The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

Infobox Album
Name = The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Type = Studio album
Artist = The Incredible String Band


Released = March 1968
Recorded = December 1967 at Sound Techniques, London
Genre = Psych folk
Length = 49:51
Label = Elektra / WEA
Producer = Joe Boyd
Reviews =
*"Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:6ydjvwpva9yk link]
*"Rolling Stone Album Guide" Rating|5|5 ISBN 0-86369-643-0|
Last album = "The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion" (1967)
This album = "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" (1968)
Next album = "Wee Tam and the Big Huge" (1968)

"The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" was the third album by the Incredible String Band, released in March 1968. It is regarded by many critics as a quintessential example of hippie culture, with its promotion of ideas such as communal living, eastern mysticism and pantheism; though this slightly undermines the inherent skill of musicianship found on the album.

The album was a major commercial success in the UK, staying in the charts for 27 weeks with a peak of #5. It has sold 800,000 copies in the UK to date. In the U.S., the ISB always remained underground and the album struggled to #161 on the "Billboard" 200. However, it was nominated for a Grammy in the folk music category.

The album featured a series of vividly dreamlike Robin Williamson songs, such as "The Minotaur's Song", a surreal music-hall parody told from the point of view of the mythical beast, and its centrepiece was Mike Heron's "A Very Cellular Song", a 13-minute reflection on life, love and amoebas; its complex structure incorporated a Bahamian spiritual ("I Bid You Goodnight") and an adaptation of a Sikh hymn ("May the pure light within you"). It had a layered production, using multi-track recording techniquesJoe Boyd, "White Bicycles", 2005, ISBN 1-85242-910-0] and a very wide array of instruments from all corners of the world, including sitar, gimbri, shenai, oud, harpsichord, panpipes and kazoo.

The album's cover art - which on original LP issues was the back cover, as the front showed just Williamson and Heron - consists of a photograph taken on Christmas Day 1967. It shows both musicians, their girlfriends Licorice McKechnie and Rose Simpson, friends Roger Marshall and Nicky Walton, several children of their friend Mary Stewart, and Robin's dog Leaf.Adrian Whittaker (ed.), "Be Glad: The Incredible String Band Compendium", 2003, ISBN 1-900924-64-1]

Regarding the title, Mike Heron said at the time:- "The hangman is death and the beautiful daughter is what comes after. Or you might say that the hangman is the past twenty years of our life and the beautiful daughter is now, what we are able to do after all these years. Or you can make up your own meaning - your interpretation is probably just as good as ours."

Track listing

#"Koeeoaddi There" (Williamson) – 4:49
#"The Minotaur's Song" (Williamson) – 3:22
#"Witches Hat" (Williamson) – 2:33
#"A Very Cellular Song" (Heron) – 13:09
#"Mercy I Cry City" (Heron) – 2:46
#"Waltz of the New Moon" (Williamson) – 5:10
#"The Water Song" (Williamson) – 2:50
#"Three Is a Green Crown" (Williamson) – 7:46
#"Swift as the Wind" (Heron) – 4:53
#"Nightfall" (Williamson) – 2:33

Personnel

*Robin Williamson - vocals, guitar, gimbri, penny whistle, percussion, pan pipe, piano, oud, mandolin, Jew's harp, chahanai, water harp, harmonica
*Mike Heron - vocals, sitar, Hammond organ, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord
*Dolly Collins - flute organ, piano
*David Snell - harp
*Licorice McKechnie - vocals, finger cymbals

Influence and additional cultural references

"The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" has been widely acclaimed by many critics. For instance it was #88 in Joe S. Harrington's "Top 100 Albums" [ [http://www.blastitude.com/14/pg4.htm Blastitude 14: Joe S. Harrington's Top 25 Albums of All Time ] ] and was listed by Keenan in "The Best Albums Ever...Honest" [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060920144139/http://www.sundayherald.com/bestalbums10.shtml The Best Albums Ever... honest ] ] . Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin said his group found their way by playing "Hangman's" and following the instructions. The artwork has been referenced on the cover to David Keenan's book "England's Hidden Reverse", Devendra Banhart's "Cripple Crow" LP, and Feathers' eponymous debut. Electronic music duo Boards of Canada may have referenced it on the cover of their album "Music Has the Right to Children", as the band has openly stated their appreciation for the Incredible String Band. A sample character in the role-playing game "" is named "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter," as is one personality of schizophrenic DC comic book character Crazy Jane. The title has also been referenced in the song European Oils by Destroyer. A 1980's sixties-revival group named themselves The Hangman's Beautiful Daughters after the title of this album.

References

External links

* [http://isb.bakkevold.com/daughter.html Lyrics]