The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a
psychedelic folkPsychedelic folk or psych folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s through the fusion of folk music and psychedelic rock...
band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British
countercultureThe counterculture of the 1960s refers to a cultural movement that mainly developed in the United States and spread throughout much of the western world between 1960 and 1973. The movement gained momentum during the U.S. government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam...
, before splitting up in 1974. The group's members are musical pioneers in
psych folkPsychedelic folk or psych folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s through the fusion of folk music and psychedelic rock...
and, by integrating a wide variety of traditional music forms and instruments, in the development of
world musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
. The group reformed in 1999 and continued to perform until 2006.
Formation as a trio: 1965–66
In 1963, acoustic musicians
Robin WilliamsonRobin Williamson is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
and
Clive PalmerClive Palmer is a British folk musician and banjoist best known as a founding member of the Incredible String Band.Born in Edmonton, North London, he first went on stage at the age of 8, and took banjo lessons from the age of 10. Around 1957 he began playing with jazz bands in Soho...
began performing together as a traditional folk duo in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, particularly at a weekly club run by
Archie FisherArchie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...
in the Crown Bar which also regularly featured
Bert JanschHerbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...
. There they were seen in August 1965 by
Joe BoydJoe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
, then working as a talent scout for the influential folk-based label
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. Later in the year, the duo decided to fill out their sound by adding a third member, initially to play rhythm guitar. After an audition, local rock musician
Mike HeronMike Heron is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
won the slot. The trio took the name "The Incredible String Band". Early in 1966 Palmer began running an all-night folk club, Clive's Incredible Folk Club, on the fourth floor of a building in
Sauchiehall StreetSauchiehall Street is one of the main shopping/business streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, it forms the main shopping area of Glasgow, containing the majority of Glasgow's high street and chain stores.Although commonly associated with the...
in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, where they became the house band. When Boyd returned in his new role as head of Elektra's London office, he signed them up for an album, beating off a rival bid from
Transatlantic RecordsTransatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...
.
They recorded their first album, titled
The Incredible String Band-Personnel:*Mike Heron - vocals, guitar*Clive Palmer - banjo, guitar, vocals, kazoo*Robin Williamson - violin, vocals, whistle, guitar, mandolin-External links:*...
, at the Sound Techniques studio in London in May 1966. It was released in Britain and the United States and consisted mostly of self-penned material in solo, duo and trio formats, showcasing their playing on a variety of instruments. It won the title of "Folk Album of the Year" in
Melody MakerMelody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
s annual poll, and in a 1968
Sing Out!Sing Out! is a quarterly journal of folk music and folk songs that has been published since May 1950.-Background:Sing Out! is the primary publication of the tax exempt, not-for-profit, educational corporation of the same name...
magazine interview
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
praised the album's "October Song" as one of his favourite songs of that period.
The trio broke up after recording the album. Palmer left via the
hippie trailThe hippie trail is a term used to describe the journeys taken by hippies and others in the 1960s and 1970s from Europe overland to and from southern Asia, mainly India, Pakistan and Nepal...
for Afghanistan and India, and Williamson and his girlfriend
Licorice McKechnieChristina 'Licorice' McKechnie was a singer and songwriter in the Incredible String Band between 1968 and 1972....
went to
MoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
with no firm plans to return. Heron stayed in Edinburgh, playing with a band called Rock Bottom and the Deadbeats. However, when Williamson returned after running out of money, laden with Moroccan instruments including a gimbri which was much later eaten by rats, he and Heron reformed the band as a duo.
Development as a duo: 1966–67
In November 1966 Heron and Williamson embarked on a short UK tour, supporting
Tom PaxtonThomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
and
Judy CollinsJudith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
. In early 1967, they performed regularly at London clubs, including
Les CousinsLes Cousins was a folk and blues club in the basement of a restaurant in Greek Street, in the Soho district of London. It had its heyday during the British folk music revival of the mid-1960s and was notable as a venue in which musicians of that period met and learnt from each other...
. Joe Boyd became the group's manager as well as producer, and secured a place for them at the
Newport Folk FestivalThe Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, on a bill with
Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
and
Leonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
.
The duo were always credited as separate writers, maintaining their individual creative identities, rather than working as a writing partnership. Boyd wrote: "Mike and Robin were Clive's friends rather than each other's. Without him as a buffer, they developed a robust dislike for one another. Fortunately, the quality and quantity of their songwriting was roughly equal. Neither would agree to the inclusion of a new song by the other unless he could impose himself on it by arranging the instruments and working out all the harmonies."
In July, they released their second album,
The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion-Personnel:* Robin Williamson - Vocals, guitar, mandolin, oud, bowed and bass gimbri, flute, percussion * Mike Heron - Vocals, guitar, harmonica* Licorice McKechnie - Vocals, percussion* Danny Thompson - Double bass* John Hopkins - Piano...
, accompanied by
PentanglePentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...
's
Danny ThompsonDaniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
on double bass and Licorice on vocals and percussion. The album demonstrated considerable musical development and a more unified ISB sound. It displayed their abilities as multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters, and gained them much wider acclaim. The album included Heron's "The Hedgehog's Song", Williamson's "First Girl I Loved" (later recorded by
Judy CollinsJudith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
,
Jackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
,
Don PartridgeDonald Eric Partridge was an English singer and songwriter, known as the "king of the buskers". He performed from the early 1960s as a busker and one-man band, and achieved unexpected commercial success in the UK in the late 1960s with the songs "Rosie" and "Blue Eyes".-Life and musical career:Don...
and
Wizz JonesRaymond Ronald Jones better-known as Wizz Jones is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present...
) and his "The Mad Hatter's Song", which, with its mixture of musical styles, paved the way for the band's more extended forays into psychedelia. Enthusiastic reviews in the music press were accompanied by appearances at venues such as London's
UFO ClubThe UFO Club was a famous but shortlived UK underground club in London during the 1960s, venue of performances by many of the top bands of the day.-History:...
(co-owned by Boyd), the
Speakeasy ClubThe Speakeasy Club, 48 Margaret Street, London, England, was a late-night haunt for the music industry from 1966 to the late 1970s. The club was first managed Roy Flynn, who then became the manager of Yes. Tony Howard then became manager, having previously been the main artist booker from The Bryan...
, and
Queen Elizabeth HallThe Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
. Their exposure on
John PeelJohn Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
's Perfumed Garden radio show on the pirate ship
Radio LondonRadio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
, and later on
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's
Top GearTop Gear was originally a short-lived pop music show on the BBC Light Programme in the mid-1960s.- Origin and format :It was one of the Corporation's few attempts to compete with the pirate radio stations and Radio Luxembourg, who had attracted large audiences of young British pop music listeners...
, made them favourites with the emerging
UK undergroundThe Underground was a countercultural movement in the United Kingdom linked to the underground culture in the United States and associated with the hippie phenomenon. Its primary focus was around Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill in London...
audience. The album went to Number One in the UK folk chart, and was named by
Paul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
as one of his favourite records of that year.
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter and Wee Tam and the Big Huge: 1968
1968 was the band's
annus mirabilisAnnus mirabilis is a Latin phrase meaning "wonderful year" or "year of wonders" . It was used originally to refer to the year 1666, but is today also used to refer to different years with events of major importance...
with the release of their two most-celebrated albums,
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter-Personnel:*Robin Williamson - vocals, guitar, gimbri, penny whistle, percussion, pan pipe, piano, oud, mandolin, jaw harp, chahanai, water harp, harmonica*Mike Heron - vocals, sitar, Hammond organ, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord...
and the double LP
Wee Tam and the Big Huge-Personnel:*Robin Williamson - lead vocals ; guitar -Personnel:*Robin Williamson - lead vocals ("Job’s Tears", "The Yellow Snake", "The Half-Remarkable Question", "Ducks on a Pond", "Maya", "The Son of Noah’s Brother", "Lordly Nightshade", "The Mountain of God", "The Iron Stone" & "The Circle is...
(issued as two separate albums in the US). Hangman's reached the top 5 in the UK album charts soon after its release in March 1968 and was nominated for a Grammy in the US.
Robert PlantRobert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
of
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
said his group found their way by playing Hangman's and following the instructions. A departure from the band's previous albums, the set relied heavily on a more layered production, with imaginative use of the then new multi-track recording techniques. The album featured a series of vividly dreamlike Williamson songs, such as "The Minotaur's Song", a surreal music-hall parody told from the point of view of the mythical beast, and its centrepiece was Heron's "A Very Cellular Song", a 13-minute reflection on life, love and amoebas; its complex structure incorporated a Bahamian spiritual ("I Bid You Goodnight") and an adaptation of a Sikh hymn (by "may the pure light within you"). Williamson and Heron in this album had added their girlfriends, Licorice McKechnie and
Rose SimpsonRose Simpson was, between 1968 and 1971, a member of the Incredible String Band, in which she played bass guitar, violin and percussion as well as singing. She later became Mayoress of the Welsh town of Aberystwyth....
to the band to contribute additional vocals and a variety of instruments, including organ, guitar and percussion. Despite their initially rudimentary skills, Simpson swiftly became a proficient bass guitarist, and some of McKechnie's songs were recorded by the band.
By early 1968 the group were capable of filling major venues in the UK. They left behind their folk club origins and embarked on a nationwide tour incorporating a critically acclaimed appearance at the London
Royal Festival HallThe Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
. Later in the year they performed at the
Royal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, at open-air festivals, and at prestigious rock venues such as the
Fillmore-People:*Millard Fillmore , thirteenth President of the United States**Abigail Fillmore , first wife of Millard Fillmore**Caroline Fillmore , second wife of Millard Fillmore...
auditoriums in San Francisco and New York. After their appearance at the
Fillmore EastThe Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
in New York they were introduced to the practice of
ScientologyScientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
by David Simons (aka "Rex Rakish", once of
Jim KweskinJim Kweskin is the founder of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, with Fritz Richmond, Mel Lyman, and Geoff and Maria Muldaur...
's Jug Band). Joe Boyd, in his book White Bicycles – Making Music in the 1960s and elsewhere, describes how he was inadvertently responsible for their "conversion" when he introduced the band to Simons who, having become a Scientologist, persuaded them to enrol in his absence. The band's support for Scientology over the next few years was controversial among some fans, and seemed to coincide with what many saw as the beginning of a decline in the quality of their work. In an interview with
OzOz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London...
magazine in 1969 the band spoke enthusiastically of their involvement with it, although the question of its effect on their later albums has provoked much discussion ever since.
Their November 1968 album Wee Tam and The Big Huge recorded before the US trip, was musically less experimental and lush than Hangman's but conceptually even more avant-garde, a full-on engagement with the themes of mythology, religion, awareness and identity. Williamson's otherworldly songs and vision dominate the album, though Heron's more grounded tracks are also among his very best, and the contrast between the two perspectives gives the record its uniquely dynamic interplay between a sensual experience of life and a quest for metaphysical meaning. The record was released as a
double albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
and also simultaneously as two separate LPs, a strategy which lessened its impact on the charts.
Woodstock and multi-media: 1969–70
At this time most of the group lived communally at a farmhouse near
NewportNewport is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Nevern in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.- History :The town was founded by the Norman William FitzMartin about 1197...
in
PembrokeshirePembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
, Wales, where they developed ideas for mixed media experiments with
Malcolm Le MaistreMalcolm Le Maistre is a British musician, experimental artist and theatre director, who was a member of The Incredible String Band in the 1970s....
and other members of
David MedallaDavid Medalla is a Filipino international artist. His work ranges from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation and performance art. He lives and works in London, New York and Paris....
's Exploding Galaxy troupe and the Leonard Halliwell Quartet. There, a film was made about the ISB, Be Glad For the Song Has No Ending. Originally planned for
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV's arts programme
OmnibusOmnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings....
, it featured documentary footage and a fantasy sequence, 'The Pirate and the Crystal Ball', illustrating their attempt at an idyllic communal lifestyle. It made little impact at the time, but reissues on video and DVD have contributed to the recent revival of interest in the band.
The band toured for much of 1969, in the USA and the UK. In August they played at
WoodstockWoodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
later than planned, having refused to perform in the pouring rain on the opening evening (which was for folk and acoustic acts). Their slot was taken by
MelanieMelanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...
, whose performance inspired her song "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". Their performance was rescheduled to the following day (the lineup that day consisting of more rock-oriented acts), and they followed
Canned HeatCanned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
on stage. Over
Labor DayLabor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
1969, they appeared at the
Texas International Pop FestivalThe Texas International Pop Festival was a music festival held at Lewisville, Texas, on Labor Day weekend, August 30-September 1, 1969. It occurred two weeks after Woodstock...
in
Lewisville, TexasLewisville is a city in Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2010 United States Census placed the population at 95,290 within . The city also includes of Lewisville Lake....
. In November, they released the album Changing Horses, which was generally seen as a disappointment after their earlier work. By late 1969, they had established a communal base at Glen Row near
InnerleithenInnerleithen is a small town in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders.-Etymology:The name "Innerleithen" comes from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "confluence of the Leithen", because it is here that the river joins the Tweed. The prefix "Inner-/Inver-" is common in many Scottish...
, and the relationships between Mike and Rose and Robin and Licorice had ended. In April 1970 they released the album I Looked Up.
The ISB's performances were more theatrical than those of most of their contemporaries. In addition to the spectacle of their exotic instruments and colourful stage costumes, their concerts sometimes featured poems, surreal sketches and dancers, all in the homegrown, non-showbiz style characteristic of the hippie era. In 1970, Robin Williamson (with little input from Heron) attempted to fuse the music with his theatrical fantasies in a quixotic multi-media spectacular at
London's RoundhouseThe Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
called "U", which he envisaged as "a surreal parable in dance and song". It combined the band's music with dancing by the Stone Monkey troupe (which had evolved out of Exploding Galaxy), the letter U representing a transition from a high level of spiritual awareness to a low, then returning to a final peak of awareness and communication. Although ambitious, critical response was mixed, with some harsh reviews from critics who had in some cases acclaimed their earlier work. It fared little better in New York, a planned US tour of "U" having to be cancelled after a few performances at the
Fillmore EastThe Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
. Joe Boyd described the show as "a disaster".
Diminishing returns: 1971–74
After that the group lasted another four years, although there was a gradual decline in their status and commerciality after 1970. Joe Boyd, whose skilful handling of the band had contributed much to their international success, stopped managing them and returned to the US. The group left Elektra Records and signed for
IslandIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, for whom they recorded five albums. The first was a soundtrack to the "Be Glad..." film, and this was followed by the eclectic Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air, regarded as their best album for some time.
The band continued to tour and record. Rose Simpson left in 1971, and was replaced by Malcolm LeMaistre, formerly of the Stone Monkey troupe. Mike Heron took time out to record a well-received solo album, Smiling Men with Bad Reputations, which, in contrast to the ISB's self-contained productions, featured a host of session guests, among them
Pete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
,
Ronnie LaneRonald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
,
Keith MoonKeith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
,
John CaleJohn Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
and Richard Thompson. The following year, Licorice left, and was replaced by Gerard Dott, an Edinburgh jazz musician and friend of both Heron and Williamson who had contributed to Smiling Men.. Williamson also recorded a solo album, Myrrh, which featured some of his most extraordinary vocal performances.
The group's changing line-up, adding Stan Schnier (aka "Stan Lee") on bass, Jack Ingram on drums, and Graham Forbes on electric guitar reflected moves toward a more conventional amplified rock group. Their final albums for Island were received disappointingly, and the label dropped them in 1974. By then, disagreements between Williamson and Heron about musical policy had become unbearable, and they split up in October 1974.
Solo careers: 1974–1999
Williamson soon formed Robin Williamson and His Merry Band, which toured and released three albums of eclectic music with a
CeltThe Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic emphasis. Within a few years, he went on to a solo career, moving increasingly into traditional Celtic styles. He also produced several recordings of humorous stories. Heron formed a rock group with Malcolm LeMaistre, called first Mike Heron's Reputation, then just Heron, and later released occasional solo albums. Malcolm LeMaistre continued teaching in schools and performing theatre and music, and released two albums.
Reunion and final separation: 1999–2006
In 1997, Williamson and Heron got back together for two concerts, which were warmly received. This was followed by a full reunion of the original three members plus Williamson's wife, Bina, and Lawson Dando in 1999. However, they did not recapture the high reputation of the original ISB, playing mostly small venues to mixed critical and audience responses. In March 2003 it was announced that Robin and Bina Williamson had "temporarily" left to pursue others projects and their solo careers. Heron, Palmer and Dando, and new member Claire "Fluff" Smith, continued to tour regularly around the United Kingdom and internationally. Heron, Dando and Palmer toured the US in 2004. Another live album was released in 2005. Their last concert together was at the Moseley Folk Festival, Birmingham, UK in September 2006.
Barbican: 2009
In 2009, Heron and Palmer announced a concert entitled "Very Cellular Songs: The Music of the Incredible String Band" at The Barbican, featuring Richard Thompson,
Danny ThompsonDaniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
, Alasdair Roberts, Trembling Bells, Dr Strangely Strange & more.
Musical style
The music of the ISB ranged from conventional folk songs to "art songs" and hybrid forms that were a precursor to World Music. In 1967-68 they were sometimes described as part of pop music's "avant-garde", and were compared to
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. Williamson claimed that, as both the Beatles and
the Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
saw them play before
Sgt. PepperSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
and
Their Satanic Majesties RequestTheir Satanic Majesties Request is the sixth British and eighth American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released on 8 December 1967 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by London Records...
were recorded, the ISB were an influence on those albums.
Both Mike Heron and Robin Williamson would insert seemingly unrelated sections in their songs in a way that has been described as "always surprising, laughably inventive, lyrically prodigious".
Legacy
In 1994 Rose Simpson, a former member of the band, became Lady Mayoress of
AberystwythAberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
.
In 2003 the
Archbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
,
Dr Rowan WilliamsRowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
, who had previously chosen "The Hedgehog's Song" when he appeared on
Desert Island DiscsDesert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
, wrote a foreword for a full length book about the band, describing them as "holy".
Band line-ups
- 1965-1966 Robin Williamson, Clive Palmer, Mike Heron
- 1966-1968 Williamson, Heron
- 1968-1971 Williamson, Heron, Licorice McKechnie, Rose Simpson
- 1971-1972 Williamson, Heron, McKechnie, Malcolm Le Maistre
- 1972-1973 Williamson, Heron, Le Maistre, Gerard Dott, Stan Schnier, Jack Ingram
- 1973-1974 Williamson, Heron, Le Maistre, Schnier, Ingram, Graham Forbes
- 1974 (Feb-Oct) Williamson, Heron, Le Maistre, Schnier, Forbes, John Gilston
- 1974-1999 defunct
- 1999-2003 Williamson, Palmer, Heron, Bina Williamson, Lawson Dando
- 2003-2006 Palmer, Heron, Dando, Claire Smith
Albums
- The Incredible String Band
-Personnel:*Mike Heron - vocals, guitar*Clive Palmer - banjo, guitar, vocals, kazoo*Robin Williamson - violin, vocals, whistle, guitar, mandolin-External links:*...
(ElektraElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
, June 1966)
- The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
-Personnel:* Robin Williamson - Vocals, guitar, mandolin, oud, bowed and bass gimbri, flute, percussion * Mike Heron - Vocals, guitar, harmonica* Licorice McKechnie - Vocals, percussion* Danny Thompson - Double bass* John Hopkins - Piano...
(Elektra, July 1967)
- The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
-Personnel:*Robin Williamson - vocals, guitar, gimbri, penny whistle, percussion, pan pipe, piano, oud, mandolin, jaw harp, chahanai, water harp, harmonica*Mike Heron - vocals, sitar, Hammond organ, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord...
(Elektra, March 1968)
- Wee Tam and the Big Huge
-Personnel:*Robin Williamson - lead vocals ; guitar -Personnel:*Robin Williamson - lead vocals ("Job’s Tears", "The Yellow Snake", "The Half-Remarkable Question", "Ducks on a Pond", "Maya", "The Son of Noah’s Brother", "Lordly Nightshade", "The Mountain of God", "The Iron Stone" & "The Circle is...
(Elektra, October 1968)
- Changing Horses (Elektra, November 1969)
- I Looked Up
I Looked Up is the sixth album by the Incredible String Band. Recorded at a time when the band was busy rehearsing for their ambitious upcoming stage show, U, the album has been described by band member Robin Williamson as a "quickie." The album contains one of Mike Heron's best loved ISB songs,...
(Elektra, April 1970)
- U
-Charts:AlbumBillboard -External links:*]]...
(Double album, Elektra, October 1970)
- Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending (Island
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, April 1971)
- Relics (Elektra compilation
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, March 1971)
- Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air
Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air is the ninth album by the Incredible String Band. It features Mike Heron, Robin Williamson, Licorice McKechnie and Malcolm Le Maistre. The album was the band's first almost entirely electric recording; a new feature that was to define the change in the band's...
(Island, October 1971)
- Earthspan
Earthspan is an album released by The Incredible String Band in 1972 on Island Records.-Track listing:"Black Jack David", then called "Black Jack Davy" had earlier been recorded by The Incredible String Band on their album I Looked Up on Elektra Records in 1970.-External links:*...
(Island, October 1972)
- No Ruinous Feud
-Track listing:-External links:*...
(Island, February 1973)
- Hard Rope & Silken Twine
Hard Rope & Silken Twine is the twelfth and final album released by The Incredible String Band. It was released in 1974.-Track listing:-External links:*...
(Island, March 1974)
- Seasons They Change (Island compilation, November 1976)
- BBC Radio 1 Live on Air (October 1991)
- BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (November 1992)
- The Chelsea Sessions 1967 (June 1997)
- First Girl I Loved: Live in Canada 1972 (Trojan Records, 2001)
- Nebulous Nearnesses (2004)
- Across The Airwaves: BBC Radio Recordings 1969-74 (2007)
For solo releases, see under
Robin WilliamsonRobin Williamson is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
,
Mike HeronMike Heron is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
,
Clive PalmerClive Palmer is a British folk musician and banjoist best known as a founding member of the Incredible String Band.Born in Edmonton, North London, he first went on stage at the age of 8, and took banjo lessons from the age of 10. Around 1957 he began playing with jazz bands in Soho...
and
Malcolm Le MaistreMalcolm Le Maistre is a British musician, experimental artist and theatre director, who was a member of The Incredible String Band in the 1970s....
.
Singles (UK only)
- "Way Back In The 1960s" / "Chinese White" (Elektra EKSN 45013, promotional release only, 1967)
- "Painting Box" / "No Sleep Blues" (Elektra EKSN 45028, March 1968)
- "Big Ted" / "All Writ Down" (Elektra EKSN 45074, October 1969)
- "This Moment" / "Black Jack Davy" (Elektra 2101 003, April 1970)
- "Black Jack David" / "Moon Hang Low" (Island WIP 6145, November 1972)
- "At The Lighthouse Dance" / "Jigs" (Island WIP 6158, February 1973)
Sources
- Boyd, Joe
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
: White Bicycles - Making Music in the 1960sWhite Bicycles - Making Music in the 1960s is the memoir of music producer Joe Boyd. It is published by Serpent's Tail. A companion CD of music he had brought to the public in the 1960s and associated with the book was published by Fledg'ling Records at the same time.When Muddy Waters came to...
. London: Serpent's Tail. 2006
- Green, Jonathon : Days In The Life: Voices from the English Underground, 1961-71. London 1988 (ISB-related contributions from Joe Boyd and Steve Sparkes)
- Unterberger, Richie
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
: Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock. San Francisco/London, 2003 (especially the interviews with Williamson and Boyd. Also has informative chapters on the British folk scene)
- Harper, Colin : Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and The British Folk and Blues Revival. London: Bloomsbury 2006 (plenty on the Edinburgh folk scene of the early 1960s, from which both Jansch and the ISB emerged)
External links