Fever Tree Creates Beautiful Music!!!
chris meesey Food Czar | The Colony, TX United States | 11/10/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Here are the third and fourth albums from Fever Tree, that great lost Texas band of the sixties, and while neither is as good as the first two, both of them (particularly Creation) have some stunning moments. For Sale is first up, and Dennis Keller's vocals shine on the old standard "I Put a Spell on You," (not to mention some luscious background singing by the Blackberries, who later warbled in Humble Pie) and the Love song, "She Comes In Colors." Two of the cuts, "Girl Don't Push Me" and "Hey Mister" are actually early singles; For Sale was the band's fourth album and was put together as they were breaking up. (In addition, the listed running order of the For Sale cuts is incorrect; it should be: 1. "I Put A Spell on You", 2. "Come on In" 3. "She Comes In Colors" 4. "Girl Don't Push Me" 5. "You're Not the Same" 6. "Hey, Mister", and 7. "Hey Joe." The remaining songs, all from Creation, are in the correct order as listed; cut number 12, "Fever Blue," is mislabled "Fever Glue" on this edition.) In short, For Sale is good but not great. Then, starting with "Woman, Woman" (not the Gary Puckett song), the remaining cuts are from Creation and are all excellent, particularly "Wild Woman Ways," "Catcher in the Rye", "Run Past My Window", and "Time is Now," the latter featuring excellent guitar work by future ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons. All of the band's work is first-rate, particularly that of Dennis Keller and superb keyboardist Rob Landes. (Note: Landes is serving as organist and musical director at a church in Houston; not surprising, since many Fever Tree songs are reminiscent of liturgical music at it's finest.) In conclusion, a must-have purchase for your Fever Tree collection, particularly for those beautiful, melodic gems from the Creation album. Thank you to the Fevers for giving me and the rest of your fans such joy over the years, while toiling away in relative obscurity. The time is now to purchase this wonderful collection!!!"
Still shining on
Golovanov Alexey | Limassol, Cyprus | 08/06/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Fever Tree" is a very much UNDERRATED and UNDERESTIMATED band, which started as folkish group ("The Bostwick Vines") in Houson - around 1966. In 1967 they've changed their name, recruited a keyboard player and drifted towards psychedelic/acid/progressive? The definitions are not that important. The band was then produced by Scott & Vivian Holtzman, who supplied most of the songs as well. In any case, the monumental vocals of Dennis Keller are still impressive, and the music is well above average demonstrating permanently developing and evolving harmony. The guitar work of Michael Knust is exceptional. Self-titled "Fever Tree" was their first album on UNI/MCA (1968), which came with the only hit - "San Francisco Girls"; than came "Another Time, Another Place" (also 1968), "Creation" (1969), and "For Sale" (1970). Just listen to heart-breaking rendition of "Hey Joe" from "For Sale" to get an idea. These were cornerstone albums, which still shine brighter than any of "stoner" newcomers. Other CDs might be available as well, and are worth buying.Fever Tree/Another Time Another Place. By the way, the band is not mentioned in any of the "great", "complete" and "ultimate" discographies and suchlike reference guides - perhaps, it was too good."
Not Bad, Just Doesn't Quite Measure Up To The First Two
Fred Rayworth | Las Vegas, NV United States | 07/16/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The first half of this review is on Creation while the second half is For Sale.
I bought Creation in late 1969, excited to hear what this bad could do on a third effort. It was not quite as exciting as the first two and I pretty much shelved it for 30 years. I just burned it to CD and have been listening to it on my long commute to work and it has grown on me a bit. I remember many of the cuts from 30 years ago, so I guess it was better than I remembered. However, it is still not quite up to the standards of their first two, and especially the first album, Fever Tree. To me, there is very little of the guitar playing that stands out, even though Billy Gibbons played on it somewhere. I don't know why he was brought in in the first place, but maybe Michael's drug problems necessitated it. Whatever the case, it is still a good album, but I think the cracks were starting to show in the band's structure. As in the last album, they covered one of their own songs from the first album. This time it's Imitation Situation. Still, it is a good slice of the era and I recommend it for more than just fans of Fever Tree.
For Sale is by far their least interesting album. It just screams "contractual obligation." Participation by original band members is questionable, and even in Michael Knust's last interview, he could only remember playing on two songs. So, in a way, this could be called a Dennis Keller solo album, as he seems to be the only constant. Another problem is that at this point, they'd fired Scott and Vivian Holtzman, and I think that affected the quality of the songs.
For Sale is a mishmash of songs, including their very first recording (I think) Hey Mister, which may be the only true Fever Tree cut on this thing. The second side is 12 minutes of the umpteenth version of Hey Joe. Not bad, just not super exciting. Then there is the oddball She Comes In Colors, which though a good song and played well, doesn't really fit with Fever Tree.
Another thing was that I burned this from the original Ampex LP. I bought it in a discount bin in a small market in West Virginia in the 70's. I guess the dollar wasn't totally wasted. However, the poor quality of the vinyl left it with several skips from the first play. Closer examination revealed several bubbles and pits molded into the vinyl surface so that the first song and Hey Mister skip. Also, the song order on the album cover is wrong, though they got it right on the record label. I guess Ampex wasn't at the top of the vinyl record making heap.
Despite all, I still recommend this as it is not bad music, but if I were you, I wouldn't compare it to the first three.
"
