I’ve been trying to lighten my record collection in preparation for an upcoming move in May. In this painful process, I’ve encountered all sorts of vinyl that had somehow worked its way out of my listening rotation. One such record is The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter by the Incredible String Band, released in 1968. I bought it used sometime in the late 90’s because Stephen Malkmus from Pavement mentioned it in an interview. Can’t you just picture me reading Spin surrounded by obscure colored 7″ vinyl? I am a living cliche’, but at least I’m aware of it and in recovery. I listened to it a lot when I first got it, but it soon lost its way among more obvious choices.
ISB has been talked about a bit more in the past few years with the emergence of a new freak or psych folk movement, whatever you want to call it. Their influence can be heard in the music and aesthetic of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsome, Amimal Collective, and others. Many major artists of the 60’s count themselves as ISB fans, including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Stones, Jimmy Page, and Pete Townshend.
If you’re interested in finding the source of the river, here are two songs to check out. The first is “The Half-Remarkable Question” from Wee Tam and The Big Huge, released in 1968. The second is “Painting Box” from The 5000 Spirits of the Layers of the Onion, from 1967.
Please forgive the occasional lack of sync between audio and video.
Tags: beatles, bob dylan, devendra banhart, freak folk, incredible string band, joanna newsome, led zeppelin, pavement, pete townshend, psych folk, stones, the who
