Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Desdemona
Date: 29 Aug 21 - 05:27 PM

Here, hope this helps.

G          D    G          D
Ducks on a pond, ducks on a pond
C G D C/G D/A    C/G
Very pretty swimming round
    G            D/A      A          D/A
The lion and the unicorn journey very far
    D/A             C/G
The answers are the question, sir
    D/A             C/G
The lady soothes the lion's fur
D/A                C/G
Meek as a lamb he follows her
D/A             C/G
Wherever angels are

D/A
Sing me something


Whistle: D G D C G C D/A

D/A             C/G
I asked the ice it would not say
    D/A             C/G
But only cracked or moved away
    D/A             C/G
I thought I knew me yesterday
   D/A             C/G
Whoever sings this song

G          D    G          D
Ducks on a pond, ducks on a pond
C G D C/G D/A    C/G
Very pretty swimming round
G       D/A    A          D/A
Greetings on you kings in the sky
       D/A       C/G
Who'll buy me a mynah bird
D/A       C/G
Play me a magic word
D/A                  C/G
Speak of hopes with thoughts absurd
D/A             C/G
Thoughts floating by
D/A          C/G
Little ducks, pretty birds
D/A             C/G
Clouds across the sky

D/A
Sing me something


Whistle: D G D C G C D/A


D/A             C/G
I asked the ice it would not say
    D/A             C/G
But only cracked or moved away
    D/A             C/G
I thought I knew me yesterday
   D/A             C/G
Whoever sings this song

Am                   E
Moving pieces on the plains of Troy
Am                   E
Carving faces on the rocks of joy
Bm          C/G
Pretty lady washing the tiles
Bm                  C/G    D
Soapy pictures like crocodiles

D                                 F       C
Chilly chilly chilly chilly winds blowing
C                   Em/G
Lovely spring coming soon

D                                 F       C
Chilly chilly chilly chilly winds blowing
C                   Em/G
Lovely spring coming soon

Am                   E
I wear my body like a caravan
Am               E
Gipsy rover in a magic land
Bm                         C/G
Misty mountains where the eagles fly
Bm                        C/G       D
Lonely valleys where the lost ones cry


   D                           F    C
I had a little letter full of paper
C                   Em/G
Inky scratches everywhere

D                                       F       C
Always looking, looking for a paradise island
C                     Em/G
Help me find it everywhere


Am                      E
Peacocks talking of the colour grey
Am                E
Awaking soundly in darkest day
   Bm                   C/G
A howling tempest on a silent sea
Bm                      C/G   D
Lovely Jesus nailed to a tree

   D                           F    C
I had a little letter full of paper
C                   Em/G
Inky scratches everywhere

D                                     F    C
Always looking, looking for a paradise island
C                   Em/G
Help me find it everywhere

Am                   E
Mad as the moon when Merlin falls
Am                  E
Silver castles and silver halls
Bm                     C/G
Taking lessons from the piper's son
Bm                     C/G
Learn to play while the world is young

G
Boys and girls come out to play
    D                   G
The moon doth shine as bright as day
G
Leave your sorrows and leave your sleep
    D                   G
And join your playfellows in the street
D/A
Come with a whoop or come with a call
A                      D/A
Come with a goodwill or not at all
D/A
Up the ladder and down the wall
A                   D/A
A ha'penny loaf will serve for all

Final Part Intro:

G C G D7 || G G7 C G D7 G || C   G D7 || G G7 C G D7 G ||

G                            C
Following my fortune now the Holy Grail is found
         G                         D7
And the Holy Bread of Heaven it is given all around
G       G7             C
Farewell sorrow, praise God the open door
    G                        D7       G
I ain't got no home in this world any more

   C
I ain't got no home in this world any more
                G                     D7
I ain't got no home in this world any more
G       G7             C
Farewell sorrow, praise God the open door
    G                        D7       G
I ain't got no home in this world any more


C   G D7 || G G7 C G D7 G ||

G                         C
Poor as the birds but to give their song away
G          G7                D7
Gathering possessions round to make a bright array
    G                      C
Dark was the night, praise God the open door
   G                        D7       G
I ain't got no home in this world anymore.

   C
I ain't got no home in this world any more
                G                     D7
I ain't got no home in this world any more
G       G7             C
Farewell sorrow, praise God the open door
    G                        D7       G
I ain't got no home in this world any more.


D G   x4


Not sure if anyone is still active here...

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,moose jaw
Date: 05 May 13 - 12:22 AM

Could anyone post the chords to ducks on a pond? I would be forever in your debt.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Don Wise
Date: 29 Mar 13 - 05:19 AM

ISB on Youtube- all sorts of interesting stuff old and new, including a tv (BBC?) documentary.

Whilst a lot of their texts are obtuse, the tunes often have earworm quality. I just read the posting with the text to "White bird" and I found I was singing the refrain- I haven't head the song for years!

As I recall it, "Wee Tam....." was originally issued as a double LP and was then split into single LPs in an effort to improve sales.

Subject: Hopeful
From: GUEST,moose jaw
Date: 28 Mar 13 - 09:04 PM

Could any of you post the chords to ducks on a pond? That is pretty much my favorite song ever.

Thank in advance

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,BigTed
Date: 15 Jul 06 - 09:03 AM

.......And, if you ever get the chance to see Robin Williamson doing one of his rare solo shows - GO!!
I saw him in a little church on the border between Austria and Czechoslovakia (or what its called now...) recently and he was magnificent!

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Frug
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 06:45 PM

................And of course see them in Birmingham (UK) at the Moseley Folk Festival 2&3rd September along with Pentangle, Renbourn, Lakeman, Gibbons , Harper et al.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: woodsie
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 03:43 PM

As somebody who has only recently (re)discovered ISB I have enjoyed this thread and would like to see it alive for a bit more!

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 01:23 PM

Shambles is wrong. Generally, we try to encourage people to ADD to existing threads, and start new topics only when they have a new subject to talk about.
-Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-

Generally this undefined 'WE' can't stop themselves at the slightest excuse to close threads and prevent other posters from posting what and where they may wish to.

In line with current policy and practice can you please respect the thread originator's wishes and now close this thread?

---

Sorry, friends. Roger has been out of sorts today. Please ignore him and go on with the discussion.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Bee
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 11:40 AM

Thank you Shambles (eep!) and Countess.

I was used to forums where creating yet more topics is a bit frowned on, especially if you are new.

E-bay, however.... rural dialup + old computer + loading any E-bay page = freeze/crash/meltdown.

Knowing such a thing exists, though, means the next city trip can include second hand bookstores.

---

Shambles is wrong. Generally, we try to encourage people to ADD to existing threads, and start new topics only when they have a new subject to talk about.
-Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:57 AM

http://cgi.ebay.com/INCREDIBLE-STRING-BAND-FIRST-SONGBOOK-1969_W0QQitemZ7415490372QQihZ016QQcategoryZ38104QQcmdZViewItem

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:46 AM

Empty Pocket Blues, Clive Palmer's adaptation of Teapot Blues by Brian Kennedy (words by Wizz Jones). I think Clive and Wizz still disagree over whose tune it actually is. I think you start off in A and progress from C to A flat but I haven't actually listened to it for nigh on 40 years.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:03 AM

No.

You must now start a new thread for each of these requests - with a thread title that makes it clear what exactly you are asking for - otherwise you will be punished.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Bee
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:57 AM

But before any such closing, could anyone please suggest chords for "Empty Pocket Blues" and/or "Good Dog"?

I have the lyrics. I know ISB used other than standard tunings and such (I'm a beginner guitarist, everything is non-standard!) but I'd really like to play these songs someday.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 05:58 AM

I consider that "my work here is done" in the classic B-movie phrase.

Please now close his thread?

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Scotch Pussy
Date: 19 May 06 - 11:38 AM

Aye

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Scotus
Date: 17 May 06 - 10:05 PM

Oh, Oh -

Hearing Robin and Clive in Kirkcaldy around 1964 (Mike was in a rock band then!) - even earlier, Robin and Clive at Dunfermline Howff waiting until the end of the night to play after most people had gone (too nervous).

Later at the Crown pub in Edinburgh - they had been joined by Mike. Then Clive started the Folk Club in Glasgow (was it Sauchiehall Street?). Oh, Oh!!

Then later, after he'd left the group, Clive driving down the main street in Comrie (Perthshire) in a white mini-moke.

By then the others had been helicoptered into Woodstock - the rest is history.

I've always loved them - and my favourite is 'Chinese white'.

Jack

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 06 - 01:52 PM

Aye!

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,woodsie
Date: 16 May 06 - 04:30 PM

So, I now have the first 5 albums. What do you recommend next?

They've got a CD called The Chelsea Sessions. Any good?

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST
Date: 16 May 06 - 07:43 AM

A FEW RANDOM COMMENTS

"Thanks to Butterfly for HER lovely post, three years ago, and the other posters who helped me refire some glorious synapses, tonight."

Ahem, I am not now or have I ever been a member of the female sex; I just posted as "Butterfly" in the past as Butterfly spotting is a hobby of mine! Perhaps I should have thrown in a few references to Football or Beer (though with the rise of the "Ladette" I suppose that is not much help these days) to remove any doubt about my gender.

I always thought the lyrics of "White Bird" included "And feel his heart sucked to his HEAD
His head so wide that all life serves (or possibly "says")
Has room to live, and breathe, and have its being.."

I am sure the ISB wouldn't have worried about the odd bit that doesn't rhyme in those days.

Such a pity that since they reformed a few years ago with the original 3 personnel, they split up again not long afterwards. I have a CD with just Clive Palmer and Mike Heron on it, but sadly when they do songs on which Robin Williamson was the original singer, some of the excitement is lacking.

I would recommend all the ISB LPs except "No Ruinous Feud", but though The Hangmans Beautiful Daughter seems to be the overall favourite, I preferred Wee Tam and the Big Huge (but then I prefer Abbey Road to Sergeant Pepper).

"First GIRK I Loved" - typo or Mondegreen (presumably the former; on the other hand possibly a variation song by Mrs. Bill Gates ("First Geek I Loved")? Funny this is not one of my favourites (October Song if you are interested, not just because I was born in October - I first heard it in February 1973).

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Ragman
Date: 02 May 06 - 08:10 AM

William Pint wrote on 27 Apr 06:

"The band I was in at the time -- a Milwaukee folk group called Silmaril -- was so very influenced by the ISB..."

A shameless plug for your band and album, but it makes me wonder how many ISB fans are also Tolkien anoraks...   I am!

Apologies for going off the thread soewhat, but maybe this is partly due to the influence the ISB had on me in my formative years...

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: davidkiddnet
Date: 01 May 06 - 01:39 PM

The Tree
by Mike Heron

I had a Tree, in the dream hills where my childhood lay.
and I'd go there in the wide, long days,
and my Tree would listen to all that I'd say.
and the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was smiling,
and the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was smiling.

Then one day when the world had put me in its tomb,
and my life was just an empty room,
I went to my tree and sat there in my gloom,
and the light was fading dimly, and the sky was crying,
and the light was fading dimly, and the sky was crying.

Then my tree bent its branches low down to the ground,
and its green leaves shrouded up my mind,
and I left the world somewhere behind,
and I did not know what I would find,
but the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was smiling,
Oh the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was smiling.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: davidkiddnet
Date: 01 May 06 - 12:02 PM

The Tree
by Mike Heron

TUNING: Open G   D G D G B D

To play with record Capo II and play chords in parenthesis

A(G)             D(C)                                                         A(G)
I had a Tree,    in the dream hills where my childhood lay.

And I'd go there in the wide, long days,
D(C)                                                         A(G)
       And my Tree would listen to all that I'd say.

E(D)                         A(G)
    And the sun was shining brightly,
E(D)                  A(G)
and the sky was smiling,
E(D)                   A(G)            
and the sun was shining brightly,
E(D)                  A(G)
and the sky was smiling.

This is from http://www.angelfire.com/biz3/ISB/ISB4.html but he only has one verse

From my memory the rest of the words are something like this:


2. Then one day when the world had got me in its tomb
and my mind was just an empty room
And I would stand there in my gloom
and the light was fading dimly and the sky was crying

3. Then my tree bent its branches low down to the ground.
and the green leaves shrouded up my mind
and I felt I'd left something behind...

and I cant remember any more except it ends happily

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 05:45 PM

Ah. Your version of the lyrics are most probably correct. I was always just singing along with what I thought I heard on the LP. So are urban legends made, even with the ISB, apparently!

E.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,davidkiddnet
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 03:09 PM

I just wanted to look up the tune. Someone on Mudcat sent me a xerox of a Music Sales Corporation book that has that as:

[G]May the long time [C]sun shine upon
[D]you. All love [G]surround you.
[G]And the pure light [C]within you
[D]Guide you all the way [G]on."

But I always sang "your way home" too. It seems that transcriptions of songs vary according to the listener. I heard a story of a fan asking some rock singer what his words said and the singer replied "what would you like them to say?"

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 01:09 PM

A Very Cellular Song.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,davidkiddnet
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 01:04 PM

It is a lovely blessing because the incrdible s String Band was a form of religion.

What is the title of that song? "May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you, and the clear light within you guide your way home."

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 03:30 AM

Many groups cite the ISB's influence, including the Beatles. They were so very original (and talented) in an era rife with originality.

I saw/heard the ISB play in the late sixties, when it consisted of Robin, Mike, Rose and Licorice. I remember that they politely refused to play requests from the audience, explaining that they wanted to present some new songs. I loved the wide range of their material, from the mystical "Dust Be Diamonds" and "A Very Cellular Song," to goofy romps, such as "The Minotaur Song" and "Big Ted," to love songs like "Gently Tender," "The First Girl I Loved" and the wistful "Hedgehog Song."

"May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you, and the clear light within you guide your way home." What a lovely blessing!

Elmer

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 06:15 PM

Welcome aboard William (Pint)! Felicia too?? Wouldn't be surprised, I wonder...
Didn't get the chance to chat to you at Birdsedge but said hi to Felicia briefly.
As R says, constant in String... be glad, for the song has no ending.
MM

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,davidkiddnet
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 12:16 PM

String band Guitar Tunings
EADGBE
DADGBE
CFCFCF
EEBEBE
DGDGBD
And they often used slack strings with capos

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Bloke in the Corner
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 11:15 AM

God bless the ISB, they were THE definitive group for my years at Cardiff Uni, 1967 -70. I just have to read the lyrics of 'first girl I loved' and it all comes flooding back.... shiver, shiver...

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,William Pint
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 01:55 PM

How wonderful to see such a huge response to this thread.

I was turned on to the ISB around 1970 and the experience changed my entire world.
While it was Mike Heron's songs that first grabbed me, I came to appreciate Robin's meandering singing and his spacey songs even more as years went by.

I had the chance to see them perform in Chicago (a club called the Quiet Knight) around 1972 or so. What struck me most was standing in line for hours and discovering that all of us in line were "String Band People". It was nothing like standing in any other concert line -- we were all so similar in attitude, interests, politics -- any topic that came up. By the time we got through the doors, we were all best of friends, sharing food, jokes, anecdotes. An amazing experience.

The band I was in at the time -- a Milwaukee folk group called Silmaril -- was so very influenced by the ISB. (By the way -- if there's anyonbe who remembers that band -- the Silmaril LP (Given Time or the Several Roads) is actually being re-released by a Midwest label that found it in a used record bin.

I doubt that I'd be playing folk music now, if it hadn't been for ISB and a few others.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,DG
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 10:38 AM

I saw Robin Williamson on harp last night with John Renbourn. They were both in good spirits and it certainly made me want to listen to some of the Incredible String Band stuff, which I intend to do when I get chance.
During the course of the gig Robin played harp, fiddle, mandolin and flute- he is a really talented guy... The fiddle especially was brilliant with Renbourn on guitar duties.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 10:32 AM

I didn't discover them until quite recently - around 2 years ago. I saw them in Brighton while I was there at a trade show (boring computer stuff!) and they bowled me over. Been hooked ever since. I knew the new fiddler (Fluff) from a couple of visits I made to Keele uni folk club when Gnomeson #1 was there. I knew she was destined for big things:-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,chinaman
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 09:48 AM

Good Band man.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Margaret V
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 11:21 PM

White Bird Guest,

I just dug out my vinyl and have the words from the inside cover of Changing Horses. I don't have a turntable now so I can't listen and see if what he's singing is the same as what's written, but assuming it is, the words are:

And feel his heart sucked to his head
His head so wide that all life says
Has room to live and breathe and have its being--and more
For such a scene of beauty encompasses

Margaret

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Ragman
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 07:46 PM

Can't believe that after all this time, no one has mentioned "The First Girl I Loved", and only one comment about "Good As Gone".

Good as Gone to me sums up the way Robin was in the early 60s. In the album notes, Mike talks about how Robin sometimes just seemed to need to "get on the road" and get away from everything for a while.


Good As Gone - Robin Williamson

A strange thought just crossed my mind
Paid the rains back in kind
Was the thought of sweet May coming on...
The days are running so slow
My heart is aching to go
And my feet surely itch for the road...

Oh now, the long, hot summer
Mm mm mm, the summer long

I have been tied to this land
Since the days I was planned
By the need to feed my body and my soul...
Look you can work to your grave
Waste your whole life away
What security then do you find...

Oh now, the long, hot summer
Mm mm mm, the summer long

I don't have no one to beat
Don't have no one to cheat
No I just need some room to uncurl...
I don't have no aim in view
Just some things to pursue
As I wallow around in the world...


Things I must do...
Places to see...
Things I must do
Now there's nothing left
To hold me here...
And I'll take the Southward road...


The first time I heard The First Girl I Loved was in the Folk Centre in a folk club in the upstairs flat of a condemned tenement building in Montrose Street in Glasgow, probably in late 1966, or early 1977. Robin started to play, and all the guitarists, or those who thought themselves to be so (including me), leaned forward to try to see what on earth he was doing. Robin turned sideways whenever he began those fantastic riffs in open G. We argued about how to play this for years after. The song was so powerful, and the guitar accompaniment was so different, and delivered with such authority, that like one of the previous writers, I still have goosebumps thinking about the event.

I was 18 at the time. I desperately wanted to sing that song in public, but never found the courage until 2002, because I was terrified to make a mess of it, so powerful and beautiful I felt it was.

Strangely, in more than 30 years this song seems to have been seldom sung and recorded by others, possibly because like me, it simply blows away the listener, and poses a real challenge for the imitator.

I play it in open G. (I still have arguments with my brother-in-law about how it is played, but I think I have just about got it now!)


The First Girk I Loved - Robin Williamson

The first girl I loved
Time has come I will sing you this sad goodbye song
When I was seventeen
I used to know you
I haven't seen you now since many short years
And the last time I'd seen you you'd joined the Church Of Jesus
But me, I remember your long red hair
Falling in our faces as I kissed you.

Well I want you to know, we just had to grow
I want you to know, I just had to go.

And you're probably married now
House and car and all
And you'll have turned into
A grown up female stranger
If I was lying near you now
I wouldn't be here at all.

Well we parted so hard
Me rushing round Britain with a guitar
Making love to people
That I didn't even like to see
Well I would think of you
Yes I mean in the sick sad mornings
And in the lonely midnights
Try to hold your face before me.

Well I want you to know, we just had to grow
I want you to know, I just had to go.

And you're probably married now
Kids and all
And you'll have turned into
A grown up female stranger
And If I was lying near you now
I'd just have to fall.

Well I never slept with you
Though we must have made love a thousand times
We were just young
Didn't have no place to go
But in the wide hill
And beside many a long water
You have gathered flowers
And they do not smell for me.

Well I want you to know, we just had to grow
I want you to know, I just had to go.

So it's goodbye, first love
And I hope you're fine
Well I have this sweet woman
Maybe someday to have babies by me
She is pretty
And a true friend of mine.

To finish this note off I must point out that I haven't forgotten Mike Heron either. I still sing his "Can't Keep Me Here". It simply hasn't dated. I loved Mike's quirky guitar playing and gentle lyrics.

I think the ISB were at their best from 1965 until about 1971. Their style was different, their early songs seemed to me to make very meaningful observations, and many still do even 40 years on. I don't think they were the same after Woodstock, where they simply weren't understood, and the setting wasn't right for their songs. It seemed to me that almost as a reaction to Woodstock, they became more and more mystical and strange, and I personally didn't understand them anymore. Maybe I was changing too, thinking about marriage and settling down etc. I just moved away from that scene. Throughout the years however I have come across many people who remember ISB when they first appeared on the scene. Many a long conversation followed...

"But hey, you young people,
I just do not know
I can't even understand you
When you try to talk slow....

That was way, way, back before World War Three
When England went missing,
And we moved to Paruguay-e-e-e-e"

From "Back in the 1960s" - ISB first album 1965

Keep this thread going, please...

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: woodsie
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 03:11 PM

I have recently purchased 2 double CDs at very reasonable prices from amazon 5000 spirits/hangmans beautiful & wee tam/big Huge. All four albums are now copied to my IPOD. I am seen walking around London with a smile on my face listening to this wonderful music. Great stuff!

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Hedgehog
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 10:47 AM

GREAT

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 08:00 AM

Ok, I will. Oh, 99 by the way.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Leadfingers
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 07:26 AM

Send me a PM if you want anything out of the First Song Book (1st Edition) - Bought it more than thirty years ago !!

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 06:18 AM

Magic, indeed...the most potent ever made, of its type.

To some extent, for those who don't get the Incredibles, you had to be there. They were (and still are, on record, for those who make the connection back into the mists of time) extraordinarily in the spirit of the mystical-magical 60s.

Their unfocused, wayward sound on many pieces was the epitome of the era's exploratory, adventurous, improvisatory approach to life. That approach came a cropper sometimes, but also produced miracles. Safer, sounder approaches reach neither extreme.

Amba and I saw the ISB in concert in Boston sometime in,I think, '68. Mike, Robin, Rose and Likky wandering about the instrument-and-fabric-littered stage, picking up this or that oud or kantele or sitar...making soaring music. Tim Buckley opened for them, a difficult artist capable of magic himself, but also capable of bombast. Of course the theater was choking with fragrant smoke... We came out into the night street addled with delight. The records barely capture what was a total life experience. We feel lucky to have been there. But it was not anything anyone today would recognize as a concert. "Love-fests" are very out of fashion nowadays, aren't they.

The "60s" ( = roughly '67-73 in mood and spirit) have been roundly damned by those with political antiagendas. But they were a new dawn, and for those of us lucky enough to sense it, the dawn keeps on dawning toward revelation (caveat: that has nothing to do with the standard meaning of the term). Nobody expressed that sense of wonder as well as the Incredible String Band.

Trivia note, I remember seeing an article on Arlo Guthrie as just a kid, Woody's boy, long before he ever recorded. He was quoted as saying the Incredible String Band were among his favorite listens at the time. No clue if they still are. But they still are for me. Their sounds grow and change and wreathe and twist with the passing years into new radiances forever.

Glad to see quoted the refrain to Mike's wonderful Hedghog...an anthem for us all.

They are not just part of Amba's and my lives. They helped create it.   In tribute... Bob.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,Richard Brandenburg
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 02:56 AM

How fine, adding to a thread from seven years ago; it seems just right, when I can hear the woman's voice, 36 years later.

"Amoebas are very small..."

This was the music we would put on when winding deeper into a night of tripping, when we finished running around the campus in the Missouri fall air. Taj Mahal, John Fahey, The Kweskin Jug Band, Hot Tuna, the Dead's "American Beauty", Fairport's "Leige & Lief", were all perfect earlier in the evening, when we were getting off, and heading into the night.

But we'd return to the dorm, (more than once from the astonishing illuminated William Blake edition at Lindenwood's library, which we could take from the stacks and open out on the table before us). We'd light candles, and know when it was time to put "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" onto the record player. The Incredible String Band, with their free sense of time, was the aural environment for opening to one another on a cellular level, which I am blessed to recall was the point of swallowing acid in the first place.

I can imagine how difficult it might be for someone today to "get" what the Incredible String Band might have meant to someone back then, with that sort of context of introduction; in my case, freshly away from home, opening out and inwardly, with like-minded musician friends - and feeling that Heron and Williamson were just friends we hadn't yet met. Drugs weren't strictly necessary to enjoy them, but our briefly benign world of psychedelics was profoundly enhanced by their music.

Thanks to Butterfly for her lovely post, three years ago, and the other posters who helped me refire some glorious synapses, tonight.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 02:41 AM

I have always heard it as 'head'.........

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:59 PM

WHITE BIRD LYRICS
I have been fascinated by White Bird by Mike Heron on Changing Horses because it sounds to me like an account of true religious experience with a mystical death. So much fascinated that I have got all the words sorted out except one.
And feels his heart sucked to his hizurvd
Sucked to his what? It sounds like hizurvd.
And feels his heart sucked to his served is possible but it doesn't make sense.
The sucked to his head version at http://isb.bakkevold.com and at http://www.lyrics007.com is obviously wrong because it doesn't even rhyme.

Are the Lyrics on the original record sleve? I know Creation was, but White Bird's words are not on the CD sleve. Could somebody have a look for that precious word for me?
I hear that in beGlad-The Anthology Mike Heron talks about White Bird being from an obscure Pakistani or Indian film alluding to Lata Mangeshkars breakthrough.

Are the lyrics in the book Gently Tender by Ken Brooks?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
White Bird
By Mike Heron

Who among you, who has not laid his head
beneath some holy awning,
would think that such a night of tortured travelling
could bring such a glory morning?

And feel his heart sucked to his .............
His head so wide that all life serves
as room to live, and breathe, and have its being
and more, for such a scene of beauty.
For such a scene of beauty.
Encompassers
see the white bird
on the water
In beauty calm and still

White bird, white bird, white bird
of the morning.
White bird, white bird.

See he watches the white bird of the morning.
White bird, white bird.

Warm in his ecstasy
a shimmering gentle backward fall
He leaves his body there so small and mirror black against the sun
with deities for strength.
He sees his body wracked with pain
and hears his voice so stained with sadness deep
it asks the day to weep away

Loved her so strong now
she is gone.
My heart will break for ever

Sun and moon change around me
The games seem so strange
Walk in the light I shall never.
Walk in the light I will never.
White bird, white bird, white bird
of the morning.
White bird, white bird,

Oh speak to me with your beauty
Oh white bird of the morning
Oh he cried. Oh he cried,
but stopped short,
seeing not water but ice
death not life.
Dead white bird. Dead white bird.

Walking onward every day
Sunshine in our faces
Sun knows what grows on below
But still our faces graces
No disgraces
No distastes
Nothing wasted at all.

White bird, white bird, white bird
Of the morning
White bird, white bird

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Scotus
Date: 18 Nov 05 - 10:10 AM

I remember Robin and Clive when they were just 'Robin and Clive' and shared a gig or two with them 'way back in the 1960s'. They were doing a mixture of celtic and old time music then - hadn't started writing their own stuff. It must have been about 1964 or 1965 because I was singing with Barbara at the time.

Jack beck

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Bentley
Date: 18 Nov 05 - 08:32 AM

My girlfriend at the time thought that the ISB were definitely not of this planet. I took her to see them at the Rainbow at Finsbury,thinking that she would understand what they were about,and what do you know,she thought they were awful! Now,however,she plays them through choice.Sometimes.Life is weird.Long may the song have no ending. Thank you for the music ISB.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: GUEST,ShoeMole
Date: 17 Nov 05 - 09:57 AM

Ahh, the wonderful ISB. They are probably my favourite band and I have good fun working out my favourite songs. I can nearly play Ducks on a Pond now.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Bentley
Date: 25 Aug 04 - 05:34 AM

An amazing Band!I last saw Robin and Mike at the Anvil in Basingstoke a couple of years ago and was still mesmerised. I have all their albums and still play them now,though I've burnt them onto CDs. I drive a taxi here in Basingstoke so you can imagine the comments I get! Hedgehog Song,Amoeba etc,pure magic.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: The Shambles
Date: 24 Aug 04 - 08:44 PM

My book was the first one but the one I 'have' now seems to be the second edition of the first book.

A second edition of this was released with three of the songs from the first album replaced (including "Empty pocket Blues"), by three from "Wee Tam & the Big Huge" (including "Cousin Caterpiller").

Pages 18 - 112 of this book contain the songs.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Band: An Appreciation.
From: Dita
Date: 24 Aug 04 - 06:32 PM

There were in fact two books produced by this company.

The first used the cover of "Hangman" and contained all the songs from the first three albums.

A second edition of this was released with three of the songs from the first album replaced (including "Empty pocket Blues"), by three from "Wee Tam & the Big Huge" (including "Cousin Caterpiller").

The second had a green cover with ?four small pictures of band ? "Changing Horses" shoot. It contained songs up to "I Looked Up" (including "Black Jack Davy").

I'm afraid my copies of the first edition and the second book were "borrowed", in the seventies. I did however manage to buy a copy of the second edition in the 70s which I still have.(I got wise).

Given that a copy of Fairport Convention's first songbook, of the same vintage, sold on ebay for around £130.00 last year, your best bet is secondhand bookshops with a music section.

Cheers, Dita