The Incredible String Band [Import]

Incredible String Band

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 13, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 1966
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Warner Bros UK
• ASIN: B000024YC5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,513 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If any musical combo ever meshed perfectly with the times it was the Incredible String Band. And here's the proof: their 1966 debut, The Incredible String Band on deep-grooved, High-Definition Vinyl. The wildly eclectic Scottish folk outfit--with the airy vocals and fretboard prowess of Robin Williamson and Mike Heron as its two constants--began life resurrecting wondrous and ancient Celtic ballads, then was transformed by the perfumed winds of 1967's psychedelic revolution to add sitar, oud, gimbri and all manner of exotic axes to its arsenal. The result is a gently mesmerizing psychedelia and anti-folk stance--consummate counterpoint to current psych heroes like Mogwai and Beachwood Sparks--that makes perfectly clear why the Incredible String Band remains just that: Incredible! --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First Incredibles, March 15, 2000

By	S. GODFREY "Stuart" (Risca, South Wales) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Incredible String Band (Audio CD)

A delightful album which showcases the emerging talents of songwriter/minstrels Mike Heron and Robin Williamson along with the (slightly) more conventional musical abilities of their friend and mentor Clive Palmer. Clive contributes the more traditional banjo and blues pieces while Robin and Mike drop fascinating hints about the diverse musical territories they were about to venture into. "Womankind" and especially "October Song" stand out as timeless classics but everything else is pretty fine. If this is a true reflection of the music to be heard regularly in Clive's Incredible Folk Club in the mid 1960's, it must have been an extraordinary time and place. The original Incredibles are now touring again after all these years, which makes this first album all the more fascinating.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It got me completely hooked!, October 18, 2009

By	Paulo Alm (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Released in 1966, this first album by The Incredible String Band is an absolute must-have if you are into British folk. A little more direct and less adventurous than the albums that followed, it stands its ground as a marvellous piece of work.
Produced by Joe Boyd and recorded at Sound Techniques in London, this is also the only album by the original line-up which - apart from Robin Williamson and Mike Heron - still counted with Clive Palmer. The results are strikingly positive and I found myself at its feet for weeks!
There's no way to pick a favourite but Williamson's October Song with its wonderful lines comes close. Heron's The Tree, Maybe Someday and How Happy I Am are all classic examples of singing acoustic wizardry. And even Palmer's Empty Pocket Blues sheds some light and makes a difference.
When this music starts to play, let me be around!!!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Incredible String Band: enjoyment guaranteed, August 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Incredible String Band (Audio CD)

This first album shows the ISB in very good spirits and it shows a transition from pure folk and R&B to the unique ISB-sound later to appear on the second album. In contrast to some other ISB-records it ages very well and it contains nothing but feel-good songs, even if some are meant to be a blues - it's humor, mostly ! What's more, Heron's liner notes make a fine contribution to the general sense of fun and well-being.

Mike Heron makes a powerful impression with songs like "Maybe Someday" and "Everything's fine" and Williamson hints at things to come in his beautiful "October Song" and "Womankind". Palmer's contributions, though very nice, show that he was not keeping up with the pace and direction of the other two, and he's not come back to record with the other two since.

This record may not be a classic in the vein of "5000 Spirits" or "Hangman's" but it easily matches those records in pace, freshness and joy. A feast for the ears and highly recommended to anybody, ISB-fan or no.

Hans Wigman