Customer Reviews

Changing Horses

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If there ever was something that change my life. It was definily this band. How modest they are to call themselves the Incredible Stringband when in fact they are/were the Incredible innovators of 'my thoughts' in all my early years, that is from the age of 13 well, until now. If anybody had an impact onmy life Robin certainly did. For many years ago, in Copenhagen, I meet licorice in a park, I wasgoing the same evening to a concert with the I.S.B. And there I was..... together with Licorice.. what a thrill... Until this day I remember that day. And the concert was great. There was light everywere and I mean light,because wereever the ISB played, there was light. I love these persons I know that they loved me. If ever you should listen to music, and offcourse you are, DO'NT MISS THIS. I love you but the maker he loves you the best.

This album caused quite a split among the band's fans when it first came out: some saw it as the culmination of the brilliant hippy wierdness developed over previous gems like "Hangmans" and "Wee Tam" - to others it was just boring. What we get are a couple of fairly obvious throwaway songs: "Big Ted" is fun but not much more, "Sleepers Awake" is OK as an unaccompanied piece but not much in comparison to (say) Steeleye Span, and "Mr & Mrs" and "Dust Be Diamonds" are fine but hardly quintessential ISB. The two real contenders here are the long tracks: Mike's brilliant, quirky meditation "White Bird"" (not to be confused with Its a Beautiful Day's song) and Robin's awesome elegy on no less a theme than Creation itself. Both pieces are slow-burning with repetitive dreamlike choruses which either send you into realms of wonder or bore you stupid. Either way, the album is an experience which, on its own terms, has never been equalled. Its either the epitome or the nadir of the String Band depending on which side of the great divide you fall. As for me, I love it and always will, but its flaws are self-evident which is why it loses a star. Great cover (the band in full hippy regalia perched in a tree - they were never lovelier).

This album being a personal favourite, for its extended transcendental meditative trance numbers, White Bird and Creation, only gives you an idea of the ground Robin Williamson and Mike Heron are capable of breaking. Its interesting for me to look back and see how I got turned on. It wasn't immediate acceptance, me being only 21,it was over my head--I wasn't at that level yet. Couple years later, I started to see(mostly for the lively blend/fusion of eastern influence and folk-rock including innovations on the sitar). Williamson's lyrics are beyond reproach from even Bob Dylan as is his completely unique and supplemental singing style--East is as far as music goes. And the Incredible String Band is as far as Eastern goes. I now acclaim Robin Williamson as the greatest music artist(and least acknowledged) perhaps in all of history. Accompanied by Mike Heron, on any of a half a dozen instruments, this is the most farthest reaching experimentation and exploration of the ultimate limit in music. But most people we'll never even come close to "seeing". I'm deeply effended when uncultured/uneducated individuals insult their genious with rude, negative verbal insults and unsubstantiated, uneducated comparisons to the Bealtes who , of course, is probably the only band this person ever heard of(And this sorry excuse for anything claimed to be from and "know" the 60's-don't make me sick. The Beatles never had what these guys do. The comparison to me is ludicrous. Assists from Licorice and Rose are more than just whip creme and a cherry. The Incredible String Band recorded many great albums. Whether or not you listen to them depends on what you're looking for. But do you know genious when you see it?

CHANGING HORSES was originally released in 1969, not that long after the ISBs WEE TAM/BIG HUGE double-LP release (separated into two individual albums for release in the good ol USA). Some of the gentle mood of WT/BH carried over into this recording, but for the most part it feels like the growth process that it is  the band was extending its instrumental reach into electric guitars (included on 3 of the 6 tracks). The listener could almost feel what was to come with future releases  the bands personnel would change and expand, and they would become more of a rock outfit by the time EARTHSPAN was released in 1972. The changes were welcomed by some and dreaded by others.

The set opens with Big Ted, a Robin Williamson composition devoted to the life and death of a pig  done up in his inimitable style, and including some great, gently humorous lines. White bird, a 14-minute-plus Mike Heron opus, follows  the booklet reproduces Mikes artwork as well as his calligraphy accompanying this song. The song goes through some nice, interesting changes, and overall works very well. Dust be diamonds is next  the first collaboration between Mike and Robin to appear on any of their records  with Robin taking the lead vocal. Sleepers awake! follows  a Mike Heron composition, sung a capella by the four members of the band in their beautiful sounds-like-a-rehearsal style. The voice blend into a lovely mix, and those of the girls are particularly effective in this setting. Mr. & Mrs. is next, another Robin Williamson composition. The arrangement here is the closest to a rock band that appears on this record  but its not at all overbearing, and seems to suit the song well. The lyrics are a bit hard to understand  its always been a disappointment to me that only two of the songs (the aforementioned White bird and Creation) were included in print. The swirling Leslies on the organ played by Licorice on this track are a great touch. Creation ends the album, a long (over 16 minutes) work composed by Robin. Its an ambitious track, working elements of several creation myths into the lyrics, and its successful overall. My only problem with this track (and this is a personal peeve, not a serious criticism of the bands work) is the inclusion of the megaphone effect on Robins vocal near the end of the piece  its a little too self-consciously vaudevillian for my tastes (he resorts to it again on a later album).

Robin and Mike were amazing prolific writers  thus the frequency of the ISB releases, 12 (13 if you count WEE TAM/BIG HUGE as two) releases between 1966-1973. This is an astonishing output that doesnt even include compilations. There are more, recordings from early in their career and recordings made since they got back together a couple of years ago. They went through a lot of changes in a short period of time  but their work was generally of high quality, and always interesting, always pushing whatever envelope in which they imagined themselves  much to the listeners delight. This is one of their better efforts, close to their best  definitely a great asset to my collection.

If there ever was something that change my life. It was definily this band. How modest they are to call themselves the Incredible Stringband when in fact they are/were the Incredible innovators of 'my thoughts' in all my early years, that is from the age of 13 well, until now. If anybody had an impact onmy life Robin certainly did. For many years ago, in Copenhagen, I meet licorice in a park, I wasgoing the same evening to a concert with the I.S.B. And there I was..... together with Licorice.. what a thrill... Until this day I remember that day. And the concert was great. There was light everywere and I mean light,because wereever the ISB played, there was light. I love these persons I know that they loved me. If ever you should listen to music, and offcourse you are, DO'NT MISS THIS. I love you but the maker he loves you the best.

`Changing Horses' is the fourth / fifth album by the four member Incredible String Band with Robin Williamson and Mike Heron being joined for the third time by Rose and Licorice on base and guitar respectively. As with every previous album, the lion's share of the songwriting is done by Williamson, whose songs also tend to be far more deeply steeped in myth, both traditional and created. One gets the feeling that Williamson was baptised with a copy of `The Golden Bough' rather than the `Holy Bible'. I also tend to prefer Williamson's songs over Heron's in general, but this album contains `White Bird', which may very well be Heron's best effort. It is certainly his best song on TISB albums up to this point. It is almost a shame that a great song of the same name by Linda and David LaFlamme of `It's A Beautiful Day' came out about the same time. I checked my old Columbia LP of `It's A Beautiful Day' and can find no copywrite date, but I recall hearing the LaFlamme's version first.

In looking at the original release dates of the first five TISB albums, I'm surprised at how close together they are for a group which I'm sure had only a fringe audience at best. On the other hand, I'm sure they and their handlers at Elektra believed that it was best to get the releases out there while the audience was buying.

After all these years of listening to TISB on vinyl and CD, it has finally dawned on me as I reviewed `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' that practically all their work can be seen as a musical analogue to `The Hobbit', `Alice in Wonderland', and `Winnie the Pooh', all stories nominally written for children but probably enjoyed much more by adults, especially adults with a countercultural persuasion. These are all songs from hippie central!

Aside from `White Bird', the most outstanding number on this album is `Creation', Robin Williamson's version of Genesis for the `New Age'. In structure, the song is very similar to `Maya', the first cut on `Wee Tam', where there most lines in the song lay out a series. In this case, it is the days of the week as they were created by a distaff diety.

My impression when I originally bought this album in 1969 was that this The Incredible String Band was giving us more of the same high quality tunes and performances, but that there was not a lot of development in evidence. This was in the days when two years separated the Beatles `I Wanna Hold Your Hand' and `Please Please Me' from Eleanor Rigby' and `Yesterday'. Strong progression of style was `de rigeur'.

In retrospect, we know that The Incredible String Band' never did develop much beyond their style established in these half dozen or so albums between 1967 and 1971. Robin Williamson has retreated to doing old Celtic storytelling and covers of traditional songs which served as his original inspiration. We can give thanks to the fact that we have these on CD after all these years.

Highly recommended for all unrepentant hippies everywhere.

Second Take: July, 2011

"Changing Horses" in 1969 by The Incredible String Band, with their most iconic lineup of Robin Williamson, Mike Heron, Licorice McKechnie, and Rose Simpson, may have been the last "great" album on their apogee ark, which began with "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" in 1968, followed by" The Big Huge Wee Tam". It almost seems Heron and Williamson changed roles in the song writing. The usual whimsy piece, "Big Ted", about a pig is by Williamson, but the more spiritual piece, "White Bird" is by Heron. They collaborate on "Dust Be Diamonds" which presages their London Music Hall style of two albums on, the 2 disc set, U. "Sleepers Awake" by Heron and "Mr. & Mrs." By Williamson are less than memorable, but now comes "Creation" by Williamson. It is for "White Bird" and "Creation" that we snapped up every new ICB album the moment it hit the shelves, 43 years ago, even if "White Bird" sounds suspiciously like a similar song by "It's a Beautiful Day".

The four "average" songs are only average by ISB standards. I have been listening to this album on and off for over forty years, and I never tire of listening to it from beginning to end, but "White Bird" and "Creation" are certainly the ones for which I look forward. "White Bird" is a great" whistle while you work" tune. "Creation", on the other hand, is so lyric intensive that it is impossible to fully appreciate it without listening very, very carefully to the lyrics. In fact, just as I'm listening to the song as I write this review, I realize that the song has a lot in common with John Lennon's "A Day in the Life", but not done quite so neatly. It seems to be a mix of "A Very Cellular Song", with a bit of "Maya" stuck in the middle. The complexity of the song is further evidenced by the fact that it is the only song for which the lyrics are printed in the CD notes booklet.

The first six verses have a William Blake feeling about them, with less skill in evoking images with words alone. If it were not joined with music, it would be a weak poem. The next seven verses are a creation myth, with the prime mover being very similar to the Hebrew spirit of Wisdom (Sophia) from the book of "Sirach". Then comes a change in pace with a very New Testament feel, followed by five verses with a hint of Greek legend. The next five verses sound like something done by the early "Pearls Before Swine", with whom the ISB can share the label "acid folk", although the ISB do the genre far better. I have no clue on the genre of the ending, except that it would seem most at home in a 19th century London music hall. So, it seems to emulate "A Day in the Life", except that instead of grafting two songs together, Williamson seems to create a real collage of maybe four or five ideas, and I usually only remember and take notice of the true "Creation" verses, similar to "Maya" and to the song which seemed to invent the genre, Donovan's "Atlantis".

A fine and underrated album by the Incredible String Band. While it lacks the aesthetic coherence of 'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter', considered as a collection of individual songs 'Changing Horses' is well worth acquiring by any connoisseur of psychedelic neo-folk.

1. 'Big Ted' - A touching and humorous lament for a prize bull, who eats his owners out of house and home and thinks only of "food and romance", yet whose strength and presence are greatly missed by songwriter Williamson now that he is "gone like snow on the water."

2.. 'White Bird' - One of two epics on the album. After meandering for a while it blossoms into a memorable and beautiful paean to the "white bird of morning", perhaps a symbol of purified artistic vision.

3. 'Dust Be Diamonds' - As the name suggests, this song is about casting off the superfluous trappings of mundane life to find inspiration (true wealth) in even the most minimal circumstances.

4. 'Sleepers, Awake!' - A short 'a cappella' piece exhorting the listener to awaken spiritually.

5. 'Mr. & Mrs.' - Not exactly sure what the lyrics are about (possibly satirical), but the music is highly infectious with some great organ playing.

6. 'Creation' - A surreal 16-minute portrait of the creation of nature and the world, centering around a haunting repeated melody which bleeds into a joyous, frenzied mantra, before returning to the original theme with renewed vigour then finishing with a comical coda.

"Changing Horses", the first ISB album to appear after the summer-flavored and great "Wee Tam & the Big Huge" is in no way a match for its predecessors. Obviously the ISB's first (psychedelic) source of inspiration was flowing away rapidly, leaving the shell of a thought and not the thought itself. Not that it's a bad record - it's just a disappointment after the glory of their earlier records. Most songs are quite good, although it seems that the smile the ISB present to the world with this album is a little brittle and forced.

"Big Ted" is as "naive" a song as you can get, but it works. "White Bird" is far more ambitious, and shows Mike Heron trying to expand his repertoire of lengthy songs (the best example being "A very cellular song"), and a brave effort it is - but it's simply too long. "Dust be diamonds" is a not very successful song (and "naive" again), while "Sleepers awake" features some quite nice singing. "Mr & Mrs" sounds ok. The most ambitious song is the last one. "Creation", demanding even more time from us than "White Bird" already did, takes us through enough different landscapes to make the journey pleasant - but here too, its sheer weight is always threatening its structure and so it's not the comfortable ride we used to have when riding with mr. Williamson.

Compared to a lot of later albums, "Changing Horses" is still very much an "early" ISB record. Nevertheless, the down-hill slide had begun and already the top seemed to be awfully far away.

Hans Wigman

This cd is a classic ISB cd. It is not as good as previous releases but it is still a must have for all ISB fans. Mr. and Mrs. are and Creation are among my favorites. This cd is a departure from the norm and is a nice change of pace from the everyday folk singers releasing cd's now. ISB music still remains original and cutting edge, 30 years after it was released.

I have given ISB CDs Wee Tam, Big Huge, 1000 Spirits 5 star reviews because those albums were incredibly consistent and had some amazing song writing and performances that stand up today as masterpieces.

In fairness to ISB it would be impossible to continue producing LP after LP with the consistency they had achieved.

Consequently this CD really isn't up to the standard I am used to and is not one of those CDs I would play on a regular basis.

The track Sleepers Awake does remind me of Steeleye Span and is a nice addition, however there are also several tracks such as Big Ted and Dust to Diamonds which really are not great ISB songs.

Changing Horses really is the end of the classic era of ISB commercial music releases for me.