Fever Tree

Originating from Houston in the late 1960s, the modestly notable psychedelic outfit Fever Tree gained its widest recognition through the single "San Francisco Girls," distinguished by a sweeping melody, idealistic words, and biting fuzz guitar. Ironically, the bulk of their strongest songs came from the husband-and-wife production duo Scott and Vivian Holtzman, both past thirty, who had earlier supplied songs for Tex Ritter as well as the Mary Poppins soundtrack. This unlikely pair shaped material that stood apart through its pronounced classical and Baroque leanings plus orchestral string parts rarely heard in other psychedelic ensembles. The group's graceful, melancholic ballads—lifted on their debut album by arranger David Angel, previously involved with Love's Forever Changes—have aged more gracefully than the plodding fuzz-driven tracks that capture the most formulaic traits of heavy psychedelia. After issuing four albums, the third being Creation with guest guitar from future ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, their output grew increasingly diffuse and uninspired until the band dissolved in 1970.