WEE TAM

The Incredible String Band followed up The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter with a double album (Wee Tam and the Big Huge) which was also released as two single albums - again following a trail blazed by Donovan, who'd taken a similar marketing route with A Gift From a Flower To a Garden.

Whereas on The 5000 Spirits the String Band had gone absolutely wild for the sort of Indian influences that had been popularised in psychedelic circles at the time, whilst The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter had a sense of playful whimsy to it, on Wee Tam the duo of Heron and Williamson (plus extended family of guest musicians) seem to have mellowed out somewhat, playing a placid, gentle style of psychedelic folk; if 5000 Layers was an acid trip album, this Wee Tam business is more of a gentle toke of grass, or perhaps a soothing glass of smoky whiskey - soothing and relaxing, whilst also having a meditative tone to it, and the odd sitar and call to Krishna here and there suggesting that spiritual ideas were still strong on their mind.

In general, both halves of the double album are more or less on a par with each other; shortly after recording the material the String Band would go on the fateful US tour during which they would be introduced to Scientology, prompting a shift in their worldview which coincided with a shift in their artistic approach and more mixed results.