{"id":7233,"date":"2025-09-04T14:58:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7233"},"modified":"2025-09-04T14:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:58:04","slug":"shindig-167-cob","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7233","title":{"rendered":"Shindig! #167 &#8211; COB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>CLIVE PALMER founded The Incredible String Band, then left before it achieved huge success and acclaim. Palmer\u2019s wanderlust and pursuit of his own muse took him down many roads, including the unique CLIVE\u2019S ORIGINAL BAND, one of \u201cprogressive folk\u2019s most progressive bands\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Following many years of research, GRAHAME HOOD finally tells the full story<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7234\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/COB.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/COB.png 468w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/COB-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">COB only did a handful of gigs before <em>Spirit Of Love <\/em>was released in November. Clive was now mainly playing guitar, having sold his banjo to Ralph and having to borrow it back for one track. \u201cI was skint!\u201d It had a great cover painting, showing John playing the dulcitar. The music on the album was very varied, \u2018Wade In The Water\u2019 being sung <em>a capella<\/em> with Ralph banging a drum \u201cto keep them in time\u201d, \u2018Evening Air\u2019 features the dulcitar, John bending the notes sitar-style and also playing recorder. Most critics reckoned the standout tracks to be \u2018Scranky Black Famer\u2019, a traditional Scottish song sung in a pretty good accent by Clive over a chanted \u201cAum-ba Oo-da\u201d, and \u2018When He Came Home\u2019. It starts off in three-part harmony. The exile\u2019s return: \u201cAnd nothing was quite the same as he dreamt that it would be.\u201d Guest cellist Ursula Smith plays an achingly mournful part and at the end John starts a riff on Indian hand-organ which Ursula picks up on, with Mick adding percussion as it speeds off into the distance. \u2018Sweet Slavery\u2019 was another outstanding track. All the tracks were co-credited though Mick wrote most of the lyrics.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.qobuz.com\/album\/5051125502912?zone=GB-en\" width=\"378\" height=\"390\">Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Melody Maker <\/em>made it folk album of the month. \u201cCOB is unlike anything on the folk scene.\u201d It didn\u2019t sell though. However, gigs started coming in and they even acquired a roadie, Roger Blackmore, whose VW campervan became the COB-mobile. CBS also issued a six-track maxi-single\/EP, designed to be played as 33 1\/3 rpm. Entitled <em>A Folk<\/em> <em>Sampler<\/em>, it featured a track apiece by Anne Briggs, COB and Therapy on each side. COB\u2019s tracks being \u2018Sweet Slavery\u2019 and \u2018Music Of The Ages\u2019.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0John points out that, though he did a lot for them, Lustig was never their actual manager, having much bigger fish to fry (Pentangle and Ralph McTell for two). COB were signed with Chrysalis and got enough gigs to live off, often supporting Ralph. From the beginning of \u201972 they travelled all over Britain, supporting everyone from Argent to Country Joe in concert, as well as folk club and college gigs. A gig in Chatham was recorded by the club organiser and has since been bootlegged. It marks the transition between the first album and what was to come, Clive now playing a clarinet he had bought for seven pounds in a junk shop after getting into Klezmer music and John acquiring a harmonium, another junk shop find. In May they played a notorious festival at Bardney near Lincoln. The folk acts were intended to be part of a \u201cfestival within a festival\u201d, playing from 10am to 1pm each day, \u201cin a tent if wet\u201d. \u201cThe place was decimated by a hurricane the night before,\u201d Clive recalled of the typical disaster festival. The tent blew away and they weren\u2019t put on until the Sunday morning and only had to do three songs. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t see the audience. They were sheltering under plastic sheets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Take out a 60-day trial with <a href=\"https:\/\/try.qobuz.com\/shindig\/\">Qobuz<\/a>\u00a0today only through Shindig! to enjoy their vast catalogue, our monthly bespoke playlists, and this very album.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>To read the full article you can order <\/em>Shindig!\u00a0<em>#167 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverbackpublishing.rocks\/product\/shindig-167\/\">here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7233&#038;t=Shindig%21%20%23167%20%E2%80%93%20COB&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7233&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F09%2FScreenshot-2025-09-04-at-14.55-copy.jpg&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Shindig%21%20%23167%20%E2%80%93%20COB\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7233&#038;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Shindig%21%20%23167%20%E2%80%93%20COB&#038;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7233\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CLIVE PALMER founded The Incredible String Band, then left before it achieved huge success and acclaim. Palmer\u2019s wanderlust and pursuit of his own muse took him down many roads, including the unique CLIVE\u2019S ORIGINAL BAND, one of \u201cprogressive folk\u2019s most progressive bands\u201d. Following many years of research, GRAHAME HOOD finally tells the full story &nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1009,1172],"tags":[1215],"class_list":["post-7233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-qobuz","tag-cob"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7233"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}