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Incredible String Band – “U” 6

June 25, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

The Incredible String Band.

Side 4 has just 3 tracks, all of which are completely different, and all of which are absolutely brilliant.

Track 1 is “Cutting The Strings” (5.03 minutes). It is a typically weird Williamson composition with a really eerie start, but goes on to be quite rousing. It is one of the most cheering and uplifting songs I have ever heard, oddly enough. Robin sings lead and plays guitar, mandolin, gimbri, fiddle and flute. Licorice provides backing vocals and Mike plays sitar.

Track 2 is “I Know You” (3.22 minutes). Uniquely it is a Licorice compostion, her surname being McKechnie. She is the solo contributor to the song, singing and playing guitar. It is a hauntingly beautiful thing, and utterly unlike anything ever recorded by anyone else.

Track 3 is a truly magnificent cadence to the album, an epic song called “Rainbow” (15.22 minutes!). It is a Heron compostion, and an absolute masterpiece. Mike does lead vocal and plays piano, organ, guitar and bass. Robin does the backing vocals and plays drums, soondri, fiddle, flute and mandolin. Licorice also provides backing vocals and drums. Rose also provides backing vocals and bass. It really is a huge joint enterprise, and not just by the band. Mal and Malcom, members of the dance group Stone Monkey, join in with more backing vocals. It comprises many different sections, ranging inter alia through rock’n’roll, gospel, folk, jazz and ballad. It is sheer joy and ecstasy from beginning to end.

There are some credits at the foot of the back cover:

“Sleeve photography by Francis Loney, Phil Franks, Jon Bloom / Sleeve design by Bob Heimall: co-ordination Graphreaks / Costumes by Jane Mock of Skin, Los Angeles / Front Cover painting and set design by Janet Shankman / Dances by Stone Monkey / Engineering by John Wood / Produced by Joe Boyd, Witchseason Productions Ltd. / Manufactured by Polydor Records Ltd., London / Sleeve made by MacNeill Press Ltd., London, S.E.1.”

And in closing on “U”, this is the right side of the inside of the cover:

On any view of the matter, this “surreal parable in song and dance” is monumental in the truest sense of the word.

21 June 2020

June 21, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Ah, and once more the nights start drawing in again.

In memory of Tim Hart deceased.

Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here” (3)

June 13, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

Pink Floyd.

Track 2 on Side 2 is the Title Track “Wish You Were Here”. It is a genuinely sentimental song, a Waters/Gilmour composition, and really classic Pink Floyd. It is soft and gentle, and these lyrics give you a feel for the ambience of the track:

“We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,

Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears.”

The LP ends with Track 3 on Side 2, which comprises Parts 6-9 of the main track on the album, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”. It will be remembered that this LP is a tribute to Syd Barrett. The lyrics are sparse, and I set them out in full here, as they well deserve:

“Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far. Shine on you crazy diamond.

Pile on many layers and I’ll be joining you there. Shine on you crazy diamond.

And we’ll bask in the shadow of yesterday’s triumph, and sail on the steel breeze.

Come on you boy child, you winner and loser, come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine!”

This is a paper disc enclosed with the packaging:

Next Pink Floyd time, we start on the third and final LP in the classic trilogy, “Animals” which really does constitute the zenith of this fantastic band’s existence. This is not to say that the other stuff isn’t good; on the contrary, the precedents are in some ways better, and there were a few very good bits later. But when anyone thinks about Pink Floyd now, who knows the whole catalogue, these three epitomise what Pink Floyd contributed to music.

Incredible String Band – “U” 5

May 21, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

The Incredible String Band.

This is a post very special indeed to me, as it starts by talking about Track 5, the final track, on Side 3. This is a Williamson composition called “Puppet Song”, lasting 6.15 minutes, on which Robin is the sole performer, singing and playing guitar. It is very special to me, as it was the first ISB track I ever heard. I can’t quite remember exactly when this happened, but it was certainly a radio broadcast, and for some reason I always associate it with a meeting at the curate’s house. I don’t think that’s where I heard it; rather, I think I was discussing it there with a chap some years older than I was, who was an ISB fan. The song has a remarkable opening, with the words more spoken than sung; and these are the words: “Now you may have observed, that if you walk into a wall, you get a certain sensation of reality.” The song goes on to tell the tale of a “little man” who sets out to find the meaning of life. He starts with his spouse:

“So he asked his wife about it, and his wife said yes

Come back and see me if it’s time to know less

You do too much aquestioning of the world at large

Everybody knows the politician’s in charge.”

This is a truly brilliant, lilting song, and I was immediately hooked. It ends up with the little man asking God about it. But the lyrics and tunes are just fantastic. These are a few of the words:

At the “Kinghouse” he sees the Politician:

“He had false pretendies, I had to love his style

Bound to make some havoc with that violin smile”

And on his way up to heaven, or rather just before, the “narrator” sings:

“Oh the past is something, we all have some

Universal history is a bundle of fun”

I hope this gives a true feel for this wonderful song

This is a close up of the price label. I referred to the error on it in my first post on this record. If I had bought it 7 weeks after I did, it would have cost me ten shillings/50 new pence more!

Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here” (2)

May 13, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

Pink Floyd.

There are effectively three songs on Side 2 of the LP, the first of which is a Waters’ composition called “Have a Cigar”. This neatly follows the previous track, the last one on Side 1, “Welcome To The Machine” [see last Pink Floyd post], in that it is very much about the world of the music business, at least as it was in 1967 when the band came into existence. However, it is a much more relaxed number than its predecessor, and again it is classic stuff. To provide a feel for the ambience of this one, here is a short extract from the lyrics:

“The band is just fantastic, that’s what I think. Oh by the way which one’s Pink?”

This is the back cover of the outer sleeve:

Incredible String Band – “U” 4

April 4, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

The Incredible String Band.

Track 2 on Side 3 is an instrumental called “Astral Plane Theme” (4.55 minutes). It is a Williamson composition, and he is the sole performer on it, playing one instrument only, guitar. This is a truly remarkable tour de force. It encompasses a huge variety of different styles, including bursts of flamenco, and is delivered with perfect precision and timing. It would have required a great deal of effort on Robin’s part to produce this, and it is indeed a minor masterpiece.

Track 3 is another Williamson composition, a dirge-like chant called “Invocation” (4.48 minutes). The credits are unique: ” Robin, with thanks to Greg Heat’s voice sitar”. Robin does sing the whole thing solo, to the positively eerie accompaniment of this “voice sitar”. It is an extraordinary piece, featuring the often repeated refrain “Aid me, and I will aid you”.

Track 4 is another Williamson composition, a truly brilliant thing called “Robot Blues” (4.02 minutes), and it really does what is says on the tin. Robin performs this entirely on his own, singing along to a classic 12 bar blues tune which he plays on the piano. It is well worth setting out some of the lyrics of this one:

“Down in Robot City, you might think it’s play play play

But a Number 5 Robot he must work in all the night and day

Number 1 come by me, he give my work to me

Oil the flowers, fix the showers, clean the electronic trees

Shine the light, fix it right, now listen carefully

Don’t you go romancing with that pretty Number Three

[Chorus, which I’ll set out at the end]

When I see that Number 3 I get charge all in my dial

When I see that Number 3 my piston fills with oil

You know what I’m talking about

But she likes that Number 1 because he’s rich with all my toil toil toil

That Number 3 she charm the heart of any robot man

Moving her body like an old tin can

If I could get my claws on her I would lubricate her free

I’ve got a perfect action why won’t she play with me

[Chorus]

Well I think I’ll get a ray gun

I will see what that will do

I think I’ll get a ray gun

I think I’ll get a ZZ Special Q

I will blast the Number 1’s gaskets

and his coils I will refuse to renew

He seen me coming, sneak up from behind

switched off my ignition and he left me stone blind

I could not see to blast him

here’s the ending of my tale

He went off with Number 3 and I cursed to no avail

[and the song ends with the

Chorus:

and that’s why why I got the Robot Blues

Down in my heart compartment

Down in my old magnetic sole shoes”

Side 3 ends with Track 5, but I’ll leave that until the next ISB post; it’s called “Puppet Song” and as I noted in my first “U” post, it is a very special track to me.

This is the left side of the inside of the album cover:

Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here” (1)

March 7, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

Pink Floyd.

This LP is a thinly veiled tribute to the late Syd Barrett, who was still very much alive when the record was being made, and indeed sat in on some of the recording sessions. He was the main man in the original line up, which only made one and a bit LPs [see above].

Side 1 is almost wholly taken up with Parts 1 – 5 of the main theme, a piece called “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (Parts 6 -9 appearing on Side 2). It is a truly excellent and varied masterpiece, much of which is instrumental, but the sparse lyrics are very accurate, e.g. “You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon” and ” You wore out your welcome with random precision, rode on the steel breeze. Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper*, you prisoner, and shine!” (*The first Pink Floyd LP was “Piper At The Gates of Dawn” – see above).

Side 1 ends with the second and final track “Welcome To The Machine” which does what is says on the tin, with lots of menacing whirring mechanical sounds throughout. It is of course much shorter than the main theme, but it is still classic Pink Floyd, and a worthy part of this wonderful trilogy comprising this album and the ones immediately before and after it.

This is the startling front cover:

No words at all appear on the outside cover, except on the spine.

Incredible String Band – “U” 3

February 23, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

The Incredible String Band.

As was noted in the last ISB post, this is a remarkably long album, and almost certainly the “best value” full price album I have ever bought.

Anyway, we now get to Side 2, which kicks off with a brilliant instrumental called “Partial Belated Overture” (2.54 minutes), composed by Mike, who plays piano and [electric] guitar. Robin plays shanai and fiddle, and Rose plays bass. This is fantastic, urgent rocker, in the inimitable ISB style, and sheer ecstasy to hear.

Track 2 is another Heron composition, which expressly combines two very different songs in one, called “Light in Time of Darkness/Glad to See You” (10.18 [!] minutes. The first is a soft, slow romantic dirge, being abut four times longer than the latter, which is a piano rocker with vocals which are at times almost screamed. Mike sings solo vocals throughout, and Rose plays bass.

Track 3 is another Heron composition called “Walking Along With You” (3.58 minutes). It does indeed have an ambulatory feel to it, with Rose and Mike sharing the vocals, mostly in sweet harmony, with Mike paying guitar and Robin bass. it is an exceptionally pleasant and soothing song to listen to.

Track 4 is a Heron romp called “Hiram Pawnitof/Fairies’ Hornpipe (6.27 minutes). He wrote the song, but the instrumental part at the end is credited as Traditional. He plays guitar and mandolin and does solo vocals throuhout, Robin fiddle, Licorice spoons, and Rose bass.

The Side ends with another short Heron composed instrumental called “Bridge Theme” (2.15 minutes) (and which title is clearly intended as a link to the next track, Track 1 on Side 3). This is much more laid back than Track 1, and sounds a bit like the theme music for a 1930s film. Mike plays [electric] guitar, Robin shanai and soondri, Licorice drums, and Rose bass.

It will be observed, therfore, that Side 2 is very much a “Heron sandwich”, with the short instrumentals composed by him as the “slices of bread”.

Side 3 opens with yet another Heron composition called “Bridge Song” (8.45 minutes) [see what I mean?]. This is a lovely, deeply thoughtful and profound song, described as a conversation between “Beautiful Girl” and “Seeker”.

The album comes with a sheet with all the lyrics on. This shows it with the words for this song:

Pink Floyd – “The Dark Side Of The Moon” (3)

January 15, 2020 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

Pink Floyd.

The second side is one long track. It really is impossible on the LP (but not of course the CD) to determine exactly where one track ends and the next begins, except of course for the start of the first track and the end of the last one. There is also a lot of that mumbling I mentioned earlier, but I now see that all this adds to the general brilliance of the album.

Track 1 is “Money”, arguably the best known of any Pink Floyd track, not least because it is still played in quite respectable financial advice programmes on the TV and radio. It kicks off with what can be best described as a cacophony of cash registers. Oddly, there is now something nostalgic about this, as they aren’t around any more; electronic tills have replaced them. It has three verses, the second and third being separated by a lengthy instrumental break, dominated by some upbeat jazzy saxophone playing by one Dick Parry. As with the soul singing on Side 1, to my teenage ears this was another great betrayal of all that the band stood for. Now I see it as an essential element of the masterpiece which this album comprises. It is a Waters composition which elides seamlessly into another one.

This is Track 2, “Us and Them”, and is classic Pink Floyd. It is the only other track on the LP to feature Dick Parry’s saxophone, but here it is much more subdued, and actually quite tasteful. This becomes Track 3, an instrumental called “Any Colour You Like”, which in turn becomes Track 4. This is “Brain Damage”, another Waters song, being notable for quoting the album title twice. This is the second one, which features in the last verse of the song:

“And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear

You shout and no one seems to hear

And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes

I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

This slides into the final track, Track 5, another Waters song called “Eclipse”. It is brilliant wistful cadence to this magnificent album.

A few posts ago I include a Melody Maker article from 24 November 1973, some 8 months after the release of the LP. This was the photo that accompanied the article:

Incredible String Band – “U” 2

December 29, 2019 · by listentomusicanywhere

Pink Floyd and The Incredible String Band.

The Incredible String Band.

This was one of the first full price albums I ever bought, the third I think after “Liege & Lief” by Fairport Convention and “Alchemy” by the Third Ear Band, and I bought it almost exactly 49 years ago, after Christmas 1970 but before New Year’s Day 1971.

I had heard the track “Puppet Song” on the radio, the first Incredible String Band music I had ever heard, and was immediately entranced by it.

The double album carries a subtitle or description: ” A surreal parable in song and dance concept by Incredible String Band and Stone Monkey”. It remains one of my favourite albums of all time, and is a very close second favourite ISB album after “Wee Tam and The Big Huge” [see above!!!].

Side 1 opens with a brilliant acoustic instrumental called “El Wool Suite” lasting an astonishing 9.02 minutes. Mike plays sitar, Robin gimbri, flute and clay drums, and Rose table and guitar. Every second of this is pure bliss.

There follow a couple of short typically comic/dark stuff short Robin songs. Track 2 is “The Juggler’s Song” (3.05 minutes) and 3 is “Time” (3.57 minutes). He is solo on the latter, providing vocal, 12 string guitar and mandolin. On the former he is joined by Licorice on vocal and plays guitar, bass and mandolin.

Track 4 is an extraordinary mock country and western song sung by a lady called Janet Shankman titled “Bad Sadie Lee”, lasting 3.52 minutes. Mike plays piano and adds backing vocals, Robin plays fiddle, Jew’s harp and washboard, both the girls provide backing vocals, and a chap named Peter Grant plays banjo. It is the most “wall of sound” track ever produced under the ISB banner.

Side 1 ends with a beautiful, soft, romantic, and very slightly pornographic epic called “Queen of Love”, coming in at 8.37 minutes. It is another Robin song where he sings the solo vocal and plays guitar and bass, and Janet Shankman plays harpsichord. Uniquely, I think, for an ISB track, this one also has a credit for the arrangement, going to one Tom Constanten.

It can now be observed that side 1 lasts an amazing 29 minutes, which is typical of all the 4 sides of the album. This was great value for money!

This is the back cover:

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