Thursday, August 26, 2010

Artist: Leslie Spit Treeo, Album: Don't Cry Too Hard, Song: Angel From Montgomery

"I am an old woman, named after my father.  My old man is another child that's grown old.  If dreams were lightning.  Thunder were desire.  This old house would have burnt down a long time ago."  This John Prine classic was the band's first single off their debut, Don't Cry Too Hard, in 1990.    Named after an extension of land on Toronto's eastern lakefront, the trio that started out busking was a prominent fixture on the local music scene.  This single got quite a bit of airplay at the time of it's release and they ended up winning a Juno award in the process.  However, in 1996, they released their final album and called it quits.  I happened to catch the lead singer, Laura Hubert, perform recently and you can catch up with her career at www.laurahubert.com.  Interesting facts about the Leslie Spit Treeo include the following.  After their second release in 1992, the band felt that they were losing control over their work and decided to break from their 7 album recording contract with Capitol.  Their last album, Chocolate Chip Cookies, was released in a mock up of a cookie bag that resembled the product, Chips Ahoy!  Nabisco threatened the band with a lawsuit so they held a bonfire in High Park and burned all the packaging.  They re-released the album in a new cookie bag and eventually in a Cd jewel case as well.  Don't Cry Too Hard is a difficult album to find and likely out of print.  Ebay and Amazon had used copies ranging in price from $1 to $75.  You can watch the video for the song on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGbFD5dZbWY).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!