Incredible String Band - Be Glad For The Song Has No Ending

I'm amazed that I did not find this by looking for a DVD by the Incredible String Band. The individuals certainly appear in the film, but the basic idea is that they spontaneously perform as the Incredible String Band whenever they give a concert. The fable at the end, which starts when someone has a wood play pirate sword and the music in the background has hardly any words, includes some people who might not be at most of their concerts, but they probably ehjoy the Incredible String Band or they wouldn't all be on the same wavelength.I bought this DVD in 2006 and vaguely remembered that it had some of the group's songs: "Mercy I Cry City," "Air," and "The Iron Stone." Robin plays the end of "Mercy I Cry City" with a whistle in one hand and a harmonica in the other hand, which would be called flexibility in the jobs I've had. I'm not sure of the title for a song that sounds like "Ha." A sitar is shown during the song "The Iron Stone," which is introduced by Robin saying that a song could be based on a fantasy, a dream, or about suddenly understanding something.The beginning is a combination of the ARK story, word association, a list of instruments, "and then some," their solution to "this evolution problem," and finally has singing about "to give a little schoolboy his first love" and "oh those goodtime girls" which seem to be part of a title song, "Be Glad for the song has no ending."Peter Neal directed and provides an interview about trying to get it on the BBC's Omnibus arts program. The photography often provides a picture of just two faces, a single face, and during the song "The Iron Stone," gradually gets close enough to show a single eye.

I remember the first time I was introduced to the music of The String Band in the summer of '69 up in the Rocky Mts of Canada. At that time, I admired the Incredibles' interest in folk/ethnic musicology as I had also begun listening to Albanian, Bosnian, Romanian, Turkish, Iranian and Indian folk recordings at my university's record library. Now, after all these years, I have finally got to see Robin and Mike, Licorise and Rose on film. As the first reviewer of this historic DVD has mentioned, seeing Robin in action on "Mercy I Cry City" is alone worth the price of this DVD. I also agree that after viewing this film, one wishes that it could have been much longer. But,the one full length studio version of "The Iron Stone" included on this DVD is proof enough of how magical and innovative this group really was. Since the late 1960s, has any artist even come close to approximating the extraordinary versatilty and ingenuity of Robin and Mike? What a sad bunch are today's "musicians" whose rap-artistry pales in comparison to the Incredibles' enormous talent and musicianship. For anyone who remembers the Incredibles with fondness from their youth, this short documentary alone will not disappoint. I would also like to recommend Adrian Whittaker's excellent book (available from Amazon.com)"beGlad - An Incredible String Band Compendium" to those reading this. Finally, I am surprised that no other String Band fans have written reviews of this DVD. Where are ya mates?

As a long time ISB fan, I looked forward to this DVD in hope of recapturing the ISB glory days. But while this disk has a couple of good performances, much of the disk is devoted to a silly high-schoolish skit/movie that captures the playfulness of the time, but not the true magic.Also the film says its 80 minutes, but this includes a half hour, longwinded review with the director who explains that this didn't make the cut with BBC, even though they paid for it.All in all, there's maybe 10 to 15 minutes of quality concert footage and the rest is a kind of avant garde digression.

I have loved The Incredible String Band ever since Jonathan Swartz first played "First Girl I Loved" on WNEW-FM, back in the 1960's. They were an amazing part of the dream that was the world back then. BUT THIS DVD SUCKS, 100%. Rent it from Netflix first, and you will see what I mean. What a despicable way to show anything about ISB...it is filled with fluff and fibs all the way through.

For any die hard ISB fan this is a must see at least once to experience the feeling of that time. This DVD was not released when it was made but it showcases the group and the era and probably would have been an experience on some type of mind altering substances.

Very neat insight into the band. And some nice imaginitive sounds and imagery that nicely capture and enhance the Incredible String Band feeling.

I saw this in the summer of 1970 in a small London theatre; 40 years later it does not appear ridiculous or self-indulging at all - not at all! All Writ Down and The Iron Stone, the latter a sort of Reincarnation Anthem unthinkable today but natural and unembarassing in those days are very good full sequence live performances, whereas The Pirate and the Crystal Ball is a short story settled in no less than a sort of Old Norse-Ancient Chinese context with some uplifting instrumental music with chorus not unlike George Harrison's Wonderwall Music. A bit short.

As someone who owned the original LP of "Be glad", I was looking forward to hearing again those great old songs (Vishangro, Come with me, All writ down) but they have not been included in this DVD. The only survivor from the LP's side 1 is a truncated "See all the people".For the rest, the DVD is great for nostalgia buffs and really gives a feel of what the late 60s were like at the 'hippy' end of the spectrum, but the DVD is rather bad value - only about 40 mins and crying out for some decent 'extras'.If you already have the first 6 or 7 albums, buy this as a bonus: otherwise your money is better spent on the music.

I first heard ISB in their 60s heyday and was knocked out by their unique blend of Celtic folk and oriental influences. There's simply nothing else like it. Two brilliant musicians and songwriters, and their music sounds just as fresh today. I had this album on vinyl and had nearly worn it out, so to get a pristine Cd version was a huge bonus. It's probably their most completely rounded album, with Robin and Mike at the height of their abilities, and time has not taken any of its edge away. The Archbishop of Canterbury says they're his favourite band - the guy has taste!

Der Film gehört ganz klar in die Zeit, Ende der 60er, Anfang der 70er, entsprechend altertümlich und kraus kommt er uns heute vor. Die Story mit dem Piraten und der Kristallkugel kann man glatt vergessen, die "dokumentarischen" Szenen mit Williamson und Heron und einigen Konzertschnipseln finde ich wesentlich interessanter. Wenn man dies mit ihren besten Platten vergleicht, kommt die einzigartige Magie der Band nicht wirklich rüber. Zumal die Filmmusik (gibt's ja auch auf CD) für ihre Verhältnisse allenfalls mittelmäßiges Niveau hat.