Douglas Fir by: shiloh
Perhaps Douglas Fir is the greatest soul group to slip through the sixties unnoticed. Headed by the drummer Douglas A Snider the original formation started as a trio with this rumbling Hammond b 3 player called Tim Doyle and weeping Richie Moore on lead guitar. Known as The Sun Trio the group played much of the pub circuit in the North West. Thanks to engineers Mike Carter and Russ Gorsline , Sun Trio recorded a few tracks until their destined encounter with MGM where they changed their name to Douglas Fir and included bassist Bruce Bye. Douglas Fir’s debut single, the chompy “Smokey Joe” put its honky tonk riff into the radio airwaves, leadbreaks and all. In hindsight the single was a poor reflection of the true soul vigour that could hollow out of their varied repertoire.
Universal Songs launched their 1970 album Hard Heartsinging with a title track opener that could widen any crevice reaching for breath . Richie Moore opens up wide on this number as Douglas Snider wallows and engulfs in the spirit of soulful lament . Likened to Jimmy Powell & The Five Dimensions or a little bit of Rascals aka – Vagrants these cats could tear at the soul with relative ease. Their rendition of Donovan’s “Jersey Thursday” is the best doggone cover of this folky ever applied to wax. The arrangement is a soothing massage that climaxes into a squelching riff of guitar fretwork.
The soulful “I Didn’t Try” is Rascals with a drift of Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation’s trembling hammond superbly solidified with motif harmony and a tight staggered riff. Tim Doyle knows how to elbow that hammond , jerky style to Richie’s crying fender. “Early In The Morning Rain” is where the breath of the North West used to blow and take rest but once disbanded left a definite vacuum.
The ballad weeping Hammond holler that etches in the realm of Greg Allman or Lee Michaels holds its rustic refrain purely on it’s hollowed out sincerity. “New Orleans Queen” closer to th rockabilly of CCR grumbles two step, not quite their style while “Moratorium Waltz” stumbles straight into the Joe South territory.Their’s a moment of whispering in “Coming Back Home” with its lonely trumpet dirge that brasses into a tempo not unlike some of Blood Sweat & Tears’ earlier Al Kooper creations.
“Tom’s Song” with outstanding rolls by Doug amplifies its acute timing with aural magnificence. Doug Snider would go onto produce and write for the great Leon Russell, Willie Nelson and Tom Jones.