FACTORY SEALED 2LP INCREDIBLE STRING BAND U EXOTIC
$
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THICK 40 YEAR OLD 1970 FIRST PRESSING
STILL FACTORY SEALED
MYSTICAL HIPPIE FOLK PSYCH "EPIC" DOUBLE ALBUM COLLECTIBLE
THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND
"U"
\ USA - ELEKTRA RECORDS - 7E 2002
Original 1970 first pressing 2LP SET ***STILL FACTORY SEALED*** ignore anything you've read about the Incredible String Band going "bad" after 1968, ignore critic Joe Boyd when he says this is a bad album (and the reason it was never released by Hannibal on CD) and instead give it a go because its every bit as weird and enjoyable as other early Incredible String Band albums, but its also a hell of a lot more eclectic and fun.
- Robin Williamson / guitar, wiolin, keyboards, flute, mandolin, washboard, 12-string guitar, gimbri, clay drums, shanai, vocals
- Mike Heron / bass, guitar, horn, keyboards, organ, mandolin, vocals
- Licorice (Likky) McKechnie / violin, keyboards
- Rose Simpson / bass, percussion
- Greg Heat / sitar
- Janet Shankman / harpsichord, vocals
So back in 1970, Robin Williamson decides he wants the next String Band project to be a multi-media affair, with the String Band providing the music and the dance troupe Stone Monkey providing the dancing. The result was this album, though if memory serves correctly this project was never intended to be recorded as such, and instead it was for live performance only. The thing is, when they took it to America they ran out of money and so had to record it and release it as an album in order to recoup some of the money that they'd lost. And conventional wisdom tells you that this album is not up to par with their others. Well, when has conventional wisdom ever been right, eh?
Certainly we won't say that the majority of individual songs here match the peaks that the band were reaching back in 1967/68, but as a whole the album is an epic double album, even more epic than Wee Tam and the Big Huge that takes you on a strange journey that not only were no other band capable of taking you on, but that which no other Incredible String Band album would be able to take you on.
Put more simply, this album is all over the place stylistically, unlike their previous albums that were more cohesive, and what this means is that among the classic Incredible String Band songs you get the odd "lesser" song, songs such as the instrumental Partial Belated Overture, which seems to be an excuse for Mike to space around overdubbing electric guitars, or Bridge Theme, another instrumental, this time with Robin parping away on a Shehnai (er, spelling?) and Likky banging away on the drums. You also get the odd song thrown in for good measure such Bad Sadie Lee, a sung by Janet and not a particular favourite amongst Incredible String Band fans though it does lighten the mood in between the atmospheric Time and the lengthy, baroque-folk of Queen of Love. More successful is Robin's piano blues-pastiche of Robot Blues, which was apparently the inspiration for the series Futurama.
Now here among this big jumble of ideas the songs overall somehow work. Including the 10 minute keyboard-dirge that is Light in Time of Darkness, and the "experimental" Astral Plane Theme where Robin shows his "mastery" of unconventionally tuned guitar.
Overall, the band turn in a load of gems, Robin in particular finding his feet with Time and Queen of Love in particular are as strong as anything else he wrote, but our favourite of his here is the unbelievably eerie Invocation, a song as weird as anything the band ever did, if not more so. Essentially Robin performing an invocation over the occassional backing of keys and gimbri, while his vocal is fed through a "voice sitar", some gizmo or other that caused strings to vibrate according to the various notes that he sung/spoke. Like nothing else you've ever heard.
Mike also turns in a strong set, though that's easy to overlook as he has three instrumentals. Rose sings his Walking Along With You and though he has less writing credits than Robin his songs are epics (the instrumental El Wool Suite and Bridge Song are both over 8 minutes long, while Rainbow clocks in at over 15 minutes). Likky also surprisingly chimes in with the otherworldy I Know You, a song every bit as good as her partners' songs.
So ignore anything you've read about the band going shit after 1968, ignore Joe Boyd when he says this is a bad album (the reason it was never released by Hannibal on CD) and instead give it a go because its every bit as weird and enjoyable as other early Incredible String Band albums, but its also a hell of a lot more eclectic and fun.
A:
El Wool Suite
9:02
The Juggler's Song
3:05
Time
3:57
Bad Sadie Lee
3:52
Queen of Love
8:57
B:
Partial Belated Overture
2:54
Light in Time of Darkness / Glad to See You
10:18
Walking Along With You
3:58
Hirem Pawnitof / Fairies' Hornpipe
6:27
Bridge theme
2:15
C:
Bridge Song
8:45
Astral Plane Theme
4:55
Invocation
4:48
Robot Blues
4:02
Puppet Song
6:15
D:
Cutting the Strings
5:03
I Know You
3:22
Rainbow
15:22
CONDITION: STILL FACTORY SEALED...never opened in 40 years...a perfect flat and square copy with 4 sharp corners and no problems...no bends, no writing and no split seams...a little of the outer cellophane is missing at top right corner area but clearly everything is MINT like new but from 40 years ago
A cool addition to anyone's music library!
SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...
EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING
All imperfections are noted both cover & record
NOTE: All Items backed by money back guarantee! IF you have a problem PLEASE let us solve for you BEFORE leaving ANY negative feedback. Thanks! GRADING SCALE: M, M-, EX, VG++,VG+, VG, VG- M Completely clean, no marks M- Carefully used, looks clean, plays clean, shiny gloss, no marks EX Faint scuff or superficial mark, near M-, high gloss, plays clean VG++ Glossy with minimal scuffing or light mark playing very nice, clean VG+ a bit more scuff or markls still plays well with very minimal surface at worse VG more marks/scratches only minor, nothing deep, no loud clicks or pops this grade is abused by many, VG here does not mean "trashed" VG- surface noise present, will not have skips or jumps ALL PAYMENTS SHOULD BE MADE WITHIN 5 DAYS Of AUCTIONS END BIDDERS PLEASE = Do Not Bid If You Are Not Serious About Following Through The Transaction! ALL ITEMS GUARANTEED FOR WINNING BID - LESS SHIPPING!
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