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:
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