James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s.[1]
Mike Heron
Background information
Birth name
James Michael Heron
Born
(1942-12-27) 27 December 1942 (age 81) Edinburgh, Scotland
Occupation(s)
Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)
Vocals, guitar, keyboards, sitar, harmonica, bass, mandolin, harp
Heron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland,[1] and attended the Royal High School, Edinburgh and later George Heriot's School, where his father was a teacher. He spent a year at the University of Edinburgh before leaving to start training as an accountant. He played in R&B and pop bands in Edinburgh, including the Saracens and, in late 1965, successfully auditioned to join a new trio, the Incredible String Band, with Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer.[2] Heron has said that "It was an exploring era in the Sixties and people were rebelling from the boring pop stuff into folk and blues and world music. You couldn't sit down and listen to Buddy Holly and pass the joint around. So we tried to make the kind of music we felt was missing from our lives, that fitted with the hippy lifestyle."[3]
The Incredible String Band broke up in September 1974. With three other members of the final "electric" ISB lineup – Graham Forbes, John Gilston, and Malcolm Le Maistre — he formed the band Mike Heron's Reputation, later known simply as Heron, with whom he recorded and toured until 1977.[1] In 1977–78, while still living in the Glen Row cottage near Innerleithen which had been the Incredible String Band's home and headquarters, he recorded songs which were eventually issued as The Glen Row Tapes. In 1979, he released a solo album on Casablanca Records. He then withdrew from performance for several years. In the 1990s he re-emerged with a new group, Mike Heron's Incredible Acoustic Band, and released the album Where the Mystics Swim.[2]
In 2017, Heron and a friend, poet and author Andrew Greig, published a memoir entitled You Know What You Could Be: Tuning into the 1960s.[4] Heron's part of the book, an account of his life from 1957 to 1966, occupies pages 5–104.
^ abWhittaker, Adrian, ed. (2003). Be Glad: The Incredible String Band Compendium. ISBN1-900924-64-1.
^Ross, Peter (2009). "Tradicals" 17 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Sunday Herald.
^Ross, Peter (25 March 2017). "You Know What You Could Be review – a Scottish tale of psychedelic folk". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
External linksedit
Mike Heron's official Website
"How Mike Heron opened the door for me"
Full discography
April 12, 2024
mike, heron, producer, mike, herard, james, michael, heron, born, december, 1942, scottish, singer, songwriter, multi, instrumentalist, best, known, work, incredible, string, band, 1960s, 1970s, background, informationbirth, namejames, michael, heronborn, 1942. For the hip hop producer see Mike Herard James Michael Heron born 27 December 1942 is a Scottish singer songwriter and multi instrumentalist best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s 1 Mike HeronBackground informationBirth nameJames Michael HeronBorn 1942 12 27 27 December 1942 age 81 Edinburgh ScotlandOccupation s Singer songwriterInstrument s Vocals guitar keyboards sitar harmonica bass mandolin harpYears active1965 onwards Contents 1 Career 2 Solo discography 3 Further reading 4 References 5 External linksCareer editHeron was born in Edinburgh Scotland 1 and attended the Royal High School Edinburgh and later George Heriot s School where his father was a teacher He spent a year at the University of Edinburgh before leaving to start training as an accountant He played in R amp B and pop bands in Edinburgh including the Saracens and in late 1965 successfully auditioned to join a new trio the Incredible String Band with Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer 2 Heron has said that It was an exploring era in the Sixties and people were rebelling from the boring pop stuff into folk and blues and world music You couldn t sit down and listen to Buddy Holly and pass the joint around So we tried to make the kind of music we felt was missing from our lives that fitted with the hippy lifestyle 3 Heron has also released a number of solo recordings mostly more rock oriented than the Incredible String Band material 1 The first of these Smiling Men with Bad Reputations released in 1971 when he was still a member of the ISB took eclecticism to a new extreme blending rock folk and world music into an atmospheric whole Contributing musicians included Pete Townshend Keith Moon Duncan Browne and Ronnie Lane as Tommy amp the Bijoux John Cale Richard Thompson Dave Mattacks Simon Nicol Dave Pegg Dudu Pukwana Elton John and Steve Winwood 1 The Incredible String Band broke up in September 1974 With three other members of the final electric ISB lineup Graham Forbes John Gilston and Malcolm Le Maistre he formed the band Mike Heron s Reputation later known simply as Heron with whom he recorded and toured until 1977 1 In 1977 78 while still living in the Glen Row cottage near Innerleithen which had been the Incredible String Band s home and headquarters he recorded songs which were eventually issued as The Glen Row Tapes In 1979 he released a solo album on Casablanca Records He then withdrew from performance for several years In the 1990s he re emerged with a new group Mike Heron s Incredible Acoustic Band and released the album Where the Mystics Swim 2 In 2017 Heron and a friend poet and author Andrew Greig published a memoir entitled You Know What You Could Be Tuning into the 1960s 4 Heron s part of the book an account of his life from 1957 to 1966 occupies pages 5 104 Solo discography editSmiling Men with Bad Reputations 1971 Mike Heron s Reputation 1975 Diamond of Dreams as Heron 1977 Mike Heron 1979 The Glen Row Tapes 1988 Where the Mystics Swim 1996 Conflict of Emotions 1998 Futurefield 2002 Echo Coming Back 2005 Further reading editHeron Mike Greig Andrew 2017 You Know What You Could Be Tuning into the 1960s Hachette References edit a b c d e Colin Larkin ed 1997 The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music Concise ed Virgin Books p 597 ISBN 1 85227 745 9 a b Whittaker Adrian ed 2003 Be Glad The Incredible String Band Compendium ISBN 1 900924 64 1 Ross Peter 2009 Tradicals Archived 17 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Sunday Herald Ross Peter 25 March 2017 You Know What You Could Be review a Scottish tale of psychedelic folk The Guardian Retrieved 11 April 2021 External links editMike Heron s official Website How Mike Heron opened the door for me Full discography Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mike Heron amp oldid 1154452799, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
