THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,208) She Trinity (& The Onyx) — “Climb that Tree”
Here is a number so unique that it took two bands — one all girl and one all boy — spanning the Atlantic from Canada to the UK to bring it all together. It is “bizarre, bonkers but absolutely fabulous” (Mikey Dread, https://www.45cat.com/record/pt283), “astonishing” (Klepsie, https://www.45cat.com/record/pt283), again “bizarre” and “possibly unique” (big swiftly, https://www.45cat.com/record/pt283), with “slamming, percussive organ parts and [a] complex, stop-start arrangement [that] skirt the margins of what might be called proto-progressive rock.” (Bill Kopp, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/17/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-5-of-5/) She Trinity’s singer did consider the song to be “a pretentious parlay of rubbish”. (http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/17/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-5-of-5/) But in a good way!
The song was first recorded as a demo by the popular live Cornwallian band and BBC mainstay The Onyx and then issued as a B-side — the flip of a cover of “Hair”! — by the Canadian/UK She Trinity. As the Onyx didn’t write its A-sides, the song is an amazing feat of creativity. I wish the band could have pursued this muse.
The Onyx’s website explains:
Bob Potter not only booked and promoted bands, he also had a small studio at the rear of his house . . . . Having started to build up a excellent reputation as a live band they decided to take advantage of Bob’s space and took their first forays the studio to try out some of the creative ideas they had been developing out on the road. . . . During these sessions the band had free reign to bounce ideas around and come up with some recordable material. The sessions showcased the band[‘]s varied style of music, from straight pop to the psychedelically tinged harmony pop they would become famous for. . . . [One] track recorded during these sessions was the quirky progressive pop number “Climb That Tree”, which would be covered the following year by fellow Bob Potter band, She Trinity on the B-Side of “Hair” . . . . The single release was effectively an Onyx recording with vocals from She Trinity dubbed over the top.
Bill Kopp adds:
The a-side [of She Trinity’s final single] was a new (and superior) recording of “Hair.” “We’d gone into Bob Potter’s studio and we did ‘Hair’ again because that had been a hit for us in Germany,” [vocalist Eileen] Woodman recalls. . . . The b-side of “Hair” ranks as the most unusual release from the group. “’Climb That Tree’ is a strange one, that,” says Woodman. “That’s me singing lead. I always thought it was a pretentious parlay of rubbish. Woodman’s harsh assessment notwithstanding, “Climb That Tree” has its admirers, especially among aficionados of heavy psychedelia. . . . [Aside] from Woodman, She Trinity is nowhere to be found on the recording. “It was a band called the Onyx,” Woodman explains. “Another of Bob Potter’s bands, and that track was already laid out.” Though Robin Yorke insists otherwise, Woodman says that she laid down an organ part in addition to her arresting vocal. That final single didn’t sell in great quantities, and the group saw the end coming.
As to She Trinity, All Music Guide tells us that:
Shelly Gillespie, Sue Kirby and Robin Yorke formed the original She Trinity in Canada. Upon arriving in London . . . they added Pauline Moran to the line-up. Unlike many ‘girl-groups’ of the era, the She Trinity played musical instruments and, having secured a contract with Columbia Records in 1966, completed a strong cover version of the Bobby Fuller Four’s ‘I Fought The Law’, retitled ‘He Fought The Law’. Other releases, including ‘The Man Who Took The Valise Off The Floor Of Grand Central Station At Noon’, showed considerable promise, but the band’s career was completely undermined upon opting to record ‘Yellow Submarine’ without knowing the Beatles’ would issue their version as a single.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-she-trinity-mn0001926679#biography
Bill Kopp elaborates:
She Trinity [was] a remarkable all-woman band of the middle- and late ‘60s. . . . [who] played their own instruments and worked with a high-profile producer, but . . . never broke through to the big time. . . . She Trinity released a string of singles between 1966 and 1970, and toured widely, especially on the Continent. . . . shar[ing] bills with The Who, record with producer Mickie Most, work in the studio with John Paul Jones and be managed by Peter Grant [yes, that Peter Grant]. . . . She Trinity reach[es] back to two even earlier all-female groups: The Missfits, a Blackpool group, and Lady Greensleeves, a Toronto, Canada band led by Robyn Yorke. . . . [and a] British emigre . . . guitarist Shelley Gillespie . . . . The band found a teenage singer, Sue Kirby, who answered an ad and moved from Long Island, New York . . . . “We fetched up in England at the very end of ‘65,” Gillespie says. “Robyn had connections, somehow, with the agent for Eamonn Andrews, and he decided to take us on. . . . [and] introduced us to a record producer called Mickie Most.” Yorke’s recollection differs. “When we got to England, we didn’t know anybody,” she insists. “So I just sort of checked around.” She says that she found a manager in Peter Grant. He managed other groups as well, including the New Vaudeville Band . . . and often worked with producer Mickie Most. “Eventually we left the guy who was supposed to be managing us, and went to Peter Grant,” Gillespie says. “Mickie took us on [as a producer], but I don’t think he was too keen.” Needing a bassist, the band placed an advert in Melody Maker. A Blackpool teenager called Pauline Moran answered the advert, auditioned and joined the band. Around the same time, Most renamed the group She Trinity . . . . As early as 1963 [Moran] had formed all-girl band The Missfits. . . . Mickie Most and Peter Grant seemed busy with other things, Gillespie says. “They had Donovan and other people who were coming up and doing quite well.” She believes that She Trinity was not that interesting to them. “They thought we might be a gimmick,” she says. “So they never really put their backs into it somehow.” . . . She Trinity eventually added a fifth member, Liverpool keyboardist Marion “Rusty” Hill. . . . Solid musicianship combined with good looks and a unique all-female lineup meant that She Trinity didn’t have a hard time securing live dates. “We were playing all the ballrooms,” Yorke says.
http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/13/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-1-of-5/, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/14/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-2-of-5/, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/15/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-3-of-5/
For an exhaustive and entertaining history of She Trinity, see: http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/13/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-1-of-5/, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/14/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-2-of-5/, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/15/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-3-of-5/, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/16/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-4-of-5/, http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2021/09/17/climbing-that-tree-the-story-of-she-trinity-part-5-of-5/
For an exhaustive and entertaining history of the Onyx, see: http://www.the-onyx.co.uk/history.html, http://www.the-onyx.co.uk/history2.html, http://www.the-onyx.co.uk/history3.html, http://www.the-onyx.co.uk/history4.html, http://www.the-onyx.co.uk/history5.html, http://www.the-onyx.co.uk/history6.html.
Here is the Onyx’s demo:
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