Robin Williamson

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For president of the Royal Society of Medicine, see Robin C. N. Williamson.
Robin Williamson
Robin Williamson performing in 2009
Robin Williamson performing in 2009
Background information
Birth nameRobin Williamson
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, harp, banjo, fiddle, flute, penny whistle, etc.
Years activeSince 1963
Websitepigswhiskermusic.co.uk

Robin Williamson (born 24 November 1943, Edinburgh) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band.

Career

He lived in the Portobello area of Edinburgh, and attended George Watson's College before leaving at the age of 15 to become a professional musician. At first he performed in local jazz bands, with Gerard Dott (a later member of the ISB) and others, before turning to traditional music as a singer and guitarist. By 1961 he had met and begun sharing a flat with Bert Jansch, and in 1963 they traveled together to London to play the metropolitan folk circuit.[1]

By 1965 he had returned to Edinburgh and formed a duo with Clive Palmer, specialising in fiddle and banjo arrangements of traditional Scots and Irish songs. Joe Boyd signed them to Elektra Records in 1966, by which time they had recruited third member Mike Heron. As resident band at Clive’s Incredible Folk Club in Glasgow, they called themselves the Incredible String Band.

Between 1966 and 1974 the Incredible String Band, based around the duo of Williamson and Heron, released some 13 albums, becoming in the UK one of the most popular, best-loved and influential groups of the era. The group also included Williamson's sometime girlfriend Licorice McKechnie.

Williamson released his first solo LP, "Myrrh", in 1971 when still a member of the Incredible String Band. After the band split up in 1974, he began living in Los Angeles and, for a while, turned his attention to writing, co-writing an espionage novel, "The Glory Trap".

By 1976 he had returned to music, forming The Merry Band with Sylvia Woods (Celtic harp), Jerry McMillan (fiddle), and Chris Caswell (flutes, and wire-strung harp). They toured extensively for three years throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, and released three albums "Journey’s Edge", "American Stonehenge", and "A Glint At The Kindling".

After the breakup of the Merry Band, Williamson returned to the UK and started to tour solo, offering sets dominated by traditional stories set to song. Releases of this period include "Songs of Love and Parting" and "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers". Williamson's concern with the British bardic tradition also manifested itself in several books and tapes containing spoken renditions of traditional tales. He has also written a tutorial book of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes (ISBN 0-8256-0165-7) as well as one for the penny whistle (ISBN 0-8256-0190-8).

Williamson's live album with John Renbourn, 'Wheel Of Fortune' (1995), was nominated for a Grammy, (as was the ISB album 'Hangman's Beautiful Daughter', in 1968).

In the late 1990s he took part, with Palmer and Heron, in a reformed ISB. Williamson left the band some time around the start of 2003 - some rumours had it that he was forced out in acrimonious circumstances. The reformed band disbanded once again in 2006.

Meanwhile Williamson resumed his solo career, notably on record with a series of albums for the ECM label. "Seed-at-zero' (2000), 'Skirting The River Road' (2002) and 'The Iron Stone' (2006) featured him combining his own words with those of the likes of Dylan Thomas, William Blake, and Walt Whitman. Musically these records show him increasingly working in a fusion style (similar in some ways to the avant-garde work of the Incredible String Band in the 60's) which incorporates folk, jazz, Renaissance, Classical and Eastern influences. A group of distinguished jazz musicians accompany Williamson on the two most recent ECM records, notably violist Mat Maneri, bassist Barre Phillips, Swedish multi-instrumentalist Ale Moller, and English sax player Paul Dunmall.

Solo discography

For albums made with the Incredible String Band, see Incredible String Band.
  • - Myrrh (1972)
  • - Journey's Edge (1977) (with The Merry Band)
  • - American Stonehenge (1978) (with The Merry Band)
  • - A Glint At The Kindling (1979) (with The Merry Band)
  • - Songs of Love & Parting (1981)
  • - The Fisherman's Son And The Gruagach of Tricks (1981)
  • - Prince Dougie And The Swan Maiden (1982)
  • - Rory Mor And The Gruagach Gaire (1982)
  • - Music for the Mabinogi (1983)
  • - Selected Writings (1984)
  • - Five Humorous Tales of Scotland and Ireland (1984)
  • - The Dragon Has Two Tongues (1985)
  • - Five Celtic Tales of Enchantment (1985)
  • - Five Legendary Histories Of Britain (1985)
  • - Five Bardic Mysteries (1985)
  • - Five Tales of Prodigies and Marvels (1985)
  • - Legacy of the Scottish Harpers (1986)
  • - Legacy of the Scottish Harpers Volume Two (1986)
  • - Winter's Turning (1986)
  • - Songs For Children of All Ages (1987)
  • - Ten of Songs (1988)
  • - Music For The Newly Born (1990)
  • - Wheel Of Fortune (1995, with John Renbourn)
  • - The Island Of The Strong Door (1996)
  • - Songs For The Calendarium (1996)
  • - Farewell Concert At McCabe's (1997, with The Merry Band)
  • - Mirrorman's Sequences (1997)
  • - Celtic Harp Airs And Dance Tunes (1997)
  • - Memories/Erinnerungen (1997)
  • - Dream Journals (1997)
  • - Bloomsbury 1997 (1998, with Mike Heron)
  • - Gems Of Celtic Story 1 (1998)
  • - Ring Dance (1998)
  • - Gems Of Celtic Story 2 (1998)
  • - A Job Of Journey Work (1998)
  • - The Old Fangled Tone (1999)
  • - Music For Macbeth (1999)
  • - At The Pure Fountain (1999, with Clive Palmer)
  • - The Seed-at-Zero (2000)
  • - Just Like The Ivy (2000, with Clive Palmer)
  • - Bloomsbury 2000 (2001, with reformed ISB)
  • - Carmina (2001)
  • - Skirting The River Road (2002)
  • - Gems Of Celtic Story 3 (2002)
  • - The Iron Stone (2006)
  • - The Celtic Bard (2008)
  • - Just Like The River And Other Songs For Guitar (2008)

Bibliography

Robin Williamson

  • - English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes (1976)

Robin Williamson

  • - Penny Whistle Book (1977)

Robin Williamson

  • - Five Denials on Merlin's Grave: A Poem With Annotations (1979)

Dan Sherman and Robin Williamson

  • - The Glory Trap (1981) (novel)

Robin Williamson

  • - Holy Howlers (1987)
  • - The Craneskin Bag: Celtic Stories and Poems (1989)
  • - Wise and Foolish Tongue: Celtic Stories and Poems (1991)

Robin Williamson and John Matthews

  • - From the Isles of Dream: Visionary Stories and Poems of the Celtic Renaissance (1993)

R.J. Stewart and Robin Williamson

  • - Celtic Bards, Celtic Druids (1996)

Robin Williamson and John Matthews

  • - The Bardic Source Book: Inspirational Legacy and Teachings of the Ancient Celts (1998)

References

  1. ^ Adrian Whittaker (ed.), Be Glad: The Incredible String Band Compendium, 2003, ISBN 1-900924-64-1

External links

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