''The Chelsea Sessions 1967'' is a compilation album by the Scottish

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music, psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical el ...

group

the Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, esp ...

, which compiles their demo recordings prior to their second studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, '' The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion''. Other tracks were also produced during the '' Wee Tam and the Big Huge'' sessions in 1968. The sessions were first uncovered by Island Records in 1985. The early productions were one of the first known recordings with

Mike Heron James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Heron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended th ...

and

Robin Williamson Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinbu ...

as a duo.

Background

Recording began in October 1966 at

Sound Techniques Sound Techniques was a recording studio in Chelsea, London that was operational between 1965 and 1976. Housed in a former dairy, it was founded by recording engineers Geoff Frost and John Wood. The studio became well known as the place where man ...

Studios as works in progress for the band's second album. Williamson had returned from his travels in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

to reform the band with Heron under their producer,

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Ba ...

. Of the 13 demos, six were included on the album. The compositions, in general, were similar to what the band released on their first two albums. The arrangements, in their beginning stages, are simpler instrumentally compared to the band's complex, final product. The lyrics and rhythm also differ, most obviously on "The Mad Hatter's Song" and "Blues for the Muse". The demos were mainly solo efforts by Heron and Williamson as their contributions were relative to whoever composed the track. Of the seven tracks that do not appear on the second album, "Iron Stone" is the only one to appear on any studio album by the band. The demo of "Iron Stone" is the first take and lacks the last instrumental section, but includes lyrics not on the album version. Two tracks, "God Dog" and "Lover Man", were not released by the band, but were later covered by other artists. "God Dog", which features

Dolly Collins Dorothy Ann Collins (6 March 1933 – 22 September 1995), was an English folk musician, arranger and composer. She was the older sister of Shirley Collins. Born in Hastings, Sussex (now East Sussex), she grew up in an artistic, socialist ...

on flute organ, was left out of ''5000 Layers'' as it did not fit the album's style, and was later covered by

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

and Dolly Collins on their album, ''

Anthems in Eden ''Anthems in Eden'' is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus seven other individual pieces performed by t ...

''. "Lover Man" was considered too similar to "Painting Box", but was covered on Al Stewart's album, '' Bedsitter Images''. The remaining four tracks were previously unreleased material not completed for any studio album. The album was released on 7 October 1997 on the Pig's Whisker label. The cover by Chris Sands is an image of Heron and Williamson outside the recording studio walls in the beginning stages of development. Liner notes offer in-depth analysis of the sessions, and the demos created. The album has been reissued several times, most notably the 2000 reissue which includes a bonus track.

Track listing

# Lover Man - 2:58 # Born in Your Town - 4:30 # First Girl I Loved - 4:58 # Gently Tender - 4:47 # Little Could - 4:01 # Blues for the Muse - 3:49 # The Eyes of Fate - 3:59 # The Mad Hatter's Song - 4:58 # Alice Is a Long Time Gone - 2:58 # See Your Face and Know You - 2:37 # Frutch - 3:55 # The Iron Stone - 3:27 # God Dog - 2:42

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelsea Sessions 1967 1997 compilation albums The Incredible String Band albums