Rocket Cottage
Encyclopedia
Rocket Cottage is an album by the electric folk
band Steeleye Span
.
This was the band's 9th album, and the 2nd produced by Mike Batt. The album was poised to cement the band's success, building off their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album, All Around My Hat (album). Unfortunately, the album was a victim of bad timing. 1976 and 1977 saw the sudden explosion of the British Punk
scene, and popular music tastes rapidly shifted away from the sound and style that the band was known for. It failed to break into the Top 40.
The album is perhaps the band's most rock-influenced album, with very prominent guitars and a strong rhythm section. Some fans consider this one of the band's best efforts, pointing to strong tracks like "London", "Fighting for Strangers", "Sir James the Rose", and "Orfeo/Nathan's Reel", the first three of which became classics of the band and fan favorites. Others, however, find the album erratic, complaining that the band's rhythm section tends to overwhelm the vocals, particularly on "Orfeo", "The Twelve Witches", and (to a lesser extent) "The Brown Girl". Oddly for an instrumental piece, "Nathan's Reel" simply fades out. The most peculiar decision was the choice to include an unrehearsed version of "Camptown Racetrack
"; Years later Maddy Prior
remarked about this decision, "I can't think what we were thinking of with that." This was the band's 9th album in 5 years, and many feel that their exhaustion is evident.
Peter Knight has said that the band was being pressured to write and adapt music for the commercial market, which led to considerable dissatisfaction among the band members. Both he and Bob Johnson
were seriously considering leaving the band, particularly because they wanted to work on a musical version of "The King of Elfland's Daughter". Chrysalis Records
agreed to allow them to record the album if they agreed to record 'Rocket'. Lacking any interest in the album that Knight and Johnson produced, Chrysalis made little effort to promote the album, and Knight and Johnson chose to depart the band after 'Rocket' was released.
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
band Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
.
This was the band's 9th album, and the 2nd produced by Mike Batt. The album was poised to cement the band's success, building off their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album, All Around My Hat (album). Unfortunately, the album was a victim of bad timing. 1976 and 1977 saw the sudden explosion of the British Punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
scene, and popular music tastes rapidly shifted away from the sound and style that the band was known for. It failed to break into the Top 40.
The album is perhaps the band's most rock-influenced album, with very prominent guitars and a strong rhythm section. Some fans consider this one of the band's best efforts, pointing to strong tracks like "London", "Fighting for Strangers", "Sir James the Rose", and "Orfeo/Nathan's Reel", the first three of which became classics of the band and fan favorites. Others, however, find the album erratic, complaining that the band's rhythm section tends to overwhelm the vocals, particularly on "Orfeo", "The Twelve Witches", and (to a lesser extent) "The Brown Girl". Oddly for an instrumental piece, "Nathan's Reel" simply fades out. The most peculiar decision was the choice to include an unrehearsed version of "Camptown Racetrack
Camptown Races
Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster . It was probably composed in Cincinnati in 1849, according to Richard Jackson, and published by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, in February 1850...
"; Years later Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
remarked about this decision, "I can't think what we were thinking of with that." This was the band's 9th album in 5 years, and many feel that their exhaustion is evident.
Peter Knight has said that the band was being pressured to write and adapt music for the commercial market, which led to considerable dissatisfaction among the band members. Both he and Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson (musician)
Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
were seriously considering leaving the band, particularly because they wanted to work on a musical version of "The King of Elfland's Daughter". Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
agreed to allow them to record the album if they agreed to record 'Rocket'. Lacking any interest in the album that Knight and Johnson produced, Chrysalis made little effort to promote the album, and Knight and Johnson chose to depart the band after 'Rocket' was released.
Personnel
- Maddy PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
(vocals) - Tim HartTim HartTim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
(vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Bob JohnsonBob Johnson (musician)Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
(vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Rick KempRick KempRick Kemp is an English bass player, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the pioneering electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Projects:...
(bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals) - Peter Knight (violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
) - Nigel PegrumNigel PegrumNigel Pegrum was a drummer with The Small Faces and Steeleye Span before becoming a producer.- Biography :Nigel Pegrum played drums with an early line-up of The Small Faces, then played drums with Lee Grant And The Capitols before joining Spice, who subsequently changed their name to Uriah Heep...
(drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
)
Track listing
- London (HartTim HartTim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
, JohnsonBob Johnson (musician)Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
, KempRick KempRick Kemp is an English bass player, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the pioneering electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Projects:...
, Knight, PegrumNigel PegrumNigel Pegrum was a drummer with The Small Faces and Steeleye Span before becoming a producer.- Biography :Nigel Pegrum played drums with an early line-up of The Small Faces, then played drums with Lee Grant And The Capitols before joining Spice, who subsequently changed their name to Uriah Heep...
, PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
) – 4:14 - The Bosnian Hornpipes (Traditional) – 0:57
- OrfeoSir OrfeoSir Orfeo is an anonymous Middle English narrative poem, retelling the story of Orpheus as a king rescuing his wife from the fairy king.-History and Manuscripts:...
/Nathan's Reel (Hart, Johnson, Kemp, Knight], Pegrum, Prior) – 6:00 - The Twelve Witches (Traditional) – 4:32
- The Brown GirlThe Brown Girl-Synopsis:The brown girl received a letter from her lover, telling her that he was rejecting her for a more beautiful woman. Then she received another, saying he was dying and summoning her. She told him she was delighted at his dying.-External links:*...
(Hart, Johnson, Kemp, Knight, Pegrum, Prior) – 5:05 - Fighting for StrangersJohnny I Hardly Knew Ye"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" is a popular traditional Irish anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th century, when Irish troops served the British East India Company...
(Traditional) – 4:25 - Sligo Maid (Traditional) – 3:44
- Sir James the RoseSir James the Rose-Synopsis:The broadside opens with the account of Sir James the Rose's love for a lady named Matilda, how her family tried to marry her off, and how he killed her brother for spying on them....
(Traditional) – 6:15 - The Drunkard (Traditional, prefaced by Camptown Racetrack) – 7:55