Steeleye Span

LIKE Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span were a folk-rock outfit which I remember best for the lovely vocals of Maddy Prior and for the song, All Around My Hat, which became something of a hit in the early 1970s.

I recall us having one album, on the cover of which the faces were laterally distorted, as if seen in one of those wonky mirrors at the funfair.

But let’s see what the experts at Wikipedia have to offer.

Well, my initial description seems quite apt, with the website describing the band, formed in 1970, as being, “along with Fairport Convention … amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and … the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles Gaudete and All Around My Hat”.

The first question most of us would ask, I suppose, is where did that name come from. It transpires, according to Wikipedia, that Steeleye Span was a character in a traditional song, Korkstow Grange, which the band actually only recorded for an album by that name in 1998. The song is about a fight between fictitious adversaries John “Steeleye” Span and John Bowlin. The website says folk legend Martin Carthy gave Tim Hart the idea to name the band after the character. It apparently won out over Middlemarch Wait and Iybudin’s Wait, neither of which have nearly the right ring, if you ask me.

Maddy Prior

Not surprisingly, I read, the band, like Fairport, underwent many personnel changes, with lead vocalist Maddy Prior being a key element. She is described as “one of a handful of strong-but-melodically-voiced women in rock music in the 1970s (along with Sandy Denny, Renaissance’s Annie Haslam, Jacquie McShee and Linda Thompson)”. Like Fairport, they built their albums around traditional English and Celtic music, including instrumental tracks (jigs and reels).

And where did they begin? Why with bass player Ashley Hutchings, who had started Fairport Convention in 1967, and who departed it in early 1970, along with Denny. Wikipedia says this was partly because Hutchings wanted to stick to a more traditional route than the rest of the Fairport members. But Fairport co-founder Simon Nicol says on his website that the car accident, in which a member of the band, Martin Lamble, was killed and others injured, had a lot to do with it. The heart of the new band comprised Hutchings, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. Joining them were Terry and Gay Woods. (Terry would later join another great band from the 1980s, The Pogues, of whom, God willing, more later.) They never played live with two female vocalists, as Woods left the band shortly after the release of their first album, Hark! The Village Wait, in 1970, which I have not heard. And here’s a bit of info I had no idea of. After a personality clash, the Woods couple departed and were replaced by fiddler Peter Knight, and none other than veteran folk guru Martin Carthy, who had given the band its name in the first place. They performed at small-venue concerts and cut two albums, Please to See the King (1971) and Ten Man Mop (1972), which apparently was also called Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again. Then Jo Lustig was recruited as their manager, and he gave the group a more commercial direction, which is probably where we first caught up with them. Indeed, it would be great to hear those first albums, given Carthy’s presence, for he then left the band along with Hutchings to pursue more traditional folk paths.

Enter electric guitarist Bob Johnson and bassist Rick Kemp, who upped the rock and blues ante in the band. They were signed to Chrysalis for no fewer than 10 albums, starting with Below the Salt, from 1972. Despite its electrified rock sound, the songs were still mainly arrangements of traditional folk songs, often over 100 years old. I see their “more commercial” 1973 album was called Parcel of Rogues, the same name of a Dubliners album from about the same time. But it was only in 1973 that they acquired a permanent drummer, Nigel Pegrum, who cut his teeth with The Small Faces and Uriah Heep. While he brought a strong rock element, he also brought the softer tones of the flute. Gaudete, from Below the Salt, made No 14 in the UK. It was, bizarrely, an “a capella motet, sung entirely in Latin”, and as Wikipedia notes further, could not be considered truly representative of their music. Yet it got them their breakthrough, enabling them to perform on Top of the Pops.

The inter-relatedness of the UK folk-rock scene is evidenced in the fact that their sixth album, Now We Are Six, was produced by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson. Now I am on familiar turf, for this is, I’m sure the album we had, since I learn that it included the famous, Thomas The Rhymer. Wikipedia says the album courted controversy because it included nursery rhymes sung by “The St Eeleye School Choir, which in fact was just the band members singing like children. Also notable is that the cover, To Know Him Is To Love Him – which I recall so well from the album – features a guest appearance on saxophone of none other than David Bowie.

Their next album, Commoner’s Crown (1975) would include Peter Sellers playing ukulele on one track. Their eigth album, All Around My Hat, was produced by Mike Batt, and reached No 5 in the UK in late 1975, their biggest success. It also featured Black Jack Davey (which The Incredible String Band also performed). However, from this point, it seems, the band’s commercial success waned rapidly, as punk and new wave saw the folk-rock movement subsumed by new forces. However, the band has kept going, on and off, with ongoing personnel changes, well into the new millennium.

Hark! The Village Wait

As indicated earlier, only two of their albums were part of our listening repertoire at the time – Now We Are Six and All Around My Hat. However, I recently acquired A Stack of Steeleye Span – Their Finest Folk Recordings 1973-75, which includes work from many of their albums, although it does not specify which, as is the case in so many CD compilations these days. What does seem likely is that the dates are not necessarily correct, unless the group redid many songs. Because several appear to be off their debut album, Hark! The Village Wait, which was released in 1970. As mentioned, it featured two female vocalists in Maddy Prior and Gay Woods. Here, according to Wikepedia, the album’s highlights include Blackleg Miner, Dark-Eyed Sailor and The Lowlands Of Holland, all of which are on this compilation album. Whatever the source of this version of Blackleg Miner, my feeling on listening to it is that while the Prior vocals are typically enthralling, alongside some nice banjo-work, the song lacks that urgency which a fiddle (a la Swarbrick) would bring between verses. On Dark-Eyed Sailor the sound of two female voices is very clear – no doubt Prior and Gay in action. The Lowlands Of Holland features some lovely guitar-picking, and is that a harmonium, or accordion? But again the fiddle’s absence is conspicuous. Also on the compilation from this album, I see, is The Hills of Greenmore, a gentle folk song sung by a male voice, possibly that of Tim Hart, and The Blacksmith, on which Prior’s lilting vocals run alongside some lovely mandolin and guitarwork. All are traditional English folk songs, given a folk-rock arrangement by the band. It was interesting to note on Wikipedia, that the Wait of the album’s title refers not to the act of waiting, but to a Wait, which is a small body of wind instrumentalists employed by a town from Tudor times until the early 19^th century. The song, it is believed, is a reference to the later Christmas Waits mentioned by Thomas Hardy in his novels. Clearly, this was a band which took its roots seriously.

Please to See the King

Their next album, Please to See the King, which was released in 1971, is also represented on this 1973-75 compilation, by virtue of at least two songs. The False Knight On The Road features two male voices – Martin Carthy and Tim Hart? – alongside some interesting lead guitar. Another traditional song, Boys Of Bedlam – which I see is told from the perspective of a member of a lunatic asylum – includes a powerful introduction in which Carthy and Prior sing accompanied by banjos. As the tempo rises, so some excellent guitarwork, no doubt Carthy, boosts the song. Also on the CD from the album is Jigs: Bryan O’Lynn / The Hag With The Money, which again suffers the absence of a good fiddler. As to be expected, there is an arcane story behind the album’s title, Please to See the King. Wikipedia tells us it is derived from the Cutty Wren ceremony, at which a winter wren in a cage is paraded as if it were king, on December 26, St Stephen’s Day. The rite was linked to early Christmas celebrations. The song, The King, on this album – but sadly not on my CD – was apparently sung during this ceremony and is often performed as a Christmas Carol. Having heard much of the Clancy Brothers, I was aware of the “penny to bury the wren” ritual which the “wrenboys” in Ireland would perform on what we call Boxing Day.

Ten Man Mop

The bizarrely titled Ten Man Mop, or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again, also features on that compilation CD, despite being released in 1971. Their third album, it is said by Wikipedia to be their most acoustic, with a strong Irish influence. Indeed, the reason Hutchings left was evidently due to this move away from English music. Having been a staunch Dubliners and Clancys fan, one of the tracks rang a bell. Four Nights Drunk from the album, and on the CD, is a totally different version of Seven Drunken Nights, which the Dubliners perform. Here, however, Prior and Carthy (I think it is) sing “You old fool, you silly fool” instead of “You’re drunk, you’re drunk, you silly old fool” in the chorus. The tune is totally different. Also on the CD is When I Was On Horseback, one of the best tracks from this album. And the advent of Peter Knight’s fiddle certainly lifts the song, including a section where he plucks at the strings, as our old friend Dave Tarr would do on occasion. Similarly, Marrowbones, features lovely fiddle and guitar. While I don’t have the lyrics, it seems to make a reference in the chorus to Leather Lane, which was a market a block away from where I worked in Hatton Garden, Holborn, in London in 1990 and 1991. Sadly, Skewball, described by Wikipedia as one of the album’s highlights, is not on my compilation album. It evidently employs “an effective counterpoint between a banjo and an electric guitar”, something which I found marks many of their songs. Another track on the album is titled Jigs: Paddy Clancy’s Jig / Willie Clancy’s Fancy, which I have not heard, but which is clearly linked to the famous Clancy Brothers. Ah, but I see Captain Coulston is also on both the CD and this album. Here, the counterpoint between fiddle and mandolin at the end is particularly impressive. As usual, there is a story behind the title, Ten Man Mop, or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again. Wikipedia tells us that a mop, or mop-fair, is a late medieval term for a job fair, where labourers come looking for work. Though why ten members of the band were looking for work seems a bit odd. As to the subtitle, evidently someone called Reservoir Butler had originally performed one of the songs covered on the album, so the band decided, since it was such an unusual name, they wanted to publicise it.

Below the Salt

With Martin Carthy gone, a major shift occurred on Below The Salt, which was released in 1972. None of the songs appear to be on that compilation album, and I still don’t know if I’ve heard Gaudete, the Latin a capella song which became a surprise hit off this album. Wikipedia says the album has a slightly medieval theme. The band, in period costume, are shown at a feast on the cover, while the title refers to a Middle Ages practice of having salt (not easily come by) placed at the centre of a table separating the family from the servants, who were thus “below the salt”. While only a few songs are very old, the lyrics for Royal Forester apparently date from 1293.

Parcel of Rogues

The Dubliners did an album called Parcel of Rogues, which is the title of Steeleye Span’s 1973 album, their most successful thus far, reaching the Top 30. The band had been working on a project involving 18^th century Scottish poetry, and they used a lot of it on this album. While I don’t know the album, I was interested to read that Rogues In A Nation is a Robert Burns poem denouncing the Act of Union in 1707 that united England and Scotland. It is sung a cappella on the album. On the Dubliners album, Luke Kelly gives this song such superb treatment I fear very little could compete with it. Perhaps this version does. I see in the Wikipedia notes about the album, that after its release the band toured with Jethro Tull, and were now employing a full-time drummer. The stage was set for their major commercial successes to come.

Now We Are Six

I know we had their next album, Now We Are Six. The cover, with band members sitting like birds in a tree, is very familiar, as are two key tracks, Thomas The Rhymer and To Know Him Is To Love Him. The title references both the AA Milne book of children’s poems and the fact that this was the six-person band’s sixth album. I can’t recall the controversy surrounding the tracks which many say ruined the album: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, sung by the band in children’s voices, and their take of To Know Him. If the band wanted to do a cover version of a Phil Spector song that was up to them. They had the musical ability to do virtually anything well, it seems. Thomas The Rhymer, though, was a classic Steeleye song, and probably owed much to Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, who produced it. Looking at the tracks, those that also ring a bell are the title track and Long-a-Growing, but I cannot recall how they went at all.

The next album, but one, however, should prove more familiar.

Commoner’s Crown

Commoner’s Crown was released in 1974, my final year of school, and frankly passed me by. Wikipedia tells us the band was now a fully fledged folk-rock outfit, with heavy drumming and guitar, although traditional folk material is still used in the main. There’s a whole world to explore here, including their longest song to date, aptly called Long Lankin. And apparently Peter Sellers, who on a whim was invited to play ukulele on New York Girls, is little more than a distraction. The title is apparently from a sculpture of a crown made up of hundreds of tiny human figures.

All Around My Hat

Oddly, Wikipedia has very little on Steeleye Span’s most successful album, All Around My Hat, which had those fairground mirror type faces on the cover and was released in 1975. Produced by Mike Batt, it reached No 7 on the UK charts, with the title track reaching No 5 on the single charts, with Black Jack Davey on the B-side. What I didn’t know was the album cover was designed by John O’Connor who, using an anamorphic projection created the distorted facial features of the band members which, however, look correct, get this, “when viewed from the side through special pinholes in the lyric sheet”. As with Now We Are Six, I feel these songs would all be as familiar as the title track were I only to hear them again. So much time, so little money.

Rocket Cottage

It appears the band’s 1976 album, Rocket Cottage, was one of their best. But it flopped as tastes changed, with the advent of punk. I don’t think I got to hear it, but I’m sure, like so much of their catalogue, it is well worth a listen. In fact, looking at the cover, it seems very familiar. But times change, and even great outfits like Steeleye Span only enjoy prominence for a while before summiting and then battling along in relative obscurity. We were just privileged to be in the right place at the right time to catch them in their prime. They certainly added a dimension without which the world would have been a far, far poorer place. English and Celtic traditional music was gaining rightful recognition for the key part it played in shaping the tastes of a generation more than willing to be inspired.