This is another album I hadn't heard in many years. When I took this out for a spin, I thought "I remember this, it's a good one - native American acid folk". Close enough: it's really Hawaiian, but there really is a crucial native element here, as the music and lyrics are steeped in that island country's tradition and inspired by its tropical landscape. Maybe the font used on the cover played tricks with my memory, as it reminded me of old Western movies. The songs are mainly the work of a local couple: singer/guitarist Patrick Cockett was a native Hawaiian and student of traditional music, while singer-songwriter Margaret Morgan was a Hawaiian-born white girl from an old and distinguished family of sugar plantation owners. She was away studying in California, but they met at Hanalei beach in Kauai island during her college break, bonding over music, and ended up living together in a rural Hawaiian setting for a while. Her vocals are one of the most defining elements of the album: fragile and dramatic, reminiscent on occasion of Kate Bush or maybe Joni Mitchell, but with a pronounced vibrato often compared to Donovan. The songs initially only featured Margaret on lead vocals and dulcimer, with Patrick on vocals and acoustic guitar, using both traditional Western strumming and the Hawaiian slack key style. They must have already sounded quite nice in a folky kind of way, but it's when they took the songs to the "big city" (in this case, Honolulu) that magic happened: At Sinergia studios they were introduced to Dave Choy, sound engineer and ARP synthesizer pioneer, whose experiments with electronic music turned out to blend unexpectedly well with the couple's acoustic pastoral sounds. Another important element was Uruguayan composer/guitarist Carlos Pardeiro who joined the band in the studio, as did their friends Eric Kingsbury on guitar and Ron Rosha on the ipu, a percussion instrument made from gourds, commonly used to provide the beat for hula dancing. Last (and, from a musical point of view, probably least) of the contributors mentioned in the liner notes is Boogie Kalama, a surfer friend of the couple. He's credited with "feet" - no he doesn't stomp his feet or anything like that on record, it's just his feet that we see on the front cover photo. Opener "These Trails" is a short acid folk tune strongly reminiscent of Incredible String Band. "Our House In Hanalei" celebrates rural island living, and has a more definite Hawaiian feel, with soft percussion and beautiful harmonies. The use of the melodious pidgin dialect makes it even more charming. "Of Broken Links" is an atmospheric piece with multi-tracked harmonies while "El Rey Pescador" is a Spanish language track written by and sung with Carlos Pardeiro, who also adds some nice sitar textures. South American, Pacific, and Indian influences blend remarkably well here. "Psyche I" is an acoustic guitar instrumental that segues into "Share Your Water". The combination of ethereal female vocals and electronic effects reminds me of a 60s psychedelic band called The United States Of America. If you're not familiar with their work, you should check them out. It's followed by "Hello Lou", a delicate folk duet with string and synth orchestration reminiscent of Robert Kirby's work for Nick Drake. "Rusty’s House" is an unadorned folk tune segueing into the more cosmic and richly orchestrated "Lost in Space" with ARP simulating the sound of ocean waves. "Psyche II" continues from where "Psyche I" left off, adding more synthesizer sounds. "Sowed a Seed" is another experimental track with weird synth sounds and dulcimer, followed by the more conventional folk of "Rapt Attention". "Waipoo", named after the waterfall in Waimea Canyon, is full of naturalistic imagery and lush strings, and closer "Garden Botanum" is a quietly exuberant celebration of flowers and nature, full of arpeggios and synth washes. All in all, this timeless album resembles nothing else I've ever heard: yes, the words and vocals have this twee 60's hippy flower power element, but then the traditional Hawaiian instruments give it an ancient earthy feel, while the experimentation with early electronic music has a retro-futuristic effect akin to witnessing 2001:A Space Odyssey. These Trails is a singular album. Eccentric as hell, yet approachable and utterly enchanting. It's really a time capsule—an intimate snapshot of two musicians (and their circle of friends) channeling their surroundings into music. The record is credited to These Trails, but there was never a band as such; it was a title chosen by Choy because the record had to have a name. There were never any public performances of the music, and no follow-ups. Under pressure from her family, Margaret returned to college never to record music again; she didn't even stay long enough to listen to the final form given to her songs. Patrick has sometimes appeared playing alongside folkies Taj Mahal and Buffy St. Marie. The limited pressing of this LP sold out pretty quickly, for it to gradually became one of those rarely heard legendary collectors' items. Of course original copies are beyond the reach of most of us, but even reissues aren't easy to come by, so if you come across a copy, don't hesitate to grab it.
***** for Of Broken Links, El Rey Pescador, Share Your Water, Hello Lou, Lost in Space, Our House in Hanalei, Waipoo
**** for These Trails, Sowed a Seed, Rapt Attention, Garden Botanum
*** for Psyche I, Rusty’s House, Psyche II
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