In 1963, a chap called Archie Fisher was running a Tuesday night folk club at the Crown Bar in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was there that Robin Williamson first met Clive Palmer. Before the end of the year they had officially become a duo, playing bluegrass and music hall type stuff. That year I started junior school and formed romantic liaisons with Hazel, Heidi and Lydia.
Mike Heron, who like Robin had been born in Edinburgh, was at this time a trainee accountant, but played electric guitar with a series of beat groups in the evenings. He saw Robin and Clive at the Crown frequently, and realised that as he was now becoming something of a songwriter, the folk idiom might be more suited to him.
In 1965 Robin and Clive decided to recruit a rhythm guitarist to fill the sound up a bit, and Mike Heron got the job. His own compositions now got added into the slightly odd mix which had developed. The group now being a trio, Clive christened them the Incredible String Band.
In about March 1966 (51 years ago!), a chap called Ian Ferguson, who was a very close friend of Clive, started a folk club in Glasgow, Scotland which went by the name of “Clive’s Incredible Folk Club”. I was coming to the end of my third year of junior school, having been at the start of that academic year a founder member of a brand new school called Hallam Junior School. The official colour of the school uniform was Royal Blue, and I had fallen madly in love with a fellow pupil called Julia.
Joe Boyd, who had been a fan of Robin and Clive, returned to Scotland to discover this fantastic trio, and got them a recording contract to make an LP!
Listentomusicanywhere's Blog 
Comments