Back in the psychedelic day, your street credibility would depend to a large extent on the albums ostentatiously tucked under your arm as you wandered the streets of, by way of example, Leamington Spa.
BACK in the psychedelic day, your street credibility would depend to a large extent on the albums ostentatiously tucked under your arm as you wandered the streets of, by way of example, Royal Leamington Spa.
And one of the sleeves guaranteed to confirm you as a man (it was, almost exclusively, a masculine affectation) of impeccable taste and avant-garde intellectualism was The Incredible String Band’s The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion – basically the Summer Of Love condensed into a square foot of multi-coloured cardboard.
It was the second collection they produced after being signed by Elektra, the iconic label whose roster ranged from traditional folk to acid rock, and they occupied a unique niche somewhere in the middle, stirring in elements of medieval mummery and Eastern mysticism and employing an arsenal of weird and wonderful instruments to embrace world music long before the term had been coined.
The line-up changed several times down the years but revolved around the core of Edinburgh-born Robin Williamson and Mike Heron, not so much a partnership as musical pugilists who slugged it out track by track, and that competitive creativity made them a highly effective live act.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
 | The Lost Broadcasts DVD - £4.99 |
