The Incredible String Band
Psychedelic Folk's First Citizens and Pioneers of World Music
Jun 17, 2007
The Incredible String Band is the greatest band in the history of the universe. At least, that’s what some people (including this writer) say. Others say that they’re one of the hardest to listen to. Either way, they can’t be ignored and, if you’ve not heard them yourself, well you should. You may just find yourself in the first category of committed fans. Here’s a run down of their earliest and best albums.
The Folk Album
The band had its origins in Scotland where Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer played as a duo at Clive’s ‘Incredible Folk Club’ on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street, before being joined by Mike Heron in 1965 to take their name from the club and perform as ‘The Incredible String Band’. Signed by legendary producer Joe Boyd, they released their first, eponymous, album in 1966. It was a success on the folk circuit and contained the first song written by Williamson, ‘October Song’, a powerful piece later described by Bob Dylan as one of his favourites of the period.
The Psychedelic Years
After the first album, the three split to go their various ways, with Williamson heading to Morocco, from where he returned with a variety of North African instruments and a head full of new music.
On Williamson’s return to Scotland, he and Heron got back together and recorded a second album, ‘The Five Thousand Spirits or the Layers of the Onion’ which involved a greater variety of instruments, greater experimentation with their unique vocal harmonies, and produced songs of amazing variety. These included the current Archbishop of Canterbury’s favourite, ‘The Hedgehog Song’ (as stated on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs), and songs such as ‘Chinese White’ and ‘The Mad Hatter’s Song’ which paved the way for long pieces on later albums which would, within the same song, draw on influences as varied as Scottish psalmistry, Indian ragas, Sikh hymns, British music hall, and Appalachian mountain music.
By this time the band were an integral part of London's Summer of Love, playing at Boyd’s UFO Club in London’s Tottenham Court Road and their music was being introduced to wider audiences through being played on John Peel’s ‘Perfumed Garden’ show on Radio London, one of the new breed of pirate radio stations. Joined first by Williamson’s girlfriend, Licorice McKechnie and then by Heron’s, Rose Simpson, a highly successful series of concerts through 1967 and 1968 and the release of, first, ‘The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter’ and then, later in the same year (1968), the double album ‘Wee Tam and the Big Huge’ secured their place as first without equal within the psychedelic folk community. Their use of multiple instruments, including, but not limited to, guitar, violin, organ, whistles, kazoos, gimbris, sitars, tablas and a wide range of other percussion has led to their being dubbed the first ‘world music’ group.
Pantomimes for the Era
In 1969, ‘Changing Horses’ was released, an album that included two of the ISB’s ‘epic’ songs, ‘White Bird’ and ‘Creation’, each approaching 15 minutes and a concert favourite. They also played the Woodstock festival. Always theatrical, performances were notable for long ‘tuning-up’ periods (there were a lot of strings on stage to go out of tune) and Williamson’s bardic tales. In 1970, London’s Round House hosted ‘U’, described as a ‘surreal pantomime’ and the show was taken to the US to tour. The cost of the show could not be met by the ticket income and the scheduled appearances at New York’s Fillmore East were cut short after a few days. The band continued to tour the US, but without the accompanying dance performers.
Famous Fans
The band continued to flourish, and its developments will be the focus of other articles to appear soon. Its influence was profound with rock luminaries such as Paul McCartney calling ‘5000 Spirits’ his favourite album of that most psychedelic of years, 1967, and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin citing the ISB as a major influence both on himself and the development of Led Zep themselves. Bringing these two together with the Archbishop of Canterbury is no mean feat!
Postscript
For a short time, you can hear a live concert by the band from 1970, performed at the Fillmore West on San Francisco at Wolfgang's Vault. Listen while you can!
