter of the classical composer Ezra Laderman. Thus The Tree People came into being.
After a year or so of performing and practicing as a group, we went into a studio in the woods called Rockin' A Ranch (which also doesn't exist anymore, but the engineer Michael Ayling, now Michael Brewer, is still involved in music). James Thornbury, a Eugene blues musician at the time, joined us on bass and background vocals and played slide guitar on the last song. We recorded the entire album in one summer weekend at the Rockin' A Ranch. I remember Michael's wife Linda bringing us fresh warm cookies at one point in the proceedings. I recall a new born baby in the house. I remember the feeling of waking up in that A-frame studio in the woods knowing that this was where I was supposed to be: surrounded by good musicians and good people and creating music.
Because my two children were very young at the time, and because Jeff had work commitments (he was a bike mechanic and then a car mechanic during those years) and Rachel was attending the University of Oregon, we never thought about touring. But we did perform all the time in Eugene: at coffee houses , outdoor market places , concert venues, local festivals and live radio shows. Rachel moved away when she finished school, but me and Jeff kept performing as The Tree People, with various guest musicians, for about 7 years. We made one more recording as The Tree People, a cassette called Human Voices. Jeff eventually moved to Washington D.C. to work for a U.S. congressman, and The Tree People came to an end.
"I just remembered one other thing about the history of The Tree People album. Soon after it was released I sent a copy to a record company in Seattle on the recommendation of my engineer. The people at the company loved it, and wanted to press additional copies and market it across the United States through college radio stations. They even sent me a preliminary contract. But before they could do anything with it, there was an economic recession in the United States (this was now the early 1980's), especially in the northwest United States, and the company decided to put the whole project on the shelf. By the time things got better economically the A&R person from that record company had left the music business entirely and was selling real estate, and the deal was effectively dead. "
"Some memories about some of the venues that The Tree People played around the time of the album:
The Home Fried Truckstop was not really a truckstop but a cooperatively run coffee house and restaurant near the University of Oregon that had a nice wooden stage and featured music 7 days a week. If someone was passing through town and asked where they could hear some music, The Home Fried Truckstop would be the place they would hear about. It attracted students, professors, working people, people passing through, people hanging out, artists, musicians, people in the community- there was always an audience there. Sunday brunches always drew the biggest crowds and I remember playing there on many a Sunday morning, letting our music merge with the sounds of plates and muted conversations and scattered applause, walking out back during breaks and looking out at the hills in the distance, and then eating the breakfast that came with the gig afterwards of eggs and homefried potatoes with band members and friends.
The Loft was a short lived venue a few blocks from the Home Fried Truckstop that was a loft perched on the second floor of an old wooden building and provided an intimate concert setting for local folk and jazz performers and theater groups. We did several concerts there and I remember the winding staircase leading up to The Loft, the good acoustics with the music bouncing off the wooden walls, and the good audience of listeners that made it up the staircase when we played there.
In July of 1979 we played in the woods east of Eugene near Elmira, Oregon on the main stage of the Oregon Country Fair, a counter-culture festival like no other (which still happens for 3 days every July) that features music, arts and crafts booths, vaudeville performers, marching bands in colorful states of dress and undress, stilt walkers, fire-swallowers, drummers, buskers, and what have you. In our short set there we did some of the pieces that we would record on the Tree People album a month later down the same road further into the Coast Range at the Rockin' A Ranch in Greenleaf, Oregon. That main stage overlooked a field, and I remember playing a song I was working on called "Fields of Light"("I had a most wonderful dream, dreamt I was in a field, everything was just so bright, and the warm wind blew ever so nice") that we recorded at The Tree People session but didn't end up using on the album. I do remember someone approaching me years later and telling me he had recorded that set at the Oregon Country Fair on a little tape recorder and still listened to "Fields of Light" on occasion.
We played at the Eugene Saturday market, an outdoor marketplace with food, arts and crafts and music that still goes on every week in Eugene. And I remember us playing at an event at the Erb Memorial Student Union at the University of Oregon soon after we released the album and selling all of the albums we brought with us that day during and after our set.
We also put on some of own concerts at various settings, including art galleries and The Eugene Garden Club (which, yes, was a real garden club that you could rent for events).
We did several live radio performances on the local NPR station KLCC's Music from the Center program, which was recorded live from the WOW Hall (a local concert and event venue in Eugene which still is around.) And when The Tree People Album came out, the whole album was played on a KLCC show called From the Leff Side (Howie Leff was the host of the show). I never met Howie Leff until a few years later when we each were coaching our sons in a 5th grade basketball league.
That's the way I remember Eugene back then- we all were just living our lives, music was a big part of it- and that seemed to be enough in that college town back then.
But The Tree People still live! In the last few years I have been getting e-mails about and orders for that 1979 vinyl album,The Tree People, from all over the world. Here in Portland, Oregon, I have placed The Tree People album at Jackpot Records, which has two Portland locations. The people at Jackpot Records have been very enthusiastic about the record and to my suprise they have been selling! I was down to just a few of the original vinyl copies, when I found out there were 25 more in Ezra Laderman's house (Rachel's father) in Cape Cod. My son Oryx and his wife Kristin picked them up there for me and sent them to me. As soon as they arrived Jackpot Records bought half, a man in Seattle bought the other half, so now I am back again to just a few personal copies.
But when I told the owner of Jackpot Records, Isaac Slusarenko, that I am now down to just a few Tree People albums, he told me that Jackpot Records would like to be the company doing the re-issue. It is an album they and their customers like, an album with a history and a story behind it, and an album he feels they can get to more people around the world this time around. So on September 8th, 2005, I signed a record deal with Isaac and Jackpot Records, and they will be releasing and distributing the re-issue of The Tree People album as a CD in the spring of 2006!
The Missing Side!
"I've been searching and searching for that missing side and I haven't found it yet. I also just called and e-mailed Michael (the original engineer) in Eugene to see if he has anything stored away from that long ago project. I'll keep looking and let you know as soon as I come up with anything. If we can't find that missing side, can that side be made using the actual vinyl?
I'm going to go back down to the cellar now to look again!" Stephen
"Hi Stephen,
I don't have anything from that era. I would have givin up the masters to you. Probably a 1/2 track stereo master and 15 ips. Sorry but congrats on the re-release." Michael Brewer
"Hey Stephen,
If you can't find the reel for side one, can you find the original 2 inch master? We can remix the tapes to match the sound like the sound of the side 2 of the album. As far as transfering off vinyl, we won't be able to because after listening to the vinyl and the master tape I noticed that there is a slight echo on the entire vinyl mix that is not on the master tape, and the quality of the side from the vinyl would come close to matching the quality of the side from the master. But the good news is that we were all able to get all of side 2 taken care of today and it sounded fantastic!!!! Let me know what you find out about the missing tapes." Isaac
Some stories have their twists and turns, and now the Tree People story has taken another turn. I gave Isaac of Jackpot Records what I believed to be the two master tapes for that first Tree People album. But Isaac discovered that while one tape was side two of The Tree People,
the second tape was actually a master from our second recording, Human Voices. I have searched and searched but so far I have found only 2" track tapes from that second Tree People project, and no tapes from the album in question, the first Tree People album. So the story of the missing side goes on: I am checking on several houses that I lived in the last 26 years and searching our house now, but so far nothing. If this was something I recorded recently on CD, there would be no problem, since the digital process retains the same quality in the copies as in the masters, but that is not the case with an old vinyl project: we must have the original master on tape to proceed. So the search for side one continues!
The missing master of side could not be found, but the reissue will still happen in 2006 because of this new development:
Jackpot steps out, Tiliqua steps in:
To: threehandstephen@earthlink.net
Subject: Little question from Tokyo
Dear Mr Stephen Cohen,
Please forgive me to barge in like this. I guess you receive rantings like this mail on a fairly regular basis but I thought I would give it a try. Recently, I got my hands on a copy of the Tree People from a contact I have in Seattle Washington. He suggested it to me and I followed his
recommendation. The end result is that I am hooked to the disc now. Just plain fantastic.
I wondered if you still have some copies of the LP available and if so if you are willing to part of them since I have some musician friends here who would love to have a copy. I would be grateful if you had any. Next thing I wanted to ask is weather there is a reissue of this disc in the works or not. If not, my label Tiliqua Records would love to restore the album to its former glory, on LP as well as CD (CD housed in a mini-sizedcarton LP jacket - no plastic cases of course). Please let me know if you might be interested in a project like that. I hope to hear from you soon, and until then I continue to spin my just found copy with much pleasure.
Thanks you for the nice music,
Kindest regards,
Johan
Johan Wellens - Tiliqua Records
Please do let me know what Jackpot decides. I do certainly not want to intrude Jackpot's intentions and hope they are willing to reissue the album. Only if they back down, I will be more than interested to step in. Of course I am interested in releasing the Tree People, even if the original master doesn't show up. Of course I hope it does show up and that Jackpot Records reissues it. Stuff like this have to get out, it is just too beautiful. Working with only a vinyl copy as source is fine, I have another project scheduled that is similar, one master survived, one went missing over the years. But it is the music that counts so I really do not mind, it gives it even an extra edge?(remember to pre-war blues recordings they reissue now, all crackling and dusty sounding, it does not affect the quality of the music).
Johan Wellens - Tiliqua Records
I am sorry to hear that Jackpot Records steps out of the project, but then again I am more than happy to step in. I just love the music and that is the main driving force of my label. Until now I have released only Japanese artists but I was already for a long time on the look out in order to include European and US artists on the label's roster. Only problem was that there is not so much stuff out there that make me go wild. But then I heard the Tree People record and I went ballistic. While everyone is raving about Six Organs, Tower recordings and that kind of bands I discovered that you were doing basically similar stuff but only way ahead of everyone else so I was so (and still am) so excited!! Hell, even my 2 year old daughter loves it.
Johan Wellens - Tiliqua Records
Sometimes waiting becomes part of the process:
Waiting for the reissue:
Hello,
I really enjoyed your chronicle of the Tree People LP... I don't suppose you ever turned up any additional copies of the record since your last post? I would love to get a copy if you have any to spare.
Thanks again for all the info -
Josh
Chicago, IL
Dear Mr. Cohen,
I'm a composer/performer, originally from Belgium, based in Tokyo. Some people around
me have been raving about your Tree People album, but so far I haven't been able to
locate a copy of it. Would you happen to have any (well, one will do fine) left?
Thanks in advance - best wishes for 2006,
Stefan
stephen,
when is the tree people album being reissued on cd? i'm
eagerly waiting
- Chris W., a fan
Dear Mr Cohen,
Let me start off that the Tree People is of course still on.
The recent months have been extremely busy on this side.
Once I am back from Belgium, which will be at the end of March
I will make work of the Tree people reissue. For starters
I think of starting off with a CD reissue, housed in a fold out
jacket with liners and obi. If that moves smoothly a limited
Lp version will follow. So if all goes well I hope it to be in
print by June - July.
Thanks again and till soon,
Kindest regards,
Johan
And today, April 15th, 2006, Johan Wellens, the owner of
Tiliqua Records called me at my home here in Oregon from Japan
and we had a nice conversation about the reissue. He sees it
now being ready by July or August of 2006.
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