Tender Leaf is another crazy rare, ridiculously expensive album from Hawaii's recent past. Record in the 1980s, the eponymous album is a breezy, sometimes psychedelic collection of songs about life, love, and the natural beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. To this day, the Tender Leaf LP remains one of the most coveted albums of recorded music from Hawaii.
Tender Leaf formed in the 1980s when Murray Compoc and Darryl Valdez met while working as drivers of the city bus (TheBus). The two shared a love of music and soon started jamming together, eventually forming a band. Both Compoc and Valdez wrote enough original material to record an album. In 1982, they entered Sea West Studios, then located in Hauula on the north east coast of Oahu. With the help of keyboardist/producer Kit Ebersbach (who played on albums by Lemuria and Babadu in the 1970s), Tender Leaf committed to tape nine songs that effortless carry the harmonious, easy-going energy of Hawaii.
The ridiculously rare 1982 LP has only ever been reissued in Asia, in Japan and Korea in the early 2000s and recently again in Japan (hat tip to Cool Sound). Limited copies of a Japanese 7-inch reissue arrived Stateside in 2016. But the string of vinyl and CD reprints have left us wondering, where’s the digital reissue? With the blessing of the album's original producer, Kit Ebersbach, we’re pleased to finally present Tender Leaf, available digitally worldwide.
This was Kit's first project as a producer. For the timeless beauty and impact Tender Leaf's had, we think he nailed it.
Read our 2010 interview with Murray Compoc Spencer.
