Track Listing

1. Job's Tears
2. Puppies
3. Beyond The Sea
4. Yellow Snake
5. Log Cabin Home In The Sky
6. You Get Brighter
7. Half Remarkable Question
8. Air
9. Ducks On A Pond
10. Maya
11. Grreatest Friend
12. Son Of Noah's Brother
13. Lordly Nightshade
14. Mountain Of God
15. Cousin Caterpillar
16. Iron Stone
17. Douglas Traherne Harding
18. Circle Is Unbroken

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107939 in Music
• Released on: 2002-07-08
• Number of discs: 2

CD Description
Originally released as two separate albums in 1968, WEE TAM& THE BIG HUGE were audacious then and monumental now. These were, in effect, the Incredible String Band's fourth and fifth albums; their debut appeared just two years prior. The band expanded their base with more stringed instruments fromaround the world, and increased the song length. More than half the songs are over five minutes in length to accommodate the band's exploration of folkish moods and mysticism. Mike Heron's "Log Cabin In The Sky" is a classic by any measure, and Robin Williamson's "The Half-Remarkable Question" shows him in full command of a deeply anchored musical sensibility. The whole set feels like a continuous piece, with the songs rolling into one another with graceful ease.

Customer Reviews

I looked back
It would be a crying shame if the only people who buy this album are replacing an ancient vinyl copy (like me).
The unbridled imaginations of Mike Heron & Robin Williamson are given full range here, in a staggering display of multi-instrumental virtuosity. The lyrics which are deeply suggestive of myth, legend and pagan spirituality formed the soundtrack to most of the enjoyable psychodelic experiences of my youth.
I hope I can encourage a new generation to embrace this joyous sound.

A magical mystery
This (double) album has a very different 'feel' to its predecessor (The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, which of course signified Death), and also to the other two previous albums. It's hard to say in words exactly where it differs, but it somehow flows more easily, it's less jerky, being more in a kind of 'hippy Donovan' style rather than a 'bearded folkie' folk-club sort of thing. That said, the earlier albums are superb.

To me, this album is a unique work which captures a 'feel' of the immediate post-Flower Power period that almost no other recording does. It's a sort of acid-folk, in a way, but it's really nothing to do with chemical substances at all - for it's simply poetic imagination, set to music. There are religious themes in it, but it really goes beyond the describable. Whatever it was that they somehow managed to capture here, one thing's for sure: they didn't have it before, and they didn't have it after. Maybe it's a sort of English/Celtic magic? Yes, that's probably what it was...

The band achieved much greater popularity after this album, becoming more of a kind of hippy/pop band, and I lose interest in their music after this point in their career. If you're thinking of buying it, take my advice and order it. I think that, after hearing it a few times, you'd wish you'd bought it ages ago.

Enter another world
I think this is one of the most perfectly cohesive albums I have heard - absolutely one of my 20th century favourites. I bought it in the early 70s, updated to CD when the time came and still listen to it on a regular basis. Incidentally, I cannot agree with 'theblackferret' (previous reviewer) that Maya is a long drag - I find it a continual pleasure to listen to, even after 30-odd years. If you want to chill out, relax and escape to another place, give it a listen.