Cob

After just one album with the Incredible String Band, Clive Palmer left the group. To the majority of rock and folk listeners he then disappeared from view. In the early 1970s, however, the guitarist-singer resurfaced as the guiding force behind C.O.B., short for Clive's Original Band. The first release by this trio, Spirit of Love (1971, CBS), added multi-instrumentalists and singers John Bidwell and Mick Bennett, while occasional guests that included Ralph McTell contributed to particular tracks. The album presents an unexpectedly appealing strain of British folk colored by rock and psychedelic touches that recalls the Incredible String Band at its most melodic. At the same time it tempers some of the abrasive bent notes, vocal mannerisms, and eccentricities that had earned the ISB respect among psychedelic devotees yet irritated others. C.O.B. followed with a second album, Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart, issued in 1972 on Polydor.