The Incredible String Band - Curlew (1972)

1972 was a pivotal year for The Incredible String Band, as having released a string of well-received albums on Elektra Records, their manager Joe Boyd severed ties with the band in 1971 and returned to the US, while Rose Simpson left the group, to be replaced by Malcolm Le Maistre, formerly of the Stone Monkey troupe. Mike Heron had taken time out to record a well-received solo album 'Smiling Men With Bad Reputations', which featured a host of session guests, among them Pete Townshend, Ronnie Lane, Keith Moon, John Cale, Richard Thompson, and Elton John on an unreleased out-take, and in 1972 Licorice McKechnie left, to be replaced by Gerard Dott, an Edinburgh jazz musician and friend of both Heron and Robin Williamson. Williamson himself also recorded a solo album 'Myrrh', which featured some of his most extraordinary vocal performances, and so to a casual observer it would seem that the band was on the verge of falling apart. However, they had managed to secure a deal with Island Records, and following the release of the soundtrack to the film 'Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending', they issued the eclectic 'Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air' in 1971 to renewed praise from the critics. So in 1972 they began laying down tracks for the upcoming 'Earthspan' album, which, compared to its predecessors, was a more generic folk album. The band was continuing its exploration into progressive rock and synthesizers in order to create a more commercial-oriented sound, which was mostly due to Heron's influence over the group, and as a result they would lose much of their trademark style that made them popular in the British underground counterculture of the 1960's. 

They recorded a couple of sessions for the John Peel Show on Radio 1, and previewed unrecorded songs such as 'Secret Temple' and 'Oh Did I Love A Dream', as well as performing a full band version of 'Rends-Moi Demain' from Williamson's solo album. Clive Palmer had left the band in their early days and formed his own group C.O.B. or Clive's Original Band, and had released their debut album 'Spirit Of Love' in 1970, but in the same year that the ISB was preparing to go into the studio for the 'Earthspan' sessions, they released their second album 'Moyshe McStiff And The Tartan Lancers Of The Sacred Heart', bringing him back to the attention of ISB fans who remembered his early involvement with the band. So although things weren't going swimmingly for the Incredible String Band, there was a lot of music from the individual musicians in that year, so I though I'd bring some of it together as a summary of what was going on in their lives. We start with a track from each of the solo albums which were around in 1972 (Heron's having been released a few months earlier), followed by an out-take from the 'Earthspan' sessions, and the un-issued track from Heron's solo album that featured Elton John. An out-take from Palmer's album follows, and then we have the ISB version of Williamson's 'Rends-Moi Demain', and another leftover from Heron's album. Another 'Earthspan' out-take, Licorice McKechnie's 'Secret Temple', is next, followed by Palmer's instrumental out-take 'Falconer's Glove', and then another track from Williamson's 'Myrhh' as he was starting to feel a bit neglected, and finally we round off with the lovely instrumental title track. This is something of an unusual post, as it mixes released album tracks, demos, radio sessions and out-takes, but it captures a moment in time for the members and former members of this unique band.

Track listing

01 Dark Dance 
02 Martha & Mary  
03 Feast Of Stephen 
04 Oh Did I Love A Dream  
05 Make No Mistake 
06 Sweet Spring 
07 Rends-Moi Demain 
08 Lady Wonder   
09 Secret Temple   
10 Falconer's Glove 
11 Cold Harbour 
12 Curlew