Search - Incredible String Band :: Changing Horses

I'm still amazed

kirkeby | new email adress | 08/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If there ever was something that change my life. It was definily this band. How modest they are to call themselves the Incredible Stringband when in fact they are/were the Incredible innovators of 'my thoughts' in all my early years, that is from the age of 13 well, until now. If anybody had an impact onmy life Robin certainly did. For many years ago, in Copenhagen, I meet licorice in a park, I wasgoing the same evening to a concert with the I.S.B. And there I was..... together with Licorice.. what a thrill... Until this day I remember that day. And the concert was great. There was light everywere and I mean light,because wereever the ISB played, there was light. I love these persons I know that they loved me. If ever you should listen to music, and offcourse you are, DO'NT MISS THIS. I love you but the maker he loves you the best."

More Myths from Hippie Central. Great Stuff.

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 06/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"`Changing Horses' is the fourth / fifth album by the four member Incredible String Band with Robin Williamson and Mike Heron being joined for the third time by Rose and Licorice on base and guitar respectively. As with every previous album, the lion's share of the songwriting is done by Williamson, whose songs also tend to be far more deeply steeped in myth, both traditional and created. One gets the feeling that Williamson was baptised with a copy of `The Golden Bough' rather than the `Holy Bible'. I also tend to prefer Williamson's songs over Heron's in general, but this album contains `White Bird', which may very well be Heron's best effort. It is certainly his best song on TISB albums up to this point. It is almost a shame that a great song of the same name by Linda and David LaFlamme of `It's A Beautiful Day' came out about the same time. I checked my old Columbia LP of `It's A Beautiful Day' and can find no copywrite date, but I recall hearing the LaFlamme's version first.



In looking at the original release dates of the first five TISB albums, I'm surprised at how close together they are for a group which I'm sure had only a fringe audience at best. On the other hand, I'm sure they and their handlers at Elektra believed that it was best to get the releases out there while the audience was buying.



After all these years of listening to TISB on vinyl and CD, it has finally dawned on me as I reviewed `The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' that practically all their work can be seen as a musical analogue to `The Hobbit', `Alice in Wonderland', and `Winnie the Pooh', all stories nominally written for children but probably enjoyed much more by adults, especially adults with a countercultural persuasion. These are all songs from hippie central!



Aside from `White Bird', the most outstanding number on this album is `Creation', Robin Williamson's version of Genesis for the `New Age'. In structure, the song is very similar to `Maya', the first cut on `Wee Tam', where there most lines in the song lay out a series. In this case, it is the days of the week as they were created by a distaff diety.



My impression when I originally bought this album in 1969 was that this The Incredible String Band was giving us more of the same high quality tunes and performances, but that there was not a lot of development in evidence. This was in the days when two years separated the Beatles `I Wanna Hold Your Hand' and `Please Please Me' from Eleanor Rigby' and `Yesterday'. Strong progression of style was `de rigeur'.



In retrospect, we know that The Incredible String Band' never did develop much beyond their style established in these half dozen or so albums between 1967 and 1971. Robin Williamson has retreated to doing old Celtic storytelling and covers of traditional songs which served as his original inspiration. We can give thanks to the fact that we have these on CD after all these years.



Highly recommended for all unrepentant hippies everywhere.

"

THE BEGINNING OF CHANGES...

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 03/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"CHANGING HORSES was originally released in 1969, not that long after the ISB?s WEE TAM/BIG HUGE double-LP release (separated into two individual albums for release in the good ol? USA). Some of the gentle mood of WT/BH carried over into this recording, but for the most part it feels like the growth process that it is ? the band was extending its instrumental reach into electric guitars (included on 3 of the 6 tracks). The listener could almost ?feel? what was to come with future releases ? the band?s personnel would change and expand, and they would become more of a ?rock? outfit by the time EARTHSPAN was released in 1972. The changes were welcomed by some and dreaded by others.The set opens with ?Big Ted?, a Robin Williamson composition devoted to the life and death of a pig ? done up in his inimitable style, and including some great, gently humorous lines. ?White bird?, a 14-minute-plus Mike Heron opus, follows ? the booklet reproduces Mike?s artwork as well as his calligraphy accompanying this song. The song goes through some nice, interesting changes, and overall works very well. ?Dust be diamonds? is next ? the first collaboration between Mike and Robin to appear on any of their records ? with Robin taking the lead vocal. ?Sleepers awake!? follows ? a Mike Heron composition, sung a capella by the four members of the band in their beautiful sounds-like-a-rehearsal style. The voice blend into a lovely mix, and those of the girls are particularly effective in this setting. ?Mr. & Mrs.? is next, another Robin Williamson composition. The arrangement here is the closest to a ?rock? band that appears on this record ? but it?s not at all overbearing, and seems to suit the song well. The lyrics are a bit hard to understand ? it?s always been a disappointment to me that only two of the songs (the aforementioned ?White bird? and ?Creation?) were included in print. The swirling Leslies on the organ played by Licorice on this track are a great touch. ?Creation? ends the album, a long (over 16 minutes) work composed by Robin. It?s an ambitious track, working elements of several creation myths into the lyrics, and it?s successful overall. My only problem with this track (and this is a personal peeve, not a serious criticism of the band?s work) is the inclusion of the ?megaphone? effect on Robin?s vocal near the end of the piece ? it?s a little too self-consciously vaudevillian for my tastes (he resorts to it again on a later album).Robin and Mike were amazing prolific writers ? thus the frequency of the ISB releases, 12 (13 if you count WEE TAM/BIG HUGE as two) releases between 1966-1973. This is an astonishing output that doesn?t even include compilations. There are more, recordings from early in their career and recordings made since they got back together a couple of years ago. They went through a lot of changes in a short period of time ? but their work was generally of high quality, and always interesting, always pushing whatever envelope in which they imagined themselves ? much to the listeners? delight. This is one of their better efforts, close to their best ? definitely a great asset to my collection."