From: sfy@koel.mel.dit.CSIRO.AU (Shane Youl)
Subject: Re: The Incredible String Band
Organization: CSIRO DIT (Melb.)
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 92 14:24:05 GMT

dahe@cl.cam.ac.uk (David Elworthy) writes:

>In article <pdlemass.717668020@unix2.tcd.ie>, pdlemass@unix2.tcd.ie
>(Something original) writes:
>|> I have become a big fan of The I.S.B. but would like to know more about
>|> them than is revealed on the c.d. sleeve.
>|> I would very greatful if someone could send me a discography of their
>|> work , (to-gether and solo).
>|> What other albums besides these are there (these I have already):
>|> ...
>|> I also saw in the shops a cd of recordings they made for the BBC. It's
>|> got some stuff I don't have already and some I do.Is this worth buying 
>|> (it's 12.99)

My copy cost AUS$30 and was well worth it. But then, you might be better
off picking up some of the albums you don't have yet, if you can get
them.

>|> Thanks for any help.
>|>                       Peter.

>Obscure fact:
> Between 1968 and 1971, ISB were the fourth biggest selling band on the
>UK album charts, after The Beatles, The Who and The Cream (I think).

This I find surprising. I thought that Hangman was their only album to
chart well (Top 10 or 20)

>What makes them so distinctive:
>...

>Albums (* = on CD):
>1. The Incredible String Band.
> At this stage, the ISB were Robin Williamson, Mike Heron and Clive
>Palmer. After the album (which is one of my favourites), Clive went to
>India and never came back. For the rest of band's career, it was Robin

Clive did return to England. He recorded at least one record as C.O.B
(Clive's Original Band - with John Bidwell and Mick Bennett) "Spirit of Love"

>and Mike plus assorted friends and lovers. There is one song in the
>entire work which was a collaboration (I'll leave it as a test to find
>out which); most albums alternate songs by them. Personally, I'm more of

I think you'll find two pieces credited to both, though the second may
not strictly be considered a collaboration, being more a collection of
individual pieces.

>a Williamson fan than a Heron one, but there's good stuff by both.

>*2. The 5000 Spirits or the layers of the onion.
> So called because they couldn't agree on the title, one wanting The
>5000 Spirits and the other The Layers of The onion. So they used both.
>Another good one.

This is a *great* album. Listen to this and then consider what else was
around in 1967. It's amazing.

>*3. The Hangman's Beatiful Daughter.
> The first one I heard, and in my opinion one of the top three albums they did.

>4. *Wee Tam and The Big Huge.
> A double album, and probably the best. It was released simultaneously
>as the double album and as two separate albums, with the net effect that
>none of them made it into the charts or got the recognition they
>deserve. Funny and serious.

No argument here. A great double album.

>(Less sure about the order from here on. Also, there is only one
>consistently good album in the rest of their work. The others are
>patchy, with the odd good song here and there.)

>5. 'U'
> Music from a disastrous stage show. There's one or two gems on it
>though, such as "The Queen of Love".

I really like this. Another double with some classics - The Juggler's
Song, Time, Partial Belated Overture, Light In Time of Darkness, Robot
Blues. Well worth picking up.

>6. Be glad for the song has no ending.
> From a film about the band; a sort of "Song remains the same" for folkies.

I never saw the film. Has it been generally released? Is it on video?

>7. I looked up.

Earthspan fits in here I think.

>8. Hard rope and silken twine.
> This is notable (if I've got the right one) for a brilliant anti-war
>song, "The Cold Days of Februrary" (it;s about Northern Ireland). Not
>much else good on it, though.

This actually came after Liquid Acrobat, if I remember rightly, and was
the last album :-( Apart from Cold February, Dumb Kate is the other one
I really like off this.

>*9. Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air.
> The last good album.

Another fine album. I have it playing in my Sun CD even as I type. Adam
and Eve is wonderful.

>10. Changing Horses.
> Has a silly song about a pig ("Big Ted's dead, he was a big old
>pig//Eat most anything, never wore a wig"), which I enjoy singing with
>friends but not listening to. Also a bizarre track called Creation,
>which goes on a bit.

I almost consider this together with Wee Tam and The Big Huge, as a set. 
They all came out around 1969. TRIVIA:ISB performed Big Ted at the 6th Big 
Sur Folk Festival, dedicating it to the Hog Farm, the communal group who 
had helped out at Woodstock. "Sows are busy with their piglets fine, I'd
take them to the forest now if they were mine, 'cause I know they like
acorns and they don't like bacon" ;-)

>*11. (* Can't remember the title; it's the recent issue of some BBC tapes *)
> From late on, but not bad all the same. Mostly for completists, I would
>say. There is said to be enough material for 2-3 more albums in the BBC
>archives.

>I think there might be a couple more, which don't come to mind right
>now. But this is all the good ones, and some not so good ones. CD
>reissues of more of them have been hinted at.

I think that the problem with the CD reissues has been to find the
masters. Some are proving difficult to locate.

>Compilations:
>1. The Incredible String Band.  (I think)
>2. Relics of the ISB.
>3. Seasons they change.
>One of these, I forget which, is worth getting, in that it has a track
>that doesn't appear elsewhere called "Queen Juanita and Her Fisherman Lover".

I think Relics has the Queen Juanita track.

>Solo albums:
>Lots by Robin Williamson, in a wide variety of styles. After the ISB
>split in 1974, he went back to his roots in Celtic Folk, while Mike
>Heron went back to his in rock. There are two solo albums which are
>pretty much ISB-like, though.
>*1. Smiling men with bad reputations. (Heron)
> The album with a man wearing a cape standing in front of a silver foil
>curtain, and holding a pineapple. I don't know why. Notable more for the
>backing musicians, who are much more famous than Mike Heron, e.g.
>several members of Fairport, Jimmy Paige, and "Tommy and the Bijoux",
>who are (most of) The Who, but who couldn't be named for contractual
>reasons. In spite of this, it's not very good.

>2. Myrrh. (Williamson).
> A friend once described this to me as being like a Christmas tree
>without a fairy on the top. I've no idea what he meant, but it's a good
>album. Hard to obtain.

>If you want more info, I can dig out references to articles in Record
>Collector and Folk Roots which give more or less comprehensive
>discographies and a history of the band. Also, there is a contact
>address for Robin Williamson from which you can get the full list of
>post-ISB albums, and his books and story-telling tapes. See him live if
>you get the chance: he's a brilliant performer, mixing story, song and
>instrumental work.

>-- david elworthy

Please post, or email me, anything else you can dig up. I'm still a real
fan, and can hardly wait for the rest of the albums to come out on CD.
The same for the Williamson solo stuff, especially the first three or
four. You mentioned their popularity; did they ever have any singles
released in the UK or elsewhere?
--
  Shane Youl                                ,-_|\      sfy@mel.dit.CSIRO.AU
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