‘First Girl I Loved’ : A love song by the Incredible String Band

The Incredible String Band’s The 5000 Spirits Of The Layers Of The Onion blew a lot of minds and sold a lot of copies upon its initial release, earning it the awkward soubriquet “The Sgt Pepper Of Folk” and regular comparisons to Pepper and Piper in terms of its cultural impact on “The Summer Of 1967”. And while the album’s lyrics are largely concerned with esoterica, mythology, mysticism and other nebulous themes, its beating heart is represented by what many consider its straightest, most grounded song; a love song.

Composed by Robin Williamson, ‘First Girl I Loved’ was clearly based on true events, the protagonist reflecting wistfully on a past love affair that he hasn’t quite got out of his system. “When I was 17,” the 24-year-old Williamson sings, “I used to know you,” before ruing the couple’s parting and pondering what might have become of his mystery paramour. He blames himself (“Me rushing round Britain with a guitar”) yet imagines a typical outcome for her (“You’re probably married now, house and car and all”). What could be worse than a straight life of drudgery and missed opportunity in ’67, right? Ultimately, he’s mindful enough to take the rap (“I just had to go, we just had to grow”) and still pines for her “in the sick, sad morning”. The song’s key couplet has to be “I never slept with you, though we must have made love a thousand times”, suggesting that the affair was concerned with matters deeper than flesh alone.

Williamson and ISB partner Mike Heron demoed ‘First Girl I Loved’ during a prolific outpouring at Sound Techniques in early ’67 (released as The Chelsea Sessions in ’97), six songs from which were optioned and immediately re-cut for The 5000 Spirits. As well as standing apart lyrically from much of the rest of the album, the recording also benefits from not being overloaded instrumentally. Indeed, the arsenal of exotic instruments employed to such startling effect elsewhere on the album are eschewed in favour of the simple pairing of Robin’s voice and guitar, and Danny Thompson’s upright bass.

Given the ISB’s idiosyncratic nature, few of their songs found their way into other artist’s repertoires, but the comparatively linear ‘First Girl I Loved’ has been performed and recorded by artists as diverse as Jackson Browne and UK folkie Wizz Jones.