“Wee Tam And The Big Huge” by The Incredible String Band - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1968Album Chart of the Decade: 1960s

TJR says

Wee Tam is you or I; we're looking at the Big Huge star-filled universe above, around and beyond us. There are four players painting this cosmic jive: Robin Williamson (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, guimbri, drums, percussion, sarangi, piano, organ, flute, kazoo, bass drum, whistle, harmonica); Mike Heron (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, sitar, organ, harpsichord, washboard, percussion, harmonica); Rose Simpson (violin, percussion, backing vocals); Licorice McKechnie (percussion, Irish harp, backing vocals). Despite the potpourri of instrumentation, the album has a flow which is very easy on the ear, with a number of nice surprises to recommend it, none more so than the hillbilly waltz of “Log Cabin Home In The Sky”, a real classic in their catalogue. Closing the “Wee Tam” record one is the thoroughly charming “Ducks On A Pond” another of the 'epics', twisiting this way and that over the course of the 9 minutes. I'm nearly off my chair when that kazoo stomp break kicks in. They burst into a quick snip of “I Ain't Got No Home In This World Anymore” and I laugh out loud at the absurdity of the joyousness in homelessness oxymoron. The big highlight of record two is “Douglas Traherne Harding” which imaginatively links, and tips the hat to, Douglas Harding's book “On Having No Head” with Thomas Traherne's poem “Centuries Of Meditations”. When you get the link, the chorus “One light, light that is one though the lamps be many” is such a beautiful refrain. All of a sudden, I'm feeling wee Tam.

The Jukebox Rebel
26–Sep–2009

Tracklist
A1 [06:40] 7.4.png The Incredible String Band - Job’s Tears (Robin Williamson) Alternative Folk
A2 [05:30] 5.9.png The Incredible String Band - Puppies (Mike Heron) Folk
A3 [02:16] 5.4.png The Incredible String Band - Beyond The Sea (Mike Heron) Folk
A4 [02:04] 5.5.png The Incredible String Band - Yellow Snake (Robin Williamson) Folk
A5 [04:00] 9.0.png The Incredible String Band - Log Cabin Home In The Sky (Mike Heron) Folk
B1 [05:44] 6.5.png The Incredible String Band - You Get Brighter (Mike Heron) Folk
B2 [05:01] 6.2.png The Incredible String Band - The Half-Remarkable Question (Robin Williamson) Folk
B3 [03:12] 5.4.png The Incredible String Band - Air (Mike Heron) Alternative Folk
B4 [09:17] 7.6.png The Incredible String Band - Ducks On A Pond (Robin Williamson) Alternative Folk
C1 [09:32] 6.4.png The Incredible String Band - Maya (Robin Williamson) Folk
C2 [03:39] 6.6.png The Incredible String Band - Greatest Friend (Mike Heron) Folk
C3 [00:22] 4.2.png The Incredible String Band - The Son Of Noah’s Brother (Robin Williamson) Folk
C4 [05:13] 5.8.png The Incredible String Band - Lordly Nightshade (Robin Williamson) Folk
C5 [01:52] 6.1.png The Incredible String Band - The Mountain Of God (Robin Williamson) Folk
D1 [05:23] 5.5.png The Incredible String Band - Cousin Caterpillar (Mike Heron) Folk
D2 [06:34] 6.3.png The Incredible String Band - The Iron Stone (Robin Williamson) Folk
D3 [06:24] 7.8.png The Incredible String Band - Douglas Traherne Harding (Mike Heron) Folk
D4 [04:41] 5.6.png The Incredible String Band - The Circle Is Unbroken (Robin Williamson) Folk

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