The Incredible String Band

The Incredible String Band

The Incredible String Band

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
A landmark release debut from 1966, the album has been long out-of-print domestically, now Remastered with the original UK edition front cover. 2002.

The Incredible String Band,The Incredible String Band,Sepia Tone,British Folk,British Folk-Rock,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Folk-Rock,Pop,Psychedelic
5000 Spirits / Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 2 psychedelic classics
  • diggin it
  • Two most important albums. Toghether for the first time
  • Double Magic !!!!
  • Damn hippies...
 5000 Spirits / Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Incredible String Band
Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
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Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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  1. Wee Tam / Big Huge
  2. Changing Horses / I Looked Up
  3. U
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  5. Liege & Lief

ASIN: B00006BC4Z
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Tracks:

  1. Chinese White
  2. No Sleep Blues
  3. Painting Box
  4. The Mad Hatter's Song
  5. Little Cloud
  6. The Eyes of Fate
  7. Blues for the Muse
  8. The Hedgehogs' Song
  9. First Girl I loved
  10. You Know What You Could Be
  11. My Name is Death
  12. Gently Tender
  13. Way Back in the 1960's

Tracks:

  1. Koeeoaddi There
  2. The Minotaur's Song
  3. Witches Hat
  4. A Very Cellular Song
  5. Mercy I Cry City
  6. Waltz Of The New Moon
  7. The Water Song
  8. Three Is A Green Crown
  9. Swift As The Wind
  10. Nightfall

Album Description

2CD set combines '5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion' with 'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter'. Highlights include 'Chinese White', 'No Sleep Blues' and 'Nightfall.' Originally released in 1967 & 1968.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars 2 psychedelic classics.......2005-12-29

Of the ISB's dozen or so albums released between 1966 and 1974, 5000 Spirits and Hangman's Beautiful Daughter rank as the two most essential, if not the most accessible (5000 Spirits is more accessible than Hangman, and that's saying something, anyway). Psychedelic silliness aside--and I'll admit it took me some time before I completely warmed to The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (I had to rediscover Robin Williamson through his more recent work to really "get" what the Incredibles were about)--these are real classics of the period, and have stood the test of time far better than many other psychedelic albums.

The Incredible String Band have often been called the "first world music band," and given that they beat Kaleidoscope (whose most famous member is David Lindley) to the punch with their first LP by a year (the ISB's eponymous debut appeared in 1966, while Side Trips, the first Kaleidoscope album, hit the racks in '67), this claim is not exaggerated. Nor is it unjustified--there are many styles and instruments represented across the band's albums; you can hear sitars and Moroccan bowed gimbri on these tracks, along with raga, Balkan and Middle Eastern stylings. Later albums would feature the group steering a bit more toward their Celtic roots, but here, you can see the flags of many nations flying colourfully throughout the music. Personal favourites for me include "Chinese White," "No Sleep Blues," "Little Cloud," "The Hedgehog's Song," "Painting Box" and "First Girl I Loved" on 5000 Spirits; then "Koeeoaddi There," "The Minotaur's Song" (for the sheer silliness of it), "A Very Cellular Song," "Mercy I Cry City," "Three is a Green Crown" and "Swift as the Wind" on Hangman's Beautiful Daughter.

And I must disagree strongly with the reviewer who said that Robin Williamson's more recent work is that of a minstrel--that's most disingenuous. Williamson is a *bard*, thank you very much (he's even an honourary member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids). It is my fond hope that he'll eventually return to the U.S. and tour here; that's one show I'd gladly pay admission for.

4 out of 5 stars diggin it.......2005-09-24

I am what you would call a newbie to the string band, and a newbie to english folk rock in general. but i am really diggin it. it's zany, psychadelic and folky all at once. there really is no other sound like this. it's like a bunch of minstrels strung out on drugs.

5 out of 5 stars Two most important albums. Toghether for the first time.......2005-06-02

`The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' (5000 Spirits) and `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' (Daughter) by The Incredible String Band (TISB) in a single package gives you the opportunity to get the two albums which put this band on the 1960's musical map.

The easiest way to point out the company this band was in is to cite a 1968 newspaper review of the `5000 Spirits' album which compared it favorably to the very summit of pop music at that time, the Beatle's epochal `Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. On the one hand, there is no question in my mind that this album is NOT as good as `Sergeant Pepper...'. And yet, we are still listening to both albums today.

`The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' and that review was strong enough for me to look out for the TISB's next album (Daughter) and I was appropriately rewarded when I first heard this work on vinyl about 35 years ago. For starters, it simply hangs together much better than the earlier album. `5000 Spirits' seems to be just a collection of imaginative songs, most of that are probably considered `novelty songs'. `Daughter' is tied together by several parallel themes, the most important of which is linked to the album title and consists of stories admonitions, and entertainment's for an adolescent girl. The second theme running though most of the songs is the classic ancient elements of earth, air, fire, and water.

Oddly enough, these are TISB's second and third albums. The first presented the group as a trio of men, which slimmed down to just Williamson and Heron for the second album, to grow to the pair of men plus a healthy chorus of women and children backing them up on all sorts of oldish instruments.

The very best thing about these old albums is that they are so much better than the material Williamson and Heron are doing today. Williamson has largely become the traveling minstrel of Medieval days whose material he transformed into highly original songs for a decade, starting in the late 1960's. It is also appropriate to see these and other albums released in pairs, as TISB did more than their share of double albums, starting with their next release, `Wee Tam & The Big Huge' which puzzled me when they were simultaneously released by Elektra in 1968 as two different albums.

See my reviews of the individual albums for more details.

Listen and enjoy, Listen and enjoy...

5 out of 5 stars Double Magic !!!!.......2004-03-30

I have these records in single cd's, but having this double is double magic!!
These works (specially Hangman's...) fulfilled my life over eight years ago, when I finally found it on cd. The Incredibles are so unique, a lot of people trying to imitate them with fabulous and theatrical worlds, but this mysticism is in many ways the most sincere, with that naif flavour and gayness and pure "joie de vivre"...
"The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" it's a kind of an Ancient Magic Compendium...also one of the most brilliant records of the sixties...to me in a very high place...
I love them, Robin and Mike and the childish girls Licky and Rosie...I bound to them...

3 out of 5 stars Damn hippies..........2004-03-20

Like Pentangle on acid. Way too much acid, and without the girl singer most of the time. Makes Donovan sound like Johnny Cash. In some ways, these guys' talents were better used as sidemen on Shirley and Dolly Collins' record The Power of the True Love Knot. They really can play, but, my god, the singing...the songs...although sometimes it's so psychedelically ridiculous, so over the top, so shameless it's kinda fun...kinda...if you have a very high tolerance for this sort of thing...
Wee Tam / Big Huge
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • SOME OF ISB'S BEST MADE BETTER STILL
  • TISB-Wee Tam/Big Huge
  • Wee Tam and the Big Huge
  • The ISB at their very, very best in this SINGLE album
  • A High Water Mark of the ISB
 Wee Tam / Big Huge
Incredible String Band
Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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  4. The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
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ASIN: B00006BC50
Release Date: 2002-09-10

Tracks:

  1. Job's Tears
  2. Puppies
  3. Beyond The See
  4. The Yellow Snake
  5. Log Cabin Home In The Sky
  6. You Get Brighter
  7. The Half-Remarkable Question
  8. Air
  9. Ducks On A Pond

Tracks:

  1. Maya
  2. Greatest Friend
  3. The Son Of Noah's Brother
  4. Lordly Nightshade
  5. The Mountain Of God
  6. Cousin Caterpillar
  7. The Iron Stone
  8. Douglas Traherne Harding
  9. The Circle Is Unbroken

Product Description

Disc 1: Wee Tam:
1. Job's Tears
2. Puppies
3. Beyond The See
4. Yellow Snake, The
5. Log Cabin Home In The Sky
6. You Get Brighter
7. Half-Remarkable Question, The
8. Air
9. Ducks On A Pond

Disc 2: The Big Huge:
1. Maya
2. Greatest Friend
3. Son Of Noah's Brother, The
4. Lordly Nightshade
5. Mountain Of God, The
6. Cousin Caterpillar
7. Iron Stone, The
8. Douglas Traherne Harding
9. Circle Is Unbroken, The


Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars SOME OF ISB'S BEST MADE BETTER STILL.......2006-08-06

While the remastering is expert and reveals even more of the human warmth of this work, it's difficult to write about the music of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron for the simple reason that they pretty much created their own genre. Who will we compare to the Incredible String Band? The sources and reference points of and in their music are many and widespread. Typically filed under "FOLK", the music of The Incredible String Band was and is much more. A few years after the band broke up, Robin wrote of his interest in creating a "fusion" of different musical cultures, traditions and styles. Seen from this perspective, "Wee Tam / Big Huge" must be one of the first fully-realized examples of that fusion.

In a seemingly simple, quiet framework, ISB delivers a dazzling array of ideas about music and about humankind and our perceptions of the worlds in and around us -- what are we and what we are -- with diverse and complete musical authority. How else could you possibly pull off a song titled "Puppies" without being accused of creating kitsch? This is profoundly ambitious stuff. "Wee Tam / Big Huge" allows us to witness nothing less than the patchwork creation of a being in "Maya" who is comprised of the many archetypes of the human race: "businessmen his nervous system, no-hustle men his stomach" and, my personal favorite, "opinions are his fingernails". Here, as throughout this record, small metaphors create greater metaphors, leading to saturated meanings. Throughout, the lyrical content matches the musical innovation. Always poetic and illuminating, I'd question the typical "psychedelic" conclusion: this stuff is too aware and well worked out. Remember: "At bath time the hippies, in chains, they are crossing the hall..."

As a contrast to the long and almost tone-poem-like pieces such as "Maya" and "Job's Tears" and rollicking fiddle tunes like "Log Cabin Home", there are a pair of very short, haiku-like pieces that are as pure as they are beautiful. "Son of Noah's Brother" and the more remarkable, myth-imbued "Yellow Snake" demonstrate that condensed and concise poetry can be as powerful as the more elaborate and extended work.

There is also a sense of the sacred throughout, from the every day in "Air" and the wonderfully inventive "Duck's on a Pond" to the collage of religious and literary phrases that comprise the lyrics of "The Mountain of God". Through a rich mix of musical and cultural ideas, "Wee Tam / Big Huge" makes the monumental accessible, and the miniature profound without ever resorting to cloying sentimentality, cliche or the dead ends of blind faith. This is music of approachable, constant and everyday beauty. Music as easy to love today as it was when the world was new.

5 out of 5 stars TISB-Wee Tam/Big Huge.......2006-02-22

The other reviews correctly describe the richness and beauty of these albums. Mystical yet fun, fascinating musical concepts, still fresh after so many years. Highest rating...BUT...while wonderful on the ears, terrible on the eyes. Bad job on the lyrics insert, which are truly microscopic to the point of being unreadable. I'm lucky to have the original vinyl for reading. Otherwise, get a high-powered microscope. Still, a gorgeous recording, as are all their early releases.

5 out of 5 stars Wee Tam and the Big Huge.......2005-08-10

I had not heard this for thirty years. Many of the songs have stayed with me. The best recordings they ever did - before they got too self conscious. Still a classic - modern bands are just too cautious. They all want to be cool.

5 out of 5 stars The ISB at their very, very best in this SINGLE album.......2005-06-03

`The Big Huge' and the `Wee Tam' are nominally two different albums by The Incredible String Band (TISB) when actually; they were released simultaneously in 1968 as if they were a double album where you could buy the two disks independently. The sense with which the two titles can be combined as `The Big Huge Wee Tam' is one small sign of how these two albums were always supposed to be seen as a single work, in much the same way as Dylan's `Blond on Blond' and the Beatles' `white album' are two phonographs in a single album.

It is due to this title combination that I always considered `The Big Huge' as the first of the two recordings. The second reason is because the first cut on this album, Williamson's `Maya' so completely captures the style and spirit of both albums. It also clearly connects TISB with the style of Donovan Leitch as exemplified in his song `Atlantis'. There must be some name for this kind of song in song writing circles, and I wish I knew it, as it is so distinctive in construction. Basically, it enumerates between eight and twelve things, generally people, in a group where each type serves a particular person or fits a role in the whole. The simplest example of such a song might be the `Do-Re-Mi Song' from `The Sound of Music'. Both `Maya' and `Atlantis' are much more complicated, but fit the same basic pattern.

`Maya' is doubly interesting in that it is almost certainly based on the famous illustration on the frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes' great work `Leviathan' on political philosophy, where the head of the sovereign sits on a body composed of smaller bodies.

This pair of albums may have been the high point of the TISB recording career. At the very least, together with `The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' and `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter', it created a body of work which at the very least insured the durability of the groups modest popularity well into the 21st century. And, I believe it is the last set of recordings they did in the style of original writing they established in `5000 Spirits...' With their next works, I detect definite changes in style and more independence from Mike Heron, as he released a solo album around this time.

I made the observation in a review of `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' that many of the songs can be heard as evening entertainment for children on their way to bed. I can strengthen this analogy with this album with the references to Tolkien's fiction in one or two of these songs. Add to this references to A. A. Milne's `Winnie the Pooh' and songs about caterpillars and I rest my case. Very few of their songs relate to that most favorite song subject, romantic love. Much more time is spent on adventure, discovery, tall tales, and nonsense rhymes.

For those of you who may be coming to TISB from encounters with Fairport Convention and The Pentangle, I suggest that TISB is the gold standard of original writing based on Celtic and other world folk traditions. Fairport Convention, especially Sandy Denny may have written some great songs and Jansch and Renbourn of `The Pentangle' are probably greater instrumentalists, but TISB conveys a folkish charm that is truer to the great 1960's counterculture spirit than any other band.

5 out of 5 stars A High Water Mark of the ISB.......2003-12-16

This is a magical album (and yes, it is one album, as a reviewer below noted). There are songs here which feel simultaneously ancient and totally innovative, achingly beautiful and unfathomably mysterious -- at this moment I am thinking of the songs "The Circle is Unbroken" and "The Iron Stone." But really everything here is amazing. This is one of those albums where you feel that the artists were stretching every nerve and muscle, reaching out beyond themselves to grasp something which they had glimpsed. A masterpiece is made when they succeed, and that's what happened here. And the beauty is not just conceptual. Sure, these guys were picking up a bewildering variety of instruments they had never learned how to play, but they pull it off; it all works. And Williamson's voice... a careless listener will think he's just tunelessly jibbering sometimes, but he's not, he's not... His voice glides and modulates all over the place, always exactly where he wants it to be. This work was really a transcendent, watershed event. For myself, I find it has an intensity unrivalled by any of the Incredibles' other albums, though "U" and "5000 Spirits" and "Hangman's" are all essential listening as well. But this is really something special.
The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • If you let the pigs decide it, they will put you in the sty
  • Their Most Famous, but not their best. I still love it!
  • "I'm not the kind to complain.."
  • ONE OF 'THE' GROUNDBREAKING RECORDINGS OF THE 1960s
  • Groundbreaking Album From Incredible String Band
 The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
The Incredible String Band
Manufacturer: Wea/Warner
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
Psychedelic RockPsychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
FolkFolk | Imports | Stores | Music
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  4. Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending
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ASIN: B000026G3D
Release Date: 2004-02-23

Tracks:

  1. Chinese White
  2. No Sleep Blues
  3. Painting Box
  4. Mad Hatter's Song
  5. Little Cloud
  6. Eyes of Fate
  7. Blues for the Muse
  8. Hedgehog's Song
  9. First Girl I Loved
  10. You Know What You Could Be
  11. My Name Is Death
  12. Gently Tender
  13. Way Back in the 1960s

Amazon.com

Stone psychedelic freaks Robin Williamson and Mike Heron were two talented multi-instrumentalists who were eventually joined in the Incredible String Band by their earth-goddess lovers, Licorice and Rose. They tapped into the British Isles' centuries-old traditions of myths and folklore, updating the ancient sounds with inspired, multi-layered recordings and a modern twist that helped you envision fair maidens riding unicorns through green and fertile fields while simultaneously advocating better living through chemistry. Hell, the title alone of this, their second album, is more psychedelic than anything the Jefferson Airplane ever did. --Jim Derogatis

Album Description

Inside, 5000 Spirits is full of whimsical delights. It was produced by Robin Williamson and Mike Heron once they had returned from travels. Robin himself had managed to pick up a variety of different instruments in Morocco and they all seem to get in there somewhere. Clive Palmer who had started the String Band with Robin had gone off to Afghanistan and did not rejoin the others. 5000 Spirits was quite unlike anything else that was around at the time. Anyone expecting something like Disraeli Gears or Odessey & Oracle would have been surprised by what the String Band was offering. The fusion of folk, blues, psychedelia and, certainly what we now call World Music, gave 5000 Spirits a unique sound that has guaranteed a place in music history. Warner. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars If you let the pigs decide it, they will put you in the sty.......2006-09-10

This album sits at no. 2 in my list of the greatest albums ever made. It really is that good!I have been listening to this album regularly for nearly 40 years, ever since it came out, and have never tired of it. It has stood the test of time better than many better selling contemporaries for sure. There is no other album that I can say that about. I never tire of the stunning acoustic guitar work, or trying to fathom the meanings of the lyrics.Even the name of the album is brilliantly chosen. The 5000 sprirts, well yes it is very spiritual as is all good music, and looks at things from different spiritual perspectives. The Layers of the Onion, yes, it is a bit like pass the parcel. When you think you understand something, you find there is a whole new layer of meaning underneath, and even after 39 years I can't claimto have got to the bottom of it.OK some of the songs are easy. The whimsical ones, like Little Cloud and the Hedgehog Song, and obvious ones like Painting box and The first Girl I loved. But do you fully understand the Eyes of Fate or even Chinese White? I love The Mad Hatters Song, since it is very Christian, and I am a Christian. It even mentions Jesus. The First Girl I Loved seems a very personal song, and very beautiful, but one that I and I am sure many others can relate to. And even if you don't, the guitar work is stunning. I was a young man back in the 1960s always seems to me to be the one track that doesn't fit. It is pure science fiction! Not particularly spiritual, or with any great depth, or with many "layers" but it could have been the basis of a novel. Yes it is a great album. If you don't know it buy it. But be warned, it is something you either love or hate. My wife does not like it at all, but then there are certain instruments she can't stand, and I think the oud is one (bagpipes is another, but there are not bagpipes on the 5000 spirits) My favourite of all of the ISB albums.Just in case you are wondering which is the one album I consider betterthan this , it is Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here".

4 out of 5 stars Their Most Famous, but not their best. I still love it!.......2005-05-31

`The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' (5000 Spirits) by the new (in 1967) duo known as The Incredible String Band (TISB) is, surprisingly, not their first album. But, like the Jefferson Airplane about the same time with `Surrealistic Pillow', it is with this album that the duo of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron made an impact on the overheated world of popular music that was the mid-1960's.

The easiest way to point out the company this album was in is to cite a 1968 newspaper review of the album which compared it favorably to the very summit of pop music at that time, the Beatle's epochal `Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. On the one hand, there is no question in my mind that this album is NOT as good as `Sergeant Pepper...'. And yet, we are still listening to both albums today.

In the 1960's, I was following avant-garde / rock music about as closely as you can imagine, without actually playing an instrument. My great ambition was to discover new groups that would succeed commercially and artistically, before that great success actually happened. The source of my belief in my ability to do this lay in my having decided, on hearing Barbara Streisand's first album, while still in high school, that this singer will go far. Lo and behold, by her third album, she was sharing stages with Ethel Merman and Judy Garland. I would go on to successfully `discover' David Bowie, James Taylor, the J. Geils Band, and Rod Stewart upon hearing their first solo albums released in the United States.

Until I heard this TISB album, based on the strong review, I had not heard much of the English folk genre except to Donovan Leitch, who was billed as the English Dylan. So, I immediately and correctly connected the style of TISB with the mystical / mythical / trippy style of Donovan. And, every time I encountered a contemporary British folk act, I was anticipating something sounding like TISB. In retrospect, I'm really happy that groups such as Fairport Convention and The Pentangle did not sound like TISB, because the thing they did was just as enjoyable in itself and better than a wan copy of some other band, although there was a fair amount of mutual influence being passed around among these bands and from Mr. Dylan from across the pond.

Oddly enough, `5000 Spirits...' also has a lot in common with `Sergeant Pepper...', especially with songs such as `Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds' and `For the Benefit of Mr. Kite'. According to the Beatles, both songs are simply inspirations from pictures drawn by young Julian Lennon in the first case and a circus poster in the second case. Many of Heron and Williamson's songs have that same sense of being about nothing more than whimsy, especially Heron's `Painting Box', `Little Cloud', and `The Hedgehog's Song'. On the other hand, this judgment may be making them less interesting than they really are, especially as `Painting Box' is something of a love song.

This is not an album of great songs. `When I'm 64', `A Little Help From My Friends', and especially `A Day in the Life' are great songs. There is nothing like these classics on this album. Even among the whole TISB body of work, there are songs from other albums that stick in the head with more staying power than any song on this album. In fact, while it is not a GREAT song, I went to the trouble of memorizing the Gilbert and Sullivan homage, `The Minotaur's Song' from TISB's next album, `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter'. The only song from this album which brings an `oh yes!' to my heart when I hear this album is the finisher, `Way Back in the 1960's with its parody of Bob Dylan and of 1960's oldsters reaction to the hippie counterculture of that time.

And yet, this album has great value in that if it were not for it's critical success, there may not have been all those other great TISB albums to come. Few albums can quite bring back the sense of the 1960's as this one.

5 out of 5 stars "I'm not the kind to complain..".......2004-01-31

...about this album. It's brilliant! Robin is a genius and Mike not far behind him! They are a very overrated duo of songwriters. Folk-rock never sounded so good, I swear. Bob Dylan and The Chioeftans must love them! Highlights on the album are:

"Chinese White"-surreal, love the bowed gimbri
"No Sleep Blues"-funny lyrics.Do you just to snore?
"Blues For The Muse"-the best song on the album, bluesy and great, Mike harmonica and Robin's lyrics are perfect!
"The Hedgehog's Song"-Mike, you've got quite the sense of humor. I keep imagining Sonic the hedgehog in this.
"First Girl I Loved"-their best known song, beautiful.
"Way Back In The 1960s"-great way to end the album! Love the lyrics!
You need this album, verrry bad.

5 out of 5 stars ONE OF 'THE' GROUNDBREAKING RECORDINGS OF THE 1960s.......2003-03-10

With the release of their eponymous first album, the Incredible String Band made it know to the music listening public that a new force had arrived - one which would inject some energy and vitality into the folk music scene in the UK and the world. With the appearance of this album, THE 5,000 SPIRITS or THE LAYERS OF THE ONION, there could be little doubt that something special had been born. The albums which were to follow over the next few years bore this out dramatically.

THE 5,000 SPIRITS was released originally in 1967 - at the height of the psychedelic music movement. One only has to look at the artists of the day, and their releases, to see the rapidly expanding imaginations and creativity at work, breaking new ground right and left. This album, I feel, stands head and shoulders above most other releases of its day, in many ways - it should be regarded as a classic for its lyrical content alone. Musically, the ISB were going places - and drawing from sources - that other artists would only dare to touch in years to come. I believe it was their long-time producer, Joe Boyd, who once said that the ISB was the original `world music' group - he couldn't have stated it better.

After the critical acclaim garnered by their first album, the trio (at the time composed of Robin Williamson, Mike Heron and Clive Palmer) split up and traveled separately. The music Robin and Mike heard (for the band had become a duo by the time this album was recorded) around the world touched their souls - they breathed it in and gave it back to there listeners, combining both vocal and instrumental styles and techniques that would most like never have met if not for their artistic explorations. Mike had begun playing the sitar, and Robin's singing clearly bears the influence of the voices he encountered in the Middle East and Asia. The two writers' heads were already bursting with poetry and ideas born in their native lands - myths from Europe and Asia mingled with other images, creating a heady concoction perfectly suited to the times. Listeners were eager to hear something new - something besides the standard pop fare of the day, love songs with `moon/June/spoon' rhymes. The ISB gave it to them in abundance.

The album is pretty evenly balanced between the two writers - an equity which would be present in most of their subsequent releases as well. Licorice McKechnie makes her first appearance with Robin and Mike on this recording - and they are assisted by Danny Thompson on bass here and there. The songs deal with a variety of subjects - even the aforementioned love songs are present, but in the ISB's own unique style.

The set opens with Mike's `Chinese white' - the bowed gimbri played by Robin on this track lets the listener know right away that things have `expanded' a bit since the band's 1966 release. `The bent twig of darkness grows the petals of the morning', sings Mike - a beautiful image worthy of traditional Asian poetry. Mike's other songs on this album run the gamut from love songs (`Painting box' and the eternally lovely `Gently tender') to humorous looks at our place in the world (`Little cloud' and `The hedgehog's song') to a song offering encouragement to the listener to reach for his full potential (`You know what you could be'). The seriousness of some of his topics is gently offset by a childlike quality that, through the ensuing years, would infuse most of his writing with an innocence that would endear it to his fans.

Robin's offerings here are for the most part more serious than Mike's - but there is humor in his writing as well, as is evidenced by `No sleep blues' and the hilarious `Way back in the 1960s'. His `First girl I loved' - covered by Judy Collins as `First boy I loved' on her WILDFLOWERS album - is simply one of the most beautiful songs ever written to a first love, looking back with honesty and tenderness on the gifts exchanged, both physical and emotional. His guitar work on this song - and, actually, throughout his career - is astonishingly creative and lovely. In 'The eyes of fate', he muses `O who can see in the eyes of Fate all life alone in its chronic pattern?' - his lyrics are, throughout this album and all to follow, insightful, probing, spiritual. He is one of the most amazingly talented writers ever to pen a verse.

There are a couple of places in the recording where the signal is over-driven - but that's to be expected, given the era from which this dates. The remastering has been done lovingly - the sound on the cd is as good or better than any edition of the lp I ever owned.

Anyone with any sort of appreciation for the musics of different parts of the world, of exploring the myths with which mankind has explained the unexplainable, who has ever asked the really deeply rooted, `half-remarkable' questions, will find in the music and lyrics of the Incredible String Band the voices of kindred spirits of the closest order. This album - and, indeed, everything they released up until about 1970 (and they produced a lot of music in that short span) - is as beautiful and relevant today as when it first appeared. Moreover, there are still those who will never `catch up' to them.

The band continued to experiment and expand into the follow-up album, THE HANGMAN'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, issued the following year...

5 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking Album From Incredible String Band.......2001-12-11

In 1966 the Incredible String Band completed their first album simply titled "The Incredible String Band." Upon the completion of the album, the band made a curious career move...they retired. The principal members felt that they had reached their pinnacle of acheivement and decided to get out of the music business. Banjoist Clive Plamer headed for Afganistan, while multi-instumentalist Robin Williamson travelled to Morocco to learn to play Moroccan flute. Only Mike Heron remained in Edinburg Scotland, (the group's home) where he gigged with the rock band Rock Bottom and the Dead Beats. Robin stayed in Morrocco about six months and returned to Scotland with dozens of exotic musical insturments. Together Robin and Mike reformed the Incredible String Band with Robin's girlfriend Licorice "Likkie" McKenzie. The new Incredible String Band recorded "5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion", which was released in 1967, the year of Sgt. Pepper's and the Summer of Love. This album with it's strange musical alchemy, surreal lyrics, and gentle whimsy placed the String Band in the vangaurd of the burgeoning psychedelic movement in Europe and the USA. The ISB counted amoung it's fans Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Led Zepplin and Steve Winwood. The album is a ground breaking soundtrack of psycedelica's Age of Innocence and charted the course for the development of the String Band until 1972, when the group's increasing involvement in the Scientology movement caused a creative implosion.

The first thing you notice about "5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion" is it's arresting mystical day-glow cover art by Simon Marijke. Marijke was the painter of the fabled psychedelic Rolls Royce owned by John Lennon. The cover art broke with traditional notions what kind of art should grace the cover of an album. If you saw this album in a record store bin in 1967, you would indeed know that "something's happening here."

The talented Mike Heron and Robin Williamson played about 40 different musical insturments between them. Exotic intruments like the sitar, hand drums, gimbri and the jew's harp were featured on "5000 Spirits", giving the music the feel of a cosmic global stew. The surrealistic lyrics inspired by eastern mysticism, American blues, celtic lore, and pagan mytholology transported the listener to a paralell reality akin to Tolkien's Middle Earth. With "5000 Spirits" two powerful voices with distinct visions emerged as one: Mike Heron's gentle pantheism rooted in folk traditions and Robin Williamson's cosmic and often elegalic mysticism blended the Celtic bardist tradition.

Some of Mike's most memorable songwritting is on "5000 Spirits. On "Painting Box" Mike's gentle voice blends with Likkie's waifish harmony to produce a delicate impressionistic gem about love and the beauty of imagination. Mike's worship of nature is apparent in "Little Cloud", where a passing cloud beckons him to float to distant lands. Many of ISB's chemically fuelled devotees interpreted "Little Cloud" as invitation to pass through doors of perception via a certain substance often licked from blotter sheets in the sixties. Robin Williamson's "First Girl I Loved" is a melancholy reflection on "a grown-up female stranger" who at age 17 was his first love. Robin's plantive voice rises from his intimate Galeic conversational tone to a mornful atonal Arabic wail as he recounts thinking of his first love in the "six sad morning and in the lonely midnight." The song is the most requested and most recorded in Williamson's considerable body of work. When Judy Collins heard the ISB perform "First Girl I Loved" on tour together, she changed the gender to "First Boy" and it is a favorite of her fans. Jackson Browne recorded it on "Rubaiyat" which was a Elektra tribute to the Striggers. Robin's other masterpiece was "My Name Is Death" an existential bow to the inevitabilty of death, "the question that cannot be answered."

"Five Thousand Spirits or the Layer of the Onion" is a flat-out Sixties classic and the first milestone the long pilgrimage of the Incredible Sting Band. It is a pilgrimage that appears to never end... Robin Williamson made the 2001 best of [...]music critics list for his stunning C.D., "The Seed-At-Zero." Mike Heron and Robin Williamson recently reformed the Incredible String Band and are touring the U.K. in October, November and December of 2001. Likkie McKenzie the third Sting Band member on this album moved to California in the 1970s where she worked as a waitress and coat checker. About 10 years ago, Likkie, in the cosmic String Band fashion, set out on a journey across the desert in Arizona, and was never seen or heard from again.
Across the Airwaves: BBC Radio Recordings 1969-1974
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • a very welcome, but not perfect compilation
 Across the Airwaves: BBC Radio Recordings 1969-1974
Incredible String Band
Manufacturer: Hux Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
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  1. Everything Is Fine
  2. Halcyon Days
  3. Live at the BBC
  4. Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House
  5. Traveling Wilburys (2CD/1DVD, Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: B000OLG5JU
Release Date: 2007-05-07

Tracks:

  1. Bright Morning Stars
  2. Worlds They Rise and Fall
  3. Spirit Beautiful
  4. Willow Pattern
  5. Turquoise Blue
  6. Whistle Tune
  7. Darling Belle
  8. You've Been a Friend To Me
  9. I Know That Man
  10. The Old Buccaneer
  11. Black Jack David
  12. The Circle Is Unbroken
  13. Fine Fingerd Hands
  14. Everything's Fine Right Now
  15. Raga Puti
  16. Empty Pocket Blues

Tracks:

  1. All Writ Down
  2. Dust Be Diamonds
  3. Theta
  4. Beautiful Stranger
  5. Won't You Come See Me
  6. Oh Did I Love a Dream
  7. Secret Temple
  8. Rends-Moi Demain
  9. Dreams Of No Return
  10. Jane
  11. Derar Old Battlefield
  12. Log Cabin Home In The Sky
  13. 1968
  14. Hangman's Medley
  15. Ring Dance
  16. Long Long Road
  17. Living In the Shadow

Album Description

Two CD set from the British Folk band headed by Mike Heron and Robin Williamson. This double disc collection contains 33 rare BBC Radio recordings taped by the band between 1969 and 1974, including 13 previously unreleased songs. Compiled by the band members, this package includes a 24 page booklet with rare photos, liner notes and BBC sessionography. Hux. 2007

Album Details

The Incredible String Band was Arguably One of the Most Engaging Groups to Emerge from the Esoteric 1960s. Basically the Duo of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, their Sound was Comprised of Haunting Celtic Folk Melodies Augmented by a Variety of Middle Eastern and Asian Instruments. This Double CD Includes 13 Previously Unreleased Recordings and Has Been Compiled and Released with the Full Co-operation of the Band. The Accompanying 24 Page Booklet Includes Rare Photographs, Comprehensive Liner Notes and a Full BBC Sessionography, plus an Additional Note from Mike Heron and Lyrics to Several of the Featured Songs.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars a very welcome, but not perfect compilation.......2007-05-25

As a true ISB & Robin fan I simply cannot resist the temptation of buying practically all ISB stuff that hits the market, and this cd of BBC recordings seemed like a wonderful addition. And it is, really. The packaging is well taken care of with an insightful essay regarding the sessions, lyrics of a couple of songs and perhaps best of all a "sessionography" of BBC sessions. While the performances are fine, the sound quality is not as uniformly excellent, due to the fact that some of the tracks, mostly due to lost tapes, have been recorded off-air. But this will not daunt the true fan.

In fact, it's mostly these tracks that make this collection interesting. Some Robin songs especially have by their absence from any release gained an almost mythical status, like "Fine fingered hands". Absolutely wonderful to hear these songs!

On the downside, from my point of view, is that I already did have most of the recordings. The tracks 1 - 12 featured on cd1 have been released as "Live in concert", while a lot of songs on cd2 have been released as "On air". This leaves some 13 songs that were previously unreleased. In the booklet we find a little story by Mike Heron that accompanied the already mentioned "Live in concert" so, unfortunately, it's not exactly a story fresh from his pen. I cannot tell from the liner notes or the sessionography which songs survived on tape or as an off-air recording. But it seems to me that some strange choices have been made, certainly in the knowledge that a lot of songs have already been released. An example: the "Live in concert" songs are in the same order (absolutely fine in itself of course), but looking at the session list some songs are still omitted. Why? I would have liked a better understanding of the choices made by the compilers, for now I am left with an uneasy feeling that this is not the perfect and final release. I'm all for the release of complete sessions unless there are very good reasons not to do this. Another example: the songs are not presented in a chronological order. This would have made perfect sense.

In all, this is a fine and long-awaited release and easily worth 5 stars when it comes to content. But it loses a star for its seemingly odd and arbitrary choice and order of the songs. I suspect (and hope) that this is not the final word on the matter.
U
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Exhilerating Then and Now
  • Classic Tuneful Brilliance
  • Introducing One Pilgrim At A Time To Their Otherworldly World Music
  • Their most far out album.
  • Good ISB Music, but no 'Tommy'!
 U
Incredible String Band
Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
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Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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  1. Wee Tam / Big Huge
  2. Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air
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  4. Earthspan/No Ruinous Feud
  5. 5000 Spirits / Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

ASIN: B00006BC4Y
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Tracks:

  1. El Wool Suite
  2. The Juggler's Song
  3. Time
  4. Bad Sadie Lee
  5. Queen Of Love
  6. Partial Belated Overture
  7. Light In Time Of Darkness/Glad To See You
  8. Walking Along With You
  9. Hirem Pawnitof/Fairies' Hornpipe
  10. Bridge Theme

Tracks:

  1. Bridge Song
  2. Astral Plane Theme
  3. Invocation
  4. Robot Blues
  5. Puppet Song
  6. Cutting The Strings
  7. I Know You
  8. Rainbow

Album Description

Their 1970 album intended as a soundtrack to their theatrical stage show, this was subtitled A Surreal Parade in Song and Dance. Includes the epic 'Rainbow'. Never before on CD! 2002.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Exhilerating Then and Now.......2007-08-01

When U came out in 1970, I had not discovered ISB. But by 1973, I had purchased every album they had made and continued to do so until by the time they disbanded a year later, I had caught up. Over twenty recordings, and each one a prized possession to this day. "U" is among the best of them. "U" is not a perfect work of art. But it IS a work of art. And it is standing the test of time. In fact, it is getting better with age.

With the exception of Bad Sadie Lee, the first disk is about as close to a transcendent experience as one is likely to have on this plane(t). And Bad Sadie - a song everyone loves to hate - serves a purpose. This is one of three vignettes of stereotypical beings on the "manifested" side of the story. It is in British Music Hall tradition. Hiram Pawnitoff is a better attempt at the comic relief. But Bad Sadie, whatever her other personal disfunctions is, alas, too long a song. Especially when book-ended by "Time" and "Queen of Love", two of the most powerful songs imaginable. And it is true that even the eloquent and haunting "Queen of Love" would have been better served without Tom Constanten's string arrangement which, given the tempo, often sounds rushed.

But these are all quibbles. No musical artists in the late 20th century tried anything so grandiose as telling the story of humanity situated in the larger spiritual context - and got away with it. Williamson and Heron failed to make money on the project, but they succeeded artistically. How? Despite the theme, it's not pretentious. The music never tries to be melodramatic; these are simple songs, simple arrangements, small in forces and production. The pieces are always dedicated to story-telling, not (despite the fact they had become Scientologists) proselytising. They are songs of heart - both human and fallible. They are often pieces of exquisite delicacy and, in songs such as "I Know You," and "Bridge Song," full of poignance and a sense of loss. The ending, marred by "Rainbow's" last section hootnanny, yet manages to uplift.

Never trite, often un-categorizable, this is the Incredible String Band at their mature best, foretelling places only Robin Williamson would tred in later decades.

5 out of 5 stars Classic Tuneful Brilliance.......2007-05-07

Say what you will about ISB, they were a brilliant amalgamation of wonderfully eclectic musical talent, both in playing and authoring of music. This isn't for everyone, and sometimes can be perceived as quite grating on the nerves. But once you begin to understand what's happening, you'll find them well worth the journey of coming to appreciate some truly wonderful musical entertainment.

4 out of 5 stars Introducing One Pilgrim At A Time To Their Otherworldly World Music.......2006-10-13

I feel it's my duty to give an opinion on this amazing album, seeing as how I'm an American who'd never heard of this band until recently. When ISB played my house last year (I live in a an old meat packing Werehouse refurbished as a club and living space) I hate to tell you, nobody'd ever heard of them. Even the older 'Hippies' I know who were way into music and know their obscure (from this continent at least) 60's fare (Captain Beyond, Fairport Convention, etc) were at a loss. I'm quite sure there's many a Brit who'd be offput by my almost casual categorization of ISB and FC, but as marvelous as they are, hardly anyone over here knows it. The best we could muster was, "Well, the press packet says they were a huge influence on Zeppelin's acoustic/eclectic/world oriented stuff..." Well, it was a wonderful experience to meet these guys and hear them do what they do best. Other than that most recent album, I'd still never heard any of their seminal recordings until now. Wow! This thing starts off on the perfect groove for the ensuing 100+ minutes of otherworldliness. The sitar (vina perhaps) intro lets you know they're in no hurry and though sprinkled with quirky bright dittys, the overall pace and impression is of a more meditational nature. Though I obviously don't know their body of work; craftily written wry humor, tranced out bliss and esoteric instrumental virtuosity seem to be what these folks are all about. It's rare for me to say, I don't know if the lady or man's voice is prettier. It's my earnest hope that this review on Amazon.UK will be read by someone stateside that needs to find this amazing band. 4 stars cause I know they have a deeper body of work and yet no one else does this quite so well or has the humor and fortitude to pull it off.

5 out of 5 stars Their most far out album........2006-05-17

Their most far out album. Sitars, Celtic singing, folk songs and a beautiful arrangement by Grateful Dead's Tom Constanten.The most representave album of world music as played by hippies in the 60's. Nothing can imitate the feeling you get from this CD.

4 out of 5 stars Good ISB Music, but no 'Tommy'!.......2005-06-24

`U' by The Incredible String Band' is, unlike all their other albums, the music for a revue to be performed on a live stage. When it was released thirty-five years ago, it was just two years after the release of The Who's `Tommy', I can recall looking forward to another major effort by a pop group to create an important theatrical work.

I was disappointed. `U' does not even come close to the power of `Tommy'. It does not even come close to The Who's lesser work, `Quadrophenia'. For starters, it's weakness as a dramatic work has nothing to do with the artists' reusing older styles and riffs, as Pete Townsend and The Who have probably made more use of the same chords and phrasings from album to album than anyone else. Certainly they have done it more than anyone else at their rarefied height in the ranks of pop icons.

As an album, `Tommy' had the advantage of starting out as a purely musical work. Everything you needed to understand the story was in the lyrics to the songs. Even the songs borrowed from other composers fit well into the story. In my review of `Tommy', I described the whole plot using nothing more than the songs' lyrics. The Ken Russell movie and the stage production all came later, and needed to add little to the story.

When I listen to `U', I get virtually no sense of story. When I read the recently written CD notes by Richie Unterberger, I don't get a lot of help in understanding the story. My hunch is that the songs and stage business was developed together, so that what we really have is a multi-media work for which the music seems set adrift in the absence of the settings and dances on the stage.

I'm tempted to say that `U' suffers a bit from the unevenness between the talents of Williamson and Heron. `Tommy' was the creation almost exclusively of Pete Townsend and The Who was his instrument on which he played out his songs and story. `U' writing is split pretty evenly between Williamson and Heron, who have some distinct differences in their styles, but I really don't feel any drop in quality when moving from a Williamson to a Heron piece. In fact, in a revue, some variety in style is a good thing.

Another point of difference between `Tommy' and `U' is that `U' has no great singles, while `Tommy' has given us at least two indelible memories of `Pinball Wizard' and `I'm Free'. Not that any `TISB' tunes made a general splash, there are certainly some memorable lyrics from previous albums which always come to mind when I return to them, as I do about once a year when I go on a TISB listening marathon.

I will say that the level of energy demonstrated in the recording makes me wish I could see the stage performance. But, I suspect that is lost to posterity.

If you are a new to The Incredible String Band or this album has simply escaped your attention, I recommend it as a good source of more enjoyable TISB listening, especially with the original four, including the two ladies, Rose Simpson and Licorice McKechnie. They aren't exactly Jacqui McShee, but they are sweet sounding nonetheless.
Everything Is Fine
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Everything Is Fine
    Incredible String Band
    Manufacturer: Dream Catcher UK
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
    Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
    Progressive RockProgressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
    Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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    1. Across the Airwaves: BBC Radio Recordings 1969-1974
    2. Traveling Wilburys (2CD/1DVD, Deluxe Edition)

    ASIN: B000OPPZSS
    Release Date: 2007-06-25

    Tracks:

    1. Everything's Fine Right Now
    2. Ducks On A Pond
    3. Log Cabin Home In The Sky
    4. Maker Of Islands
    5. Banjo Tune
    6. Painting Box
    7. Empty Pocket Blues
    8. You Know What You Could Be
    9. Cousin Caterpillar
    10. This Moment
    11. How Happy I Am
    12. The Hedgehog's Song
    13. The Water Song
    14. Chinese White
    15. Douglas Traherne Harding
    16. Medley Of Fiddle & Pipe Tune: Cuckold Amry/Because He Was A Bonnie Lad
    17. Worlds They Rise And Fall
    18. A Very Cellular Song
    19. Black Jack Davy

    Album Description

    One of the most engaging groups to emerge from the esoteric '60s was the Incredible String Band. Basically the duo of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, its sound was comprised of haunting Celtic folk melodies augmented by a variety of Middle Eastern and Asian instruments Recorded live at The Lowry, Salford Quay, 27th September 2003

    Album Details

    One of the Most Engaging Groups to Emerge from the Esoteric '60s was the Incredible String Band. Basically the Duo of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson, Its Sound was Comprised of Haunting Celtic Folk Melodies Augmented by a Variety of Middle Eastern and Asian Instruments.
    Changing Horses / I Looked Up
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Very musical
    • Begging To Differ . . .
    • It really starts with Blackjack Davey!
    		 Changing Horses / I Looked Up
    Incredible String Band
    Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
    British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
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    1. Wee Tam / Big Huge
    2. 5000 Spirits / Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
    3. Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air
    4. U
    5. Earthspan/No Ruinous Feud

    ASIN: B00006BC51
    Release Date: 2002-09-10

    Tracks:

    1. Big Ted
    2. White Bird
    3. Dust Be Diamonds
    4. Sleepers, Awake!
    5. Mr. & Mrs.
    6. Creation

    Tracks:

    1. Black Jack Davy
    2. The Letter
    3. Pictures In A Mirror
    4. This Moment
    5. When You Find Out Who You Are
    6. Fair As You

    Product Description

    Disc 1: Changing Horses:
    1. Big Ted
    2. White Bird
    3. Dust Be Diamonds
    4. Sleepers Awake
    5. Mr. & Mrs.
    6. Creation

    Disc 2: I Looked Up:
    1. Black Jack Davey
    2. Letter
    3. Pictures In A Mirror
    4. This Moment
    5. When You Find Out Who You Are
    6. Fair As You


    Format: CD

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Very musical.......2006-06-24

    Hopefully those who get these two CDs in a single set will be able to appreciate this music without worrying much about which song is on which CD. I am used to hearing some of these songs at the end of a 2-record set called `Relics of the Incredible String Band.' "This Moment" seemed like the perfect ending for that attempt to capture the joys of existence in songs. "I just want to tell each one of you that each note, it is different from any before it, each note, it is different, it's now." Getting more songs after that is like Richard Brautigan trying to come up with 186,000 endings per second for the novel A CONFEDERATE GENERAL FROM BIG SUR. "Fair As You" is a nice, soft, flutey ending, stating the impossibility of having a song which is as fair as you. The eleven minutes penultimately placed between those two songs provides the sentimental message, "`When You Find Out Who You Are' beautiful beyond your dreams." I think that message is sentimental, but my mood might be influenced as much by the spirit in which these songs are sung and float in my memory. Some of their themes might make you feel like you are in church, and if you like `Sleepers, Awake!' you should probably get up on Sunday mornings and see how the church choir is doing. Modern peer to peer filesharing habits are like the chorus of `Dust Be Diamonds:' "buy for a million and sell for a dime." These are the songs by the Incredible String Band that I heard first, because I did not discover the group until 1970, and everyone I knew then was moving so much, no one had a complete collection of anything. If you never heard the Incredible String Band, starting with this set might be good enough so you'll never forget them.

    4 out of 5 stars Begging To Differ . . ........2004-12-31

    I have just read the other review for this item and, sometime after the fact, thought I would put a completely opposite point of view. While I Looked Up is okay, and nothing more (neck and neck with No Ruinous Feud in the Least Enjoyable ISB Album Stakes), Changing Horses is a near masterpiece that pays repeated listening. It is obviously not in the same league as such monumental classics as Wee Tam & The Big Huge, Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, etc., but that does not diminish its plus points:
    1. Big Ted: whimsical, amusing, take it on its own terms and be entertained.
    2. White Bird: a prolonged joy. Not as rambling and unfocused as it seems if the original Indian music is listened to. Sheer beauty. So uplifting it's almost painful!
    3. Dust Be Diamonds: more whimsy, slight but still enjoyable.
    4. Sleepers, Awake!: I just love this song.
    5. Mr. and Mrs.: the low point of the album but not as low as some critics would have you believe. Quite tolerable.
    6. Creation: possibly Robin Williamson's finest ISB related hour. A masterwork without a doubt!

    4 out of 5 stars It really starts with Blackjack Davey!.......2002-11-22

    SO GLAD to see the Incredible String Band CDs released again! The only potential drawback is nabbing two ISB albums, not always on the same level.

    As much as I love The Incredible String Band, "Changing Horses" is one of those releases that I spun over and over, and each time it left me flat. While I wouldn't call it horrible music, it comes off as a long studio session in need of some quality editing. Songs like "Dust Be Diamonds" and "White Bird" ring like songs that start off with promise but wind up with nowhere to go.

    "I Looked Up," on the other hand, is prime ISB! Blackjack Davey is an upbeat ballad that will spin through your head after just one sampling. On the other end of the mood spectrum, "Pictures In a Mirror," is the chilling narrative of Lord Randall awaiting and experiencing his execution in a hallowed jail. This is the perfect song to play to a room full of friends (friends who, preferably, are unfamiliar with the Incredible String Band!) during a late night blackout (a thunderstorm outside outside helps too!) I've tried it, and it creeps out my compadres without fail!

    "I Looked Up" is a solid album all around. If you are new to The Incredible String Band, and want to pick up the best of these double-CD compilations, I recommend "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter/5000 Spirits" combo.

    Despite my lackluster opinion of "Changing Horses," this CD is worth the price for "I Looked Up" alone. And, in all fairness, The Incredible String Band went through a lot of phases; some fans like their earlier releases, some prefer the later albums that introduced electrical instruments into the band's repetoire. This combo is a good dose of two sounds of ISB. Who knows, maybe you will find something hep in "Changing Horses" that escaped me?
    The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • This does nothing for me
    • A ONE-OF-A-KIND GROUP
    • The definitive TISB album. Buy It!!
    • Adorable
    • haunted
    		 The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
    The Incredible String Band
    Manufacturer: Hannibal
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    1. The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
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    5. The United States of America

    ASIN: B000000645
    Release Date: 1994-05-16

    Tracks:

    1. Koeeoaddi There
    2. Minotaur's Song
    3. Witches Hat
    4. Very Cellular Song
    5. Mercy I Cry City
    6. Waltz of the New Moon
    7. Water Song
    8. Three Is a Green Crown
    9. Swift as the Wind
    10. Nightfall

    Amazon.com

    Credited with being the first artists to fuse folk and psychedelic sensibilities, the Incredible String Band benefited from having two very complementary frontmen. Robin Williamson and Mike Heron were also extremely versatile musicians, as this, their third album, indicates: he two of them play 17 instruments here, including harpsichord, water harp, sitar, and oud. While Hangman's is a fascinating record dense with exotic rhythms and instrumentation, it also suffers in spots from the airy excesses of its creators. --Steven Stolder

    Album Description

    Credited with being the first artists to fuse folk and psychedelic sensibilities, the Incredible String Band benefited from having two very complementary frontmen Robin Williamson and Mike Heron. Includes the songs 'Witches Hat' and 'A Very Cellular Song'. Warner. 2006.

    Customer Reviews:

    2 out of 5 stars This does nothing for me.......2006-09-16

    In the world of English folk, this is supposed to be a landmark album. I like Steleye Span, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake and the Strawbs but I do not like this. It is too weird and has nothing in common with conventional popular music.

    This is way too English, way too folkie (in a middle ages/minstrel way!) and not aligned with any aspect of conventional rock and roll. I listened to it once, put it away and have not touched it in 5 years.

    You know when you go to one of those "Renaissance fairs", drink and have a great time. This is for the eccentric people that act in the Renaissance fairs.

    4 out of 5 stars A ONE-OF-A-KIND GROUP.......2006-06-24

    Although this is not my very favorite ISB album, Hermester Barrington has described in his review of this CD, and in a delightfully creative way, the music contained in the entire Incredible String Band catalog. This may indeed be one of the best in an unbroken string of fabulous works, but I believe that each Incredible String Band lover's sentimental favorite is whichever album they heard first (my first exposure was to WEE TAM & THE BIG HUGE; it remains an all-time favorite, rivaled only by the band's later, very different album, LIQUID ACROBAT AS REGARDS THE AIR). Reading the other reviews of THE HANGMAN'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, I can only nod my head in agreement with most of what has been said. This album IS one of the definitive ones, but I should add that it is but one stop on a long, artistically successful journey that includes virtually no aberrations, and which is rich with unexpected twists and turns on and off an unpaved path. No other group of artists has been more independent of trends, fads or commercial considerations. Although the group might be lumped in with Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention and Pentangle, if it must be categorized, it is really almost an entire genre unto itself, with the aforementioned groups, as great as they are, much more conventional in both material and musical approach. Even when ISB made later forays into rock, pop and country, they did so, it seems, only to expand their palette of colors, growing and developing according to their own peculiar and beautiful vision. HARD ROPE & SILKEN TWINE, in my opinion, is at least as good as their self-titled debut recording (I actually like the later one much better; and come to think of it, the first record may be their weakest) and we are talking several years separating the two. I would not necessarily recommend HANGMAN as a place to start for beginners, as it is one of ISB's most musically and lyrically challenging efforts, but I could easily be wrong, as other reviewers fell in love with the band because they first heard this record...

    5 out of 5 stars The definitive TISB album. Buy It!!.......2005-06-02

    `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' (Daughter) by The Incredible String Band (TISB) is the album which established my affection for their music. I first became aware of the act with a newspaper review of `The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' (5000 Spirits) which compared the album favorably to `Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. See my review of this album for my full assessment of this album, but rest assured I do not agree that this album is in the same league as one of the most important music albums of the 1960's.

    `The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion' and that review was strong enough for me to look out for the TISB's next album (this one) and I was appropriately rewarded when I first heard this work on vinyl about 35 years ago. For starters, it simply hangs together much better than the earlier album. `5000 Spirits' seems to be just a collection of imaginative songs, most of that are probably considered `novelty songs'. `Daughter' is tied together by several parallel themes, the most important of which is linked to the album title and consists of stories admonitions, and entertainment's for an adolescent girl. The second theme running though most of the songs is the classic ancient elements of earth, air, fire, and water.

    Many of the songs on `Daughter' still have the novelty flavor about them, but are ennobled by their role as children's entertainment. The centerpiece `entertainment' is the song I committed to memory way back then, `The Minotaur's Song', which is a classic TISB blend of myth and (Gilbert and Sullivan) parody, including references to `the earth', in keeping with the four elements theme. If it were not for the reference to Gilbert and Sullivan and the song based on microbiology (`A Very Cellular Song'), one can almost imaging these songs being written by traveling minstrels out in the hinterlands in a squire's manor house before the advent of either gas or electric light.

    In fact, one theme which seems to run through much of the TISB work is the notion of homemade entertainment, based on the beatnik / hippie culture of 1960s.

    The Incredible String Band does much that is very good in later albums, but this is the one I always think of first when I come back to listening to them about once every year. This is the album that captures their style, subjects, and themes much better than the highly praised earlier album.

    If you are roaming around recordings of obscure 1960's Scottish performers, this is the album to try if you have an interest in The Incredible String Band!

    5 out of 5 stars Adorable.......2005-01-12

    They don't make them like this anymore! 'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' is a great 60's album filled with a creative openness, authentic feeling and an unrestrained experimentation.

    The opening track 'Koeeoaddi There' encapsulates all of these qualities. Williamson tells an evocative tale of childhood, backed with melodic, inventive chord and tempo changes. 'The Minotour's Song' is a startling contrast of music hall and greek mtyhological lyrics, highlighting the ISB's influences. 'Witch's Hat' has a beautiful folk melody, again the song structure packed with incident. Mike Heron's 'A Very Cellular Song' begins as an old gospel hymn before it travels the world in its wonderful array of instruments, an early bridge between western music and world music in general. Heron's Dylanesque 'Mercy I Cry City' is a poetic rant against the unnatural prison of the urban landscape. 'Waltz Of The New Moon' harks back again to the Romantic poets in its ode to the wonders of the natural landscape. Here the harp sound is at once lilting and glorious. Like 'A Very Cellular Song', 'The Water Song' sings a hymn to the evolutionary power of the natural world using strange and unusual instruments to create the onomatopoeic sounds of water. The most Eastern-tinged of the tracks on the album is 'There Is A Green Crown' telling another tale of natural wonder that I can't help thinking would be frowned upon and scorned in today's irony-laden culture. On 'Swift As The Wind' Heron tells of how the grown-ups around him tried to make him give up his childhood imagination, something that has obviously remained with him throughout his musical career.

    Williamson's 'Nightfall' closes this adorable album mixing Eastern sounds with the American south, prefiguring Ry Cooder by a number of years.

    5 out of 5 stars haunted.......2004-12-28

    This album has haunetd me for 35 years. If your mind is open you will be rejoicing..if its not been opened do not pass this offering.
    Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • includes some jigs on fiddle, whistle, and spoons,
    		Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending/Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air
    The Incredible String Band
    Manufacturer: Beat Goes On
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
    Folk RockFolk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
    Psychedelic RockPsychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
    FolkFolk | Imports | Stores | Music
    Similar Items:
    1. Changing Horses / I Looked Up
    2. Earthspan/No Ruinous Feud
    3. U
    4. Wee Tam / Big Huge
    5. 5000 Spirits / Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

    ASIN: B0001ZXMKE
    Release Date: 2004-06-14

    Tracks:

    1. Come With Me
    2. All Writ Down
    3. Veshengro
    4. See All the People
    5. Waiting for You
    6. Song Has No Ending

    Tracks:

    1. Talking Of the End
    2. Dear Old Battlefield
    3. Cosmic Boy
    4. Worlds They Rise and Fall
    5. Evolution Rag
    6. Painted Chariot
    7. Adam and Eve
    8. Red Hair
    9. Here Till Here Is There
    10. Tree
    11. Jigs: Eyes Like Leaves/Sunday Is My Wedding Day/Drops of ...
    12. Darling Belle

    Album Description

    UK twofer combines two of the British folk-rock band's 70s albums, 'Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending' (1970) & 'Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air' (1971). BGO. 2004.

    Album Details

    Digitally Remastered Edition of Two Orignal Albums on a Single CD of their First Two Island Records Albums from the Early 1970s.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars includes some jigs on fiddle, whistle, and spoons, .......2007-02-19

    I have found the text for songs contained in the film `Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending.' A two-CD set from The Incredible String Band contains the music from the film on Disc One and `Liquid Acrobat As Regards the Air' on Disc Two. There are no words listed as the text for the song `See All the People,' recorded March 1968, Royal Festival Hall. When I was watching the film, I thought the song would be called "Ha," because I had no idea what song it was until one of the guys started to sing "Ha" and the other joined in and they certainly didn't think of anything to say after that.

    When I was listening to the film, I could make out the meaning of some of the phrases, but the complicated sentence structure of some verses escaped me. Looking at the text now, songs make sense in a way that flipflops around the basic ideas I picked up before. The second song, `All Writ Down,' by Mike Heron, is about some memory:

    I fully understood
    That you'd leave when your ship came by
    And I fully understood
    You had a purpose more high
    Than to give a little schoolboy
    To give a little schoolboy his first love
    But oh did I cry, and did I cry
    For I thought that those days would just fade and die
    But every cell in my body had it all writ down
    Every smile and every frown
    And oh those good-time girls, oh those good-time girls
    That book ft sometimes makes me glad
    That book ft sometimes makes me sad
    But oh - it don't read bad

    I cursed you to your face when you turned to go
    But I see now that you did just right
    And I bow to you low
    For you gave a little schoolboy
    You gave a little schoolboy his first love...

    According to CD liner notes by Alan Robinson dated February 2004, the song `Veshengro' by Robin Williamson mentions "Jali Uddin Rumi, a Sufi poet and mystic who founded the whirling dervish order in Konya, Turkey" in the line "I wore the coat of patches with Jalal beneath the stars."

    The text of `Waiting for You' is long, with the line "Waiting for the world to begin" in three places and some attempts at humor.

    I'm a turnip head, I'm a lately wed
    And I'm waiting for you
    More tea vicar? (Hold that tiger)
    ...
    I'm waiting for God to take a holiday.

    I bought these CDs in 2006 and mainly listened to Disc Two when I wanted to hear `Cosmic Boy,' which Likky sings while Mike Heron plays piano. "You look so high, and I shall dance for you, the sweetest dance that I can do" is the way it sounds. The other songs are more complicated. The `Evolution Rag' has a narrative in "the illusionist the circus man" style which makes "Evolution up the slopes of the sea" "While a million years pass by And we get on our way" as much explanation as we get.
    Liquid Acrobat As Regards the Air
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A Diamond Among Jewels, Fishmen & Sea Apes
    • Two glitches
    • best album ever
    • Superior Sound Indeed
    		 Liquid Acrobat As Regards the Air
    Incredible String Band
    Manufacturer: Sepia Tone
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    British FolkBritish Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Folk | Styles | Music
    Traditional FolkTraditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
    Similar Items:
    1. The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion
    2. Earthspan/No Ruinous Feud
    3. U
    4. Wee Tam / Big Huge
    5. Changing Horses / I Looked Up

    ASIN: B000069CLF
    Release Date: 2002-09-03

    Tracks:

    1. Talking Of The End
    2. Dear Old Battlefield
    3. Cosmic Boy
    4. Worlds They Rise And Fall
    5. Evolution Rag
    6. Painted Chariot
    7. Adam And Eve
    8. Red Hair
    9. Here Till Here Is There
    10. Tree
    11. Jigs: Eyes Like Leaves/Sunday Is My Wedding Day/Drops Of Whiskey/Grumbling Old Men
    12. Darling Belle

    Album Description

    Full title - Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air. First studio album for Island in 1971 reissued for the first time in USA on CD. Remastered with sound quality superior to previous Euro release. Lyrics included. 2002.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A Diamond Among Jewels, Fishmen & Sea Apes.......2006-06-28

    All of the Incredible String Band albums have something to offer, and many of them are total masterpieces. My first exposure was to WEE TAM & THE BIG HUGE, which remained my favorite until this one came out. LIQUID ACROBAT is aptly titled, as it positively drips with drama, atmosphere, and musical daring-do. Some moments are beautiful, others border on grating, and some of the songs are really funny, but all of this comes together as one marvelous, trippy, fantastical tour de force. "Darling Belle" is a crowning achievement of storytelling in song that knows no parallel, except maybe on another ISB album, EARTHSPAN (the much shorter song, "The Actor"). I have listened to "Darling Belle" countless times and have never gotten tired of it, but then, I often put this record/Cd away for months and even years, because I never want to become bored with it ... and I always return to it eventually. I suppose my love of "Darling Belle" relates to my theater background and my love of movies, because it conjures up such vivid images of a time long before I was born, both through the lyrics and the haunting music. Whether the group is rocking ("Talking Of The End," "Dear Old Battlefield"), spacing out ("Worlds They Rise And Fall"), waxing acoustic ("Tree"), or pulling legs ("Adam & Eve," "Evolution Rag"), this music is as fresh and inventive today as when it was new.

    4 out of 5 stars Two glitches.......2003-06-12

    Very sad. Tracks 7 and 12 have quite obvious glitches, the first a squiggle, the second some static. Just two spots that I can tell, but unforgiveable on an otherwise fantastic album.

    5 out of 5 stars best album ever.......2002-10-20

    best album by anyone anywhere, ever. period.

    5 out of 5 stars Superior Sound Indeed.......2002-09-23

    This sounds much, much better than the previous CD issue, spectacularly so in many places: on "Here Till Here Is There," Robin and Likky sound like they're singing live in your living room. The music is superb, one of the last great ISB albums, ranging from delicate folk to full-out rock, culminating in the masterpiece "Darling Belle." (Only "Adam and Eve" displeases, though it shows ISB were one of the first white bands to embrace reggae: always ahead of their time.) You can't go wrong with this one.

    Music Review:

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    8. Two Of A Kind:Groovemasters Vol. 8
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