A Silly Tree - 7th June 1981

By June 1981, Maria had been back in the group for a few months and had contributed to a bunch of new material. For a gig at Plas Coch on 19th May, Scott Saunders had augmented the group on organ. The group were pleased with the way the extra tonal palette enhanced the material and so for their next gig, scheduled at the Glanrafon Pub in Bangor on June 8th, they invited saxophonist Phil Layton to play with the group.

Mark had recently moved from Pen-y-Bryn Manor to the similarly named Penybryn Farmhouse in Bangor and this is where Phil got together with the group for a run through of the material the day before the gig. Oddly enough A Silly Tree had already covered Phil's song 'White Sky' at their previous gig and this was of course added to the set again, along with a new song by Mark, 'Falling Back'.

Here then, is a straight run-through of the set that they would play at the Glanrafon the following day, together with two bonus tracks from the previous month, where Maeyc, Alan & Maria work out a new song 'It's Too Late'.

Penybryn Farmhouse, Bangor 7th June 1981

Mark Creathorne - Drums (1-7)
Alan Holmes - Guitar
Maeyc Hewitt - Bass / Drums (8, 9)
Maria Hycz - Vocals
Phil Layton - Saxophone (1-7)

1 It’s Too Late (Hewitt/Holmes/Hycz) 4:40
2 She’ll Never Know (Holmes/Hycz/Stubbs) 4:05
3 Falling Back (Creathorne) 4:00
4 Isn’t Life Such Fun? (Holmes/Hycz/Stubbs) 3:20
5 White Sky (Layton) 2:20
6 Parting Gift (Creathorne/Hewitt/Holmes/Hycz) 4:27
7 Guilty Feeling (Holmes/Hycz) 5:38

bonus tracks:
Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor May 1981:
8 It’s Too Late (Hewitt/Holmes/Hycz) 4:26
9 It’s Too Late (Hewitt/Holmes/Hycz) 4:24
(early trio rough versions)

get it here