Dr. Strangely Strange - Kip of the Serenes (1969/1993 Island Records)
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Artist: Dr. Strangely Strange
Album: Kip of the Serenes
Released: 1969/1993
Island Records (3DCID1004)
Genre: Folk-Rock, Irish-Folk, Psychedelic, British Folk
AMG Biography: An experimental Irish folk group closely affiliated with the Incredible String Band, Dr. Strangely Strange was formed in Dublin in 1967 by vocalist/guitarist Tim Booth and bassist/keyboardist Ivan Pawle (vocals/bass/keyboards). Soon they teamed with multi-instrumentalist Tim Goulding, an aspiring painter, and began living and rehearsing in a house owned by Goulding's girlfriend, backing vocalist Orphan Annie (a.k.a. Annie Xmas), which its tenants nicknamed "The Orphanage." After signing with the Incredible String Band's producer and manager Joe Boyd, Dr. Strangely Strange debuted in 1969 with Kip of the Serenes. While on tour with Fotheringay, they enlisted drummer Neil Hopwood, and later in the year appeared on the String Band's Changing Horses LP. After 1970's Heavy Petting, Dr. Strangely Strange began falling apart: Goulding left to enter to a Buddhist monastery, while Pawle and Booth teamed with Gay and Terry Woods for a brief tour. The group soon disbanded, but they reunited in 1973 for an Irish tour, and briefly reconvened again in the early '80s, Eventually Booth established a second Orphanage which became a springboard for a new generation of Irish rock, helping launch the careers of Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, Gary Moore and others. - By Jason Ankeny.
Prog Archives: DR. STRANGELY STRANGE were a group whose initial run lasted just four years in the late sixties but whose reputation has lived on in progressive music folklore. The band formed as a duo consisting of Ivan Pawle and Tim Booth but soon added keyboardist and multidiscipline artist Tom Goulding and drummer Neil Hopwood. The band’s connection to the INCREDIBLE STRING BAND (via shared producer/manager Joe Boyd) also extended to an appearance on the band’s 1969 record ‘Changing Horses’. The group’s sound has also been compared to that of ISB. Dr. Strangely Strange released a couple of albums before dismantling in early 1971 after Goulding departed for a stint in a Buddhist monastery. This began a long history of recurrent incarnations of the band, beginning in 1972 when Booth and Pawle teamed with POGUES/STEELEYE SPAN mandoliner Terry Woods and his wife for a short tour, followed by another tour including Booth and Pawle the following year. The two formed another iteration of the band in the eighties to tour once again, and reunited with Goulding to release a third studio album in 1996, and for a fourth recording (‘Halcyon Days’) in 2007. The band announced yet another reunion in early 2008, and have performed live a handful of times in their native Ireland over the past year. DR. STRANGELY STRANGE are a fairly minor act in the history of progressive folk music, yet their name is often mentioned along with bands like INCREDIBLE STRING BAND and STEELEYE SPAN. They deserve a place on ProgArchives for their recurrent history of producing relevant progressive music. - By by Bob Moore (aka ClemofNazareth)
Wikipedia: Dr. Strangely Strange were an experimental Irish folk group formed in Dublin in 1967 by Tim Booth (vocals and guitar) (born Timothy Booth, 6 September 1943, in County Kildare, Eire) and Ivan Pawle bass (born 17 August 1943, in England) and keyboards). Soon they teamed with multi-instrumentalist Tim Goulding (vocals and keyboards) (born Timothy Goulding, 15 May 1945, in Hatch Street, Dublin), an aspiring painter, and began living and rehearsing in a house owned by Goulding's girlfriend, backing vocalist Orphan Annie, which its tenants nicknamed "The Orphanage." After signing with the Incredible String Band's producer and manager Joe Boyd, they debuted in 1969 with Kip of the Serenes. This was produced by Boyd and the sound shares much in common with the String Band. While on tour with Fotheringay, they enlisted drummer Neil Hopwood, and later in the year appeared on the String Band's Changing Horses album. After 1970's Heavy Petting, Dr. Strangely Strange began falling apart: Goulding left to enter to a Buddhist monastery, while Pawle and Booth teamed with Gay and Terry Woods for a brief tour. The group soon disbanded, but they reunited in 1973 for an Irish tour, and briefly reconvened again in the early 1980s, Eventually Booth established a second Orphanage which became a springboard for a new generation of Irish rock, helping launch the careers of Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, Gary Moore and others. The band reformed with the original members to record a third album in 1996. On 10 January 2008, the band announced that they are to reform for a special homecoming gig to take place in the Sugar Club on Leeson Street, Dublin, Ireland on March 1 2008.
Album Reviews:
#1: Ireland's answer to the Incredible String Band, Dr. Strangely Strange engaged in the same type of psychedelic acoustic music with folksy arrangements. With traditional instruments like penny whistle, fiddle, harmonium, and mandolin, Dr. Strangely Strange was more solidly rooted in melody and structure than the group's flaky Scottish counterparts. Produced by British modern folk guru Joe Boyd, Kip of the Serenes is built around simple and repetitious melodies occasionally interrupted by stream-of-consciousness musical and lyrical diversions. This simplistic approach would be abandoned with their 1970 follow-up, Heavy Petting, which saw their first partnership with electric guitarist Gary Moore. - By Dave Sleger, AMG.
#2: DSS’ debut album KOTS is often (and unfairly) overlooked by its successor HP, partly because of the Roger Dean gimmick artwork on the very collectible Vertigo Swirl label, but let’s not overlook that this highly bizarre debut appeared on the Pink era of Island records , which should be just as collectible. The multi-instrumentalist quintet (of mainly Irish origin courtesy of the songwriting trio Pawle, Booth & Goulding) recorded their first album under the patronage of the now-legendary Joe Boyd. But from their Gaelic heritage, you’d expect from DSS some kind of Celtic ballads & jigs; but it’s more the kind of acid- folk of the Scot duo ISB (minus the “acid” vocals); or the Baroque song of the utmost “Anglitude” of Amazing Blondel that seeps from the pores of your speakers. Opening on their better-known track Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal (it appeared also on a famous label compilation), a track that could’ve escaped out from the XIX century pubs’ doors. It seems that most of the songs proceed to a general concept hinting at the previous centuries’ realities facing the common man as the back cover nutcase galleon drawing might indicate, although I have no idea what Roy Rogers would do in this tale. No doubt those with enough patience would be able to get great enjoyment out of the nonsense turns of languages throughout the album’s ten songs. Instrumentally the band is a little amateurish, but never boring, almost entirely acoustic easily my fave on this album is the closing almost 9-mins Donnybrook Fair. Clearly throughout most of the album's tracks, ISB's Hangman's Beautiful Daughter is the blueprint of DSS. Unlike many, I prefer the debut that seems to have more “chewing” substance, the album flows along alternating bigger longer numbers with some shorter songs. Although there arelesser moments of interplay, KOTS manages a more interesting climate and songs like Two Orphanages are somewhat equivalent to ISB’s best songs. These pure pastoral hippie albums must be seen as basis of the Wyrd folk that disseminated in the later 90’s and through this decade. - By Sean Trane, Prog Archives.
#3: "You may wonder where you are supposed to be going". Associates often ask me if I feel I have missed having never indulged in any form of narcotic. They always seem a little stunned when I tell them that I never had any wish to indulge in even a joint, nor do I ever foresee a point in the future when I will feel the need to experience that particular practice. It's not that I am totally anti-drugs (my line of thought on it is that you can do whatever you want, but as soon as it has any form of negative effect on just one other person, then I have a problem with whatever you are doing), but I know that I personally do not have a constitution that will happily accept chemical enhancement. My drug of choice is alcohol and I am more than aware of my limits when it comes to the demon drink (i.e. when I fall asleep). Perhaps this all seems a little odd, when much of the music I listen to has been created by acts that have indulged in all manner of mind-expanding substances. Just listening to the first couple of tracks of Kip Of The Serenes you realise that Dr Strangely Strange were either stoned or tripping out of their heads as this album was being written and recorded. It drifts, it loses focus on occasion, it indulges in all sorts of whimsy and mythological silliness, you can hear the barely suppressed giggling and it seems to stagger off in random directions for no real reason other than to steady itself on a tree and ask a nearby squirrel whether it has any rizlas. I find the blend of acoustic guitars, harmonium, recorders and often nonsense lyrics strangely pleasing and the band is an obvious influence on Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's quieter moments. Although I am unaware of anything else this band has done outside this strangely drum-free album, I'd be interested in hearing what else they recorded, though I'd have to hear it before I parted with my hard-earned. A monument to eccentricity and stoned giggling. - By rockingmonk, Rate Your Music.
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