From: dahe@cl.cam.ac.uk (David Elworthy)
Newsgroups: rec.music.folk
Subject: Re: The Incredible String Band
Date: 28 Sep 92 11:45:07 GMT
Reply-To: dahe@cl.cam.ac.uk (David Elworthy)
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK

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):
|> 
|> 1 "5000 Spirits"
|> 2 "Wee Tam "
|> 3 "The Hangman's Beautiful  Daughter"
|> 4 the double album "U"
|> 5 "Liquid Acrobat As Regards Air"
|> 
|> I know that "The Hangman's ..." was their 3rd album , but Ive bought the
|> the re-issued cd's (which are only 8.99 Irish pounds) and they seem to
|> have released a few albums in 1968 .
|> 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)
|> 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).

What makes them so distinctive:
 1. A deep-seated love of humanity.
 2. Experiments in synthesising diverse musical traditions. Of course
everyone and his brother does it these days, but it was still novel
then. Take a typical album and you'll find Celtic Folk, English Folk,
Rock, Calypso, a hint of Indian influence, and more.
 3. A refreshing disregard for issues such as hitting the right note.

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
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
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.

*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.

(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".

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

7. I looked up.

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.

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

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.

*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.


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".


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
Newsgroups: rec.music.folk