The Incredible String Band - The Incredible String Band (Remastered) (1966/2010)

The glorious 1966 Elektra debut LP by the The Incredible String Band. Although rumors have persisted of an earlier demo-only private LP, no studio recordings have surfaced predating this protean session, recorded by Joe Boyd. At this time the band was a trio comprised of Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron. Palmer was a peripatetic legend, having busked with Wizz Jones in Paris in the late ‘50s before wending his way to Edinburgh with his banjo in 1962. Performing at a club hosted by Archie Fisher (another legendary figure on the Scottish folk scene), Palmer met Williamson, who was also interested in traditional music. They played as a duo until 1965, when they added Mike Heron, who’d been in a series of Edinburgh rock bands (Saracens, Abstracts), but who was interested in changing his errant ways.

The resulting trio made its home at Clive’s Incredible Folk Club and took their (tongue in cheek) name from the same venue. Joe Boyd, fresh from Harvard, charged with starting up an English version of Elektra, had earlier seen the Clive and Robin duo. When he heard about the new trio he rushed back to Edinburgh and signed them away from Transatlantic, who were reportedly ready to pounce.

Boyd produced this eponymous debut and it is a gorgeous blend of traditional elements and hints of the smoky future that was just around the corner. The tunes are mostly originals by Williamson and Heron, and they broadcast a sweet natured grasp of basics, both American and Anglo-Scot, interlaced with wisps of the exotic scents and harmonic approaches they’d explore more fully later in their trajectory.

The album was voted Melody Maker’s folk album of the year, but the trio broke up almost as soon as the sessions were finished. Palmer left for Afghanistan, Williamson took off for Morocco, and Heron stayed in Edinburgh, joining another rock band. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Far from it. This album is but the first step on a brick path leading into the pure heart of hippiedom.