I Looked Up

The Incredible String Band played a variety of folk music, from British and Celtic-inspired odes to Appalachian mountain jams all with the enthusiasm of young, excited true believers. The inspired ambitions of the group’s two songwriters, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron, ensured that there would be few dry spots and 1970’s I Looked Up is another grand pleasure where the band’s dexterous instrumental approach keeps things intriguing from start to finish. Mike Heron’s “Black Jack Davey” begins the set at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The sawing fiddle matches the power of the traditional melody until it feels as if ISB were a credible, lifelong practitioner of traditional American hillbilly music. Heron’s “Letter” includes electric instrumentation and the addition of Fairport Convention’s drummer Dave Mattacks driving the group. Williamson trends towards the long, meandering and obscure with his elongated tale of Lord Randall on the nearly eleven-minute “Picture’s In a Mirror,” while his “When You Find Out Who You Are” makes its first overt nod towards Scientology. Heron’s “Far As You” ends things in a traditional British-folk mode.