Steeleye Span
_band |
band_name = Steeleye Span |
image = |
years_active = 1970–present |
country =
UK | music_genre =
Folk-rock |
record_label =
}}
Steeleye Span are a British
folk-rock band, formed in
1970 and who remain active in
2006. Along with
Fairport Convention they are the best known act of the 1970s folk revival, and were the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles 'Gaudete' and 'All Around My Hat'.
The name Steeleye Span comes from a character in the traditional song "Horkstow Grange" (which they did not actually record until they released an album by that name in
1998). The song gives an account of a fight between John "Steeleye" Span and John Bowlin, neither of whom are proven to have been real people.
Throughout their long history, Steeleye Span has seen a great many personnel changes but has maintained a strong continuity of tradition. Lead
vocalist Maddy Prior was one of the main attractions of the band's music, being one of a handful of strong-but-melodically-voiced women in rock music in the
1970s (along with
Sandy Denny,
Renaissance's
Annie Haslam,
Jacqui McShee, and
Linda Thompson).
Their typical album is a collection of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of
jigs and/or
reels added in; the traditional songs often include some of the
Child ballads. In their later albums there has been an increased tendency to include music written by the band members, but they have never gotten completely away from the traditional music, which draws upon both the English and the Celtic traditions.
All of their
LP-era recordings have now been re-released on
CD, many on the
Shanachie label, and others on their current label,
Park Records.
The Steeleye Span story began in early 1970 when
London-born
bass player
Ashley Hutchings departed
Fairport Convention, the band he had co-founded in
1967. Fairport had been involved in a road accident in
1969 in which the drummer, Martin Lamble, was killed and other bandmembers injured. They convalesced in a rented house near
Winchester in
Hampshire and worked on the album
Liege & Lief. Despite the success of the album, Ashley Hutchings and the band's vocalist
Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention.
In part, Hutchings's departure was because he wanted to pursue a different, more traditional, direction than the other members of Fairport did at that time. However, Fairport's co-founder, guitarist Simon Nicol, says in an interview on the band's website [
1]: "Whatever the upfront reasons about musical differences and wanting to concentrate on traditional material, I think the accident was the underlying reason why Ashley felt he couldn't continue with us."
Hutchings' new band was formed after he met established duo
Tim Hart and
Maddy Prior on the London folk club scene, and the initial lineup was completed by husband and wife team
Terry (formerly of
Sweeney's Men, later of
The Pogues) and
Gay Woods. With two female singers, the original lineup was unusual for the time, and indeed, never performed live, as the Woods departed the band shortly after the release of their debut album,
Hark! The Village Wait (
1970). Gay and Terry were replaced by veteran folk musician
Martin Carthy and fiddler
Peter Knight in a longer-term lineup that toured small concert venues, and recorded two albums -
Please to See the King (
1971) and
Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again (
1972).
Shortly after the release of their third album, the band brought in
Jo Lustig as their manager who would bring a far more commercial sound to their recordings. At that time, traditionalists Carthy and Hutchings left the band to pursue purely folk projects. Their replacements were electric guitarist
Bob Johnson and bass player
Rick Kemp who brought strong rock and blues influences to the sound.
Lustig signed them to the
Chrysalis record label, for a deal that was to last for ten albums.
With the release of their fourth album,
Below the Salt, later in
1972, the revised lineup had settled on a distinctive electrified
rock sound, although they continued to play mostly arrangements of very traditional material, including songs dating back a hundred years or more. Even on the more commercial
Parcel of Rogues (
1973), the band had no permanent drummer, but in 1973 rock drummer
Nigel Pegrum joined them, to harden up their sound (as well as occasionally playing flute!)
Also that year, the single 'Gaudete' from 'Below the Salt' belatedly became a Christmas hit single, reaching number 14 in the UK Charts, although the รก capella motet, sung entirely in
Latin cannot be considered representative of the bands music, nor the album from which it was taken. This proved to be their commercial breakthrough and saw them performing on
Top of the Pops for the first time.
Appropriately enough, their sixth album (and sixth member Pegrum's first with the band) was entitled
Now We Are Six. Produced by
Jethro Tull's
Ian Anderson, the album includes the epic track 'Thomas the Rhymer' which has been a part of the live set ever since.
Although successful, the album is controversial among some fans for the inclusion of nursery rhymes sung by 'The St. Eeleye School Choir' (band members singing in the style of children), and the cover 'To Know Him is to Love Him', featuring a guest appearance from
David Bowie on saxophone.
The attempts at humour continued on
Commoners Crown (
1975), which included
Peter Sellers playing
Ukelele on the final track 'New York Girls'. Their seventh album also included the epic ballard 'Long Lankin' and novelty instrumental 'Bach Goes To Limerick'.
With their star now conspicuously ascendent, the band brought in producer
Mike Batt (best known for creating
The Wombles) to work on their eighth album, 'All Around My Hat' and their biggest success would come with the release of the title track as a single - it reached number 5 in the UK Charts in late
1975.
The album had a polished, commercial sound, and perfectly captured the flavour of the mid-1970s. Other well-known tracks on the album included 'Black Jack Davey' (sampled by Chav rappers
Goldie Lookin Chain on their track 'The Maggot') and the rocky 'Hard Times of Old England'.
This time on 'Top of the Pops' Steeleye performed a lively dance on the stage, with
Maddy Prior flouncing around in a long dress with wide sleeves. At this point in their career the band indulged in picturesque clothes, much to the disapproval of the pop press.
But while 'All Around My Hat' was the height of the band's commercial success, the good times were not to last very long. Despite touring almost every year since 1975, they have not had another hit single, nor any success in the album chart since the late 1970s.
The follow-up album 'Rocket Cottage' (
1976), also produced by Batt, proved to be a flop, despite having much in common musically with its immediate predecessor. With the advent of
punk, the mainstream market seemed to turn away from folk-rock almost overnight, heralding a downturn in commercial fortunes for the band.
Thanks to their connection with Mike Batt, band members appeared in Womble costumes on Top of the Pops, performing the Wombles hit 'Remember you're a Womble', and at least one member of the band - fiddler Peter Knight - is widely accepted to have actually played on the track, although this has never been officially confirmed.
While they would never regain the commercial success of 'All Around My Hat', Steeleye remained popular among folk-rock fans, and generally respected within the music industry.
Peter Knight and Bob Johnson left the band to work on another project together - 'The King of Elfland's Daughter', and for the
1977 album 'Storm Force Ten', early member Martin Carthy rejoined on guitar. With Knight gone, there was a substitution of
John Kirkpatrick on
accordion for the fiddle, which gave the recording a very different texture from the Steeleye sound of previous years.
This line-up also recorded their first album outside of the studio, 'Live at Last', before a 'split' at the end of the decade that proved to be short-lived.
The band were contractually obliged to record a final album for the Chrysalis label, and with Carthy and Kirkpatrick not wanting to rejoin the re-formed band, the door was open for Knight and Johnson to return in
1980. The album 'Sails of Silver' saw the band moving away from traditional material to a greater focus on self-penned songs, many with historical or pseudo-folk themes.
In 1981
Isla St Clair presented a series of four television programmes called "The Song and The Story", about the history of some folk songs, which won the Prix Jeunesse. Isla sang the songs, and Steeleye Span did the backing instrumentals.
After 'Sails of Silver' there were to be no new albums for several years, and Steeleye became a part-time touring band. It would also prove to be founder-member Tim Hart's swansong. After more than ten years, he gave up commercial music for a reclusive life overseas, its members working on their various other projects most of the time.
After a quiet spell, the group's 12th studio album (and first without Tim Hart) 'Back in Line' was released on the Flutterby label in
1986. With no 'relaunch' as such, the band retained a low profile, although they caused some controversy when they played the song "Blackleg Miner" in Nottingham. The song originates from Northumberland in the early 20th century, but had been revived due to the 1984-5 strike. The Nottinghamshire coalfield had generally opposed the strike and tensions remained high when the song was performed in 1986.
In 1989, two long-term members departed the band - bassist Rick Kemp, who needed to recover from a serious shoulder injury, exacerbated by playing bass on stage, and drummer Nigel Pegrum who emigrated to Australia.
Their replacements were versatile bass and guitar man Tim Harries and eccentric drummer Liam Genockey, easily identified by his long, plaited beard. Liam and Peter Knight were simultaneously members of "Moire Music". This was a free-jazz band, with a classical flavour, led by Trevor Watts.
The new lineup released 'Tempted and Tried' (
1989), an album that would form the basis of their live set for many years to come, and embarked on their 20th Anniversary tour, which raised their dwindling profile somewhat.
There was to be yet another long spell with little new material, save the
1992 release of 'Tonight's the Night - Live' although the band continued to tour the UK every year, and frequently ventured overseas.
In 1995, almost all the past and present members of the band reunited for a concert to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the band (which would later be released as 'The Journey').
A by-product of this gig was founding vocalist Gay Woods rejoining the band fulltime, and for a while they toured with two female singers, and released the album 'Time'
1996, their first new studio album for seven years.
There were doubts over the future of the band when Maddy Prior announced her departure in 1997, but Steeleye continued in a more productive vein than for many years, with Woods as lead singer, releasing 'Horkstow Grange' (
1998), and then 'Bedlam Born' (
2000), although without Maddy on board, the band's popularity waned.
Liam Genockey had also left the band by 1998, and on these albums the drumkit was manned by
Dave Mattacks.
Reported difficulties among band members saw a split during the recording of 'Bedlam Born', and for a while the band consisted of just Peter Knight and Tim Harries, plus various guest musicians as they fulfilled live commitments. Rick Kemp then returned to the line-up, during a time when their future seemed uncertain.
In 2002, Steeleye Span reformed for a comeback tour with a 'classic lineup'. Prior and Genocky rejoined, and along with Kemp, Knight and Johnson, they released
Present (
2002), a 2-disc set of new recordings of songs chosen by fans on a Steeleye web site as the best of their previous output.
Johnson had to retire from playing duties before the 2002 tour, and was replaced on guitar by
Ken Nicol, formerly of the
Albion Band. With Nicol on board, the relatively prolific output has continued, with the release of 'They called her Babylon' (
2004) and the Christmas album 'Winter'.
In
2005 Steeleye Span were awarded the Good Tradition Award at the
BBC Folk Awards, while a recent book,
Electric Folk by Britta Sweers (2005), devotes much space to the band.
As of Spring 2006, the band are currently on a UK tour, to be followed by dates in Europe and an appearance at the 2006
Cropredy Festival. The tour is supported by a live album and DVD of their 2004 tour, and a new studio album is expected in advance of the Autumn 2006 tour.
The current line-up consists of Maddy Prior (vocals), Ken Nicol (guitar, vocals), Rick Kemp (bass, vocals), Peter Knight (violin, piano, vocals), and Liam Genockey (drums and percussion), and draws on past and current Steeleye Span repertoire. They usually plays to theatres and arts centres but also performs at
festivals. The band has recently toured extensively in Australia and closed
2004 with a gala performance in London's
Paladium theatre.
When they supported
Status Quo on tour in 1996, the latter had just issued their version of
Hat as a single, and for their encore Maddy joined them onstage to sing it with them. The final encore is often
Gaudete, a
16th century Latin religious song performed
a capella, an unusual ending for a non-classical modern concert.
The single 'Gaudete' is one of only two top 50 British hits to be sung in Latin (the other was 12-year-old
Charlotte Church who recorded "Pie Jesu" from
Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Requiem"). In the 1980s
Mike Oldfield had a top 10 hit with "In Dulci Jubilo" but this Latin song was performed as an instrumental.) "Gaudete" is one of only a handful of
a capella performances to become
hit singles. (Another notable example is "Only You" sung by the Flying Pickets.) When "Gaudete" was performed on "
Top of the Pops", the resident dance troupe walked onto the set in medieval-style robes, holding candles and followed by the members of Steeleye Span.
Excluding reissues, compilations and 'irregular' live albums.;Studio Albums:
Hark! The Village Wait (
1970):
Please to See the King (
1971):
Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again (
1972):
Below the Salt (
1972):
Parcel of Rogues (
1973):
Now We Are Six (
1974):
Commoner's Crown (
1975):
All Around My Hat (
1975):
Rocket Cottage (
1976):
Storm Force Ten (
1977):
Sails of Silver (
1980):
Back in Line (
1986):
Tempted and Tried (
1989):
Time (
1996):
Horkstow Grange (
1998):
Bedlam Born (
2000):
Present (
2002):
They Called Her Babylon (
2004):
Winter (
2004)
Live Albums:
Live at Last (
1978):
Tonight's the Night...Live (
1992):
The Collection: Steeleye Span in Concert (
1994):
The Journey (
1999):
Folk Rock Pioneers in Concert (
2006)
Singles:Rave On/ Reels/ Female Drummer (1971):Jigs and Reels (1972):
John Barleycorn Must Die / Bride's Favourite/Tansey's Fancy (1972):
Gaudete / The Holly and The Ivy (1972):The Mooncoin Jig (1974):New York Girls/ Two Magicians (1975):All Around My Hat/ Black Jack Davy (1975):Rave On/ False Knight On The Road (1976):Hard Times of England/ Cadgwith Anthem (1976):London/ Sligo Maid (1976):Fighting For Strangers/ The Mooncoin Jig (1976):The Boar's Head Carol/ Gaudete / Some Rival (1977):Rag Doll/ Saucy Sailor (1978):Sails of Silver/ Senior Service (1980):Gone To America/ Let Her Go Down (1981):Somewhere In London/ Lanercost (1985):Padstow / First House in Connaught/ Sailor's Bonnet (1989):Following Me/ Two Butchers (1989):The Fox/ Jack Hall (1990)
DVDs:Classic Rock Legends (2002):A Twentieth Anniversary Celebration (2003):The 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004 (2005)
*
Steeleye Span's record label*
A comprehensive fan site*
Steeleye Span founder Ashley Hutchings' website*
Website for Fairport Convention (the band from which Steeley Span sprung)*
archive.org snapshot of Reinhard Zierke's now-defunct Steeleye Span fan site
