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Underground > Radio & Music >

The Incredible String Band

  
 
Quantum
16:02 / 25.05.06
The Incredible String Band are demigods. Who's with me?

I've loved them since I was in the womb, and recently included the Smoke Shovelling Song on a compilation CD. They stand the test of time so well that contemporary music has caught up with them again in the form of Psy-Folk, which seems to be (slowly) growing into a genre- Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, plenty of acts owe their allegiance to the ISB and their influence can't be denied.

From the wikipedia entry-
They soon became the-name-to-drop-in-interviews for luminaries such as Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan. In their annum mirabilis of 1968 they practically defined the hippy counterculture in the extraordinary albums The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter and Wee Tam and the Big Huge. By then the group consisted of Williamson, Heron, Rose Simpson and Licorice McKechnie. They played at Woodstock in 1969 at the wrong time, having refused to play in the pouring rain the previous day (seen by manager Joe Boyd as a great missed opportunity)...
in the autumn of 2003 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, wrote a foreword for a full length book about the band, Be Glad: An Incredible String Band Compendium (Helter Skelter Books), describing them as "holy" (he had previously chosen the ISB track "The Hedgehog's Song" as his only piece of popular music when he appeared on Desert Island Discs).

I was lucky enough to see Robin Williamson live in a basement in Muswell Hill in '98, and he blew everyone's minds. He alternated between traditional songs performed so beautifully they brought tears to the eyes, and rousing renditions of the popular ISB stuff to make people dance. He played the harp, and I thought my soul was going to explode from my body is was so amazing, then he stopped, shaking his head, and apologised for the tuning! Then switched to a guitar and sang My Name Is Death, which if you've heard you'll understand my awe.

Their Lyrics are amazing;
Oh, Lord how happy I am,
Oh, Lord how happy I am,
I won't feel sad 'till the whiskey's gone
Oh, Lord how happy I am!
(Heron)

And the dawn comes sneaking up
When it thinks I'm not looking;
I am starting to grieve, man,
I used to know but now I believe, man.
They tell me sleep is a gas,
and if I want to lay down,
But I'm sorry I woke you,
I mean I've got the no sleep blues.
(Williamson)

...And as my cloud pulled out of view,
There come failing down a gentle shower of rain.
Happy rain come failing down,
Red, green, blue and golden.
And every drop, as it fell, it smiled
And, throwing back its head, began singing,

"Oh float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair;
Float with me to distant lands, wondrous and fair."
(Heron)

I am the question that cannot be answered,
I am the lover that cannot be lost,
Yet small are the gifts of my servant the soldier,
For time is my offspring, pray, what is my name?
(Williamson)

Now That's What I Call Psychedelic Folk!

Be Glad for the Song has no Ending!
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
17:25 / 25.05.06
Tango-Mango introduced me to these years back when I found out that David Tibet of Current 93 was a fan (and indeed copied the sleeve of The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter for C93's Earth Covers Earth). They are indeed ace. They've got that whole Wicker Man thing to them (hence it's fairly easy to see how they were such a big influence on the World Serpent crowd, especially C93 and Sol Invictus).

It's got that sinister undercurrent, too, to which I'm also quite partial.
 
 
at the scarwash
19:59 / 25.05.06
I love that somehow, despite the fact that they sing like the insides of their skulls are coated with hash-oil, and the fact that they play all manner of dinky hippy ethnic instruments (christ, acoustic guitars!) they still manage to be THE JAM. That's magic.
 
 
GogMickGog
10:40 / 26.05.06
Ah, a good friend of mine's dad always raved about these ones. "if it had strings, they could play it". Crazy Sweidsh Green party candidate that he was, I thought little of it. Ho hum.


Now, I find the prospect deeply appealling BUT I'm a lil' strapped for cash at the mo- anyone know anyehere I can get some fro free online?
 
 
rosie x
11:44 / 26.05.06
Ah, yes...they are amazing aren't they? I'm listening to "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" just now. The sheer spectrum of the instrumentation on that album dazzles me: guitar, gimbri, whistle, finger cymbals, pan pipes, piano, oud, mandolin, jew's harp, chahanai, water harp, harmonica,
sitar, hammond organ, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord...and probably about 20 more that evade me. It makes my own little arsenal of two dulcimers, flute and harmonium look paltry by comparison!

The album also features some amazing work on the flute organ by Dolly Collins, the late sister of Shirley. Dolly Collins' talent as a musician and aranger was often overlooked due to the fame of her sister. For more of her work do get a copy of "Love, Death and the Lady", "No Roses", or even better the magnificent Shirley Collins box set, "Within Sound".

Back to the ISB though...kind of! One of my favourite records of all time is "The Power of the True Love Knot" recorded by Shirley Collins in 1967. It was produced by the legendary Joe Boyd and features contributions from both Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, as well as exquisite arrangements by Dolly, and cello by Bram Martin (famous for his work on "Eleanor Rigby"). It's easy to find on CD, but rare on vinyl. However...Bo' Weavil Records did a lovely reissue last year. It's exquisite. Beautiful packaging and a limited hand numbered pressing of 500 copies. Get one while you can!

For free ISB, and much more, I would reccommend Soulseek.
 
 
rizla mission
11:48 / 26.05.06
You know what? I can't fucking stand the Incredible String Band... they seem very much like 'my kind of thing' I suppose, and lord knows I've tried - I own four of their albums I think - but the basic truth is they're just teeth-grindingly irritating, twee, twiddley, dreadful stuff.

In fact, in regard to the current wave of dubious folk revivalists, I'm liable to draw a line in the sand and say;

Stuff that takes it's inspiration from Bert Jansch, Davy Graham, Pentangle, Fairport, Shirley Collins et al = yes, that sounds quite nice actually thanks, I'll give it a listen.

Stuff that takes it's inspiration from ISB, Tyrannosaurus Rex = fuck off back to the creche and leave me alone ya giggling, squeeky-voiced idiots.
 
 
Jack Fear
13:21 / 26.05.06
Mm. That nasal vocal style is hard to get past, I think—for me, at least. I mean, that style of singing works for people like the Watersons, who are doing English deep-traditional stuff in close harmony.

But with the ISB (I'm thinking particularly of Hangman's here), the material is so loosely structured that it just gets droney—and not in a good way. (The woeful raga fixation, which now sounds so dated, doesn't really help matters any.)

Some of the more tightly-constructed things, like "Minotaur Song" and "Mercy I Cry City," I can just about stand if you catch me on the right day—they're good, silly fun. But epics like "A Very Cellular Song" and "Keeooaddi There" (less than five minutes, but it feels a lo-o-o-o-ot longer) get under my skin pretty quickly.

That's probably just my problem, though. Maybe you had to be there, y'know?

But yeah, they're totally a beard-band. To quote Fluxington: "Listen to the record! You can hear the beards growing!"
 
 
rosie x
13:23 / 26.05.06
I'll keep that in mind next time I'm back in the studio...dubious revivalist that I am!
 
 
Quantum
12:04 / 31.05.06
"The Power of the True Love Knot" recorded by Shirley Collins in 1967.

Easy to get on CD you say? I await payday.
 
 
rizla mission
14:27 / 31.05.06
But yeah, they're totally a beard-band. To quote Fluxington: "Listen to the record! You can hear the beards growing!"

Hmm... I'm not sure I get that. If they were a beard-band I'd probably like them, but they sound too whimsical to achieve facial hair of any significance.

The Beard, in musical circles, stands for "look out - I mean business!". The members of the ISB may well actually have had beards, but they lie ; they are beards of laziness rather than purpose, they hide behind them rather than truly inhabiting them.

I second the recommendation of "The Power of the True Love Knot" by the way. If Shirley Collins were a man, she'd have a mighty beard, there's no doubting that.
 
 
lord nuneaton savage
14:47 / 31.05.06
If you find ISB a bit Wizards-of-Twiddly for your taste (and I know many who do. They are fools. But even fools need folk-lovin') may I make so humble as to recommend ISB founder Clive Palmer's superb "Moyshe Mcstiff & the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart" (I know, I know, but I promise you'll like it).

It was released under the name COB (Clive's Original Band) and is quite, quite exquisite. It's recorded a bit later than the ISB stuff, is less concerned with flora and fauna and much more straightforward. There aren't any "Eastern" indulgences at all and it's very sparsely arranged and delicately played.

It is one of the finest Folk albums ever made, in me 'umble, and has recently been reissued, so it shouldn't be hard to find.
 
  
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