Label: Uni
Year of Release: 1970
Consisting of Dennis Keller on vocals, Michael Stephen Knust on guitar, Rob Landes on keyboards, E.E. "Bud" Wolfe on bass guitar, John Tuttle on drums and Don Lampton on guitar, Fever Tree were a Houston band who are these days mainly known for their single "San Francisco Girls (Return Of The Native)" which just clipped the American charts at number 91 in 1968.
The bands roots were squarely in folk rock, and while they slowly progressed from that template, you can still hear some of its tones across this single, tempered with a few rockisms. "I Am" is mournful and hollering as well as rootsy, to the extent that Fever Tree end up sounding like an alternative universe Greenwich Village Guns N' Roses at some points. It's a little bit too lighters-aloft anthemic for my tastes, but may well be more broadly appreciated by other readers.
Fever Tree released an eponymous debut album in 1968 followed by "Another Time, Another Place" in 1969, and "Creation" in 1970. All sold modestly, but clearly not enough to convince the band to continue any further. A short-lived reformation occurred in 1978, then sadly, Michael Stephen Knust passed away in 2003, seemingly putting paid to any further revivals.
My copy of "I Am" is the promo version with a Mono version on the A-side and a stereo mix on the flip. I've included both below.
1 comment:
Just realized I spent the past nineteen hours mistaking Fever Tree for The Yellow Payges. At least both were on Uni, or I'd feel like a schmuck.
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