''U'' is a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

, the seventh studio album overall, by the British

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

group

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

(ISB) and was released on

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

in October 1970. The majority of the material featured on the album was taken from the mixed-media production of the same name, which saw the band backed by the dancing troupe the Stone Monkey. The concept of ''U'' derived from the ISB's fascination and subsequent conversion to

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

in 1969. Although the show, along with the songs, were seen as ambitious, ''U'' was a commercial failure for the ISB. The album managed to chart at number 183 on the ''Billboard'' 200,Whitburn, Joel; ''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums'', 1955-1996; p. 366. fairing considerably better in the UK where it peaked at number 34 on the UK Albums Charts.Chart Archive - Incredible String Band(Link redirected to OCC website)
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Background

In 1969, after researching its concepts, the members of the ISB had joined the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

, and expressed some of their changing views on their subsequent studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Changing Horses'', later in the year. In November 1969, at the

Hotel Chelsea The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Ch ...

in New York City, the ISB met two ex-members of

David Medalla David Cortez Medalla (23 March 1942 – 28 December 2020) was a Filipino international artist and political activist. His work ranged from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation, and performance art. Early life David Cortez Med ...

's kinetic art group the Exploding Galaxy, after the troupe unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

. Former members

Malcolm Le Maistre Malcolm Le Maistre (born 21 March 1949) is an English people, English musician, experimental artist and theatre director, who was a member of The Incredible String Band in the 1970s. He was born in England, his father a France, French born journa ...

and Rakis, as well as their newly formed dance ensemble the Stone Monkey, took residency at the ISB's commune in Glen Row to help the band, especially

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 Edinbur ...

, realise their vision for a multi-media stage act. Described as a "surreal parable in song and dance" by Williamson, ''U'' was "neither a pageant, a play, dance, theater, nor pantomime, though there were elements of all of those" in the show. For the plot, Williamson explained "the vague notion was, a soul incarnates out of nowhere, lives, and then vanishes again at the other end. Hence the idea 'U'", although the performances themselves hardly followed a coherent storyline. On 8 April 1970 the three-hour ''U'' show opened at London's Roundhouse where it ran for ten consecutive days. As many as 12 dancers accompanied the band on stage; the dancing aspect was reminiscent of the group's early performing days with the duo Mimi and Mouse. Another booking, this time for six days at the

Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore Stre ...

in San Francisco, came at the ISB's own expense, and the financial fallout forced the group to complete the shows without the Stone Monkey in a standard concert format. In an attempt to recoup the financial losses of the "U" show,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

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 Band ...

booked the band, along with

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s Janet Shankman, Peter Grant, and Maistre, into a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

studio to record the nearly two hours of material that is featured on the

. ''U'' was recorded in just 48 hours; Williamson recalled "We just went day and night for two days and two nights, in shifts, and finished. I can't remember what the reasons were, but we had to be done in a hurry. In a way, it seemed to fit". Regardless of the time constraints, the album still contained characteristically complex instrumentals and

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

. The music on the album was taken from the songs the band performed on the ''U'' tour, showcasing a staggering diversity of

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

, and traditional folk arrangements long associated with the group, as well as new, highly progressive elements.

Release

''U'' was released in October 1970 on the Elektra label (catalogue item 7E-2002 in the US, catalogue item 2665 001 in the UK). In the US, the album peaked at number 183 on the ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

'', remaining on the charts for three weeks, and on the '' UK Albums Charts'' it managed to reach number 34 during a two-week stay. Also, in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' magazine the album charted in the top 20, before dropping off in a few weeks. The album's cover by Shankman was literal interpretation of the show as it featured a mult-colored "U". Inside the gatefold sleeve were photographs depicting the band and the Stone Monkeys in the midst of a performance of the "U" show.

Track listing

Personnel

"El Wool Suite": *

Mike Heron James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scotland, 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 at ...

- sitar; *

- gimbri, flute, clay drums; *

Rose Simpson Rose Simpson (born 22 November 1946) is an English former musician. Between 1968 and 1971, she was a member of the Incredible String Band, with whom she played bass guitar, violin, percussion and sang. She later became Lady Mayoress of the Wel ...

- tabla, guitar "The Juggler's Song": *

- vocal, guitar, bass, mandolin; *

Licorice McKechnie Christina 'Licorice' McKechnie (born 2 October 1945) is a Scottish musician. She was a singer and songwriter in The Incredible String Band between 1968 and 1972. Her whereabouts have been publicly unknown since 1987, when she was last seen hit ...

- vocal "Time": *

- vocal, 12-string guitar, mandolin "Bad Sadie Lee": * Janet Shankman - vocal; *

- piano, vocal; *

- fiddle, Jew's harp, washboard, vocal; *

- vocal; *

- vocal; * Peter Grant - banjo "Queen of Love": *

- vocal, guitar, bass; * Janet Shankman - harpsichord; *

Tom Constanten Tom Constanten (born March 19, 1944) is an American keyboardist, best known for playing with Grateful Dead from 1968 to 1970, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Biography Early career Born in Long Branch, N ...

- arranger "Partial Belated Overture": *

- piano, guitar; *

- shanai, fiddle; *

- bass "Light in Time of Darkness / Glad to See You": *

- vocal, piano; *

- bass "Walking Along with You": *

- vocal; *

- guitar, vocal; *

- bass "Hirem Pawnitof / Fairies' Hornpipe": *

- vocal, guitar, mandolin; *

- fiddle; *

- spoons; *

- bass "Bridge Theme": *

- guitar; *

- shanai, soondri; *

- drums; *

- bass "Bridge Song": *

- vocal; *

- guitar, vocal; *

- lead guitar, vocal; *

- bass, vocal "Astral Plane Theme": *

- guitar "Invocation": *

- Greg Heat's voice sitar "Robot Blues": *

- vocal, piano "Puppet Song": *

- vocal, guitar "Cutting the Strings": *

- vocal, guitar, mandolin, gimbri, fiddle, flute; *

- vocal; *

- sitar "I Know You": *

- vocal, guitar "Rainbow": *

- vocal, piano, organ, guitar, bass; *

- drums, vocals, soondri, fiddle, flute, mandolin; *

- vocals, drums; *

- vocals, bass; * Mal and Malcolm - vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1970 albums The Incredible String Band albums Albums produced by Joe Boyd Elektra Records albums Warner Music Group albums