Steeleye Span
Encyclopedia
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
". They had three Top 40 albums. They achieved a certified gold record with sales of "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. Martin Carthy
gave Tim Hart
the idea to name the band after the song character. When the band discussed names, they decided to vote between the three suggestions "Middlemarch Wait", "Iyubidin's Wait", and "Steeleye Span". Although there were only five members in the band, six ballots appeared and "Steeleye Span" won out. Only in 1978 did Hart confess that he had voted twice. Terry Woods maintains that the members had agreed that if more than one person departed, the remaining members would select a new name, and he was upset that this did not happen when he and Gay Woods
left the band. The liner notes for their first album include thanks to Carthy for the name suggestion.
Throughout their long history, Steeleye Span have seen 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
, Linda Ronstadt
, and Linda Thompson
).
Their typical album is a collection of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of jig
s and/or reels
added; 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 got completely away from traditional music, which draws upon pan-British traditions.
-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 band members 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: "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 Woods
(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). While recording the album, the five members were all living in the same house, an arrangement that produced considerable tensions particularly between Hart and Prior on the one hand and the Woods on the other. 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). While the first album was traditionally performed - guitars, bass and with a guest drummer - Please to See the King
was revolutionary in its hard electric sound and lack of drums.
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
, who had previously recorded with Gnidrolog
, The Small Faces
and Uriah Heep
, joined them, to harden up their sound (as well as occasionally playing flute and oboe).
Also that year, the single "Gaudete
" from Below the Salt belatedly became a Christmas hit single, reaching number 14 in the UK Singles Chart
, although this a cappella
piece, taken from the late renaissance
song collection Piae Cantiones
from Finland
and sung entirely in Latin
, cannot be considered representative of the band's 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. They often include it as a concert encore. Their popularity was also helped by the fact that they often performed as an opening act for fellow Chrysalis artists Jethro Tull
.
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 electric ukelele on the final track, "New York Girls". Their seventh album also included the epic ballad "Long Lankin" and novelty instrumental "Bach Goes To Limerick".
(best known for his musical association with The Wombles
and, more recently, Katie Melua
) 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. Other well-known tracks on the album included "Black Jack Davey" (sampled by rappers Goldie Lookin Chain
on their track "The Maggot") and the rocky "Hard Times of Old England". But while All Around My Hat was the height of the band's commercial success, the good times were not to last 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 commercial flop, despite having much in common musically with its immediate predecessor.
The opening track, "London", was penned by Rick Kemp as a follow-up to "All Around My Hat", in response to a request from the record label that Kemp describes as "we'll have another one of those, please", and released as a single. The song failed to make the UK Chart, in complete contrast to "All Around My Hat", despite having much in common with its predecessor - a 12/8 time signature, upbeat tempo, solo verses and full harmony chorus.
Rocket Cottage also included experimental tracks "Fighting for Strangers" (with sparse vocals singing concurrently in a variety of keys) and, on the final track, excerpts of studio banter between the band members and a seemingly impromptu rendition of "Camptown Races
", in which Prior gets the lyrics wrong.
But while their ninth album was one of their most interesting and varied, the advent of punk
saw the mainstream market turning away from electric folk almost overnight, heralding a downturn in commercial fortunes for the band. However, as a thank you to their committed fans (and also to possibly to garner some publicity for their underperforming album), Steelye Span showered attendees of a November, 1976 concert in London, England, with the then-equivalent of US $13,600 in British pound notes. The unnanounced idea was Maddy Prior's, and -- remarkably -- no-one was injured in the rush to grab the falling bills. Indeed, contemporary press reports indicated that it took some time for the crowd to even realize what was happening.
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".
It has been widely reported that Peter Knight and Bob Johnson left the band to work on another project together, The King of Elfland's Daughter
. The actual situation was more complex. Chrysalis Records agreed to allow Knight and Johnson to work on "King" only as a way to persuade the duo to continue working with Steeleye. Since the record company had no interest in "King" for its own sake, it made no effort to market the album. Chrysalis' ploy failed, however, and Knight and Johnson quit.
Their departure left a significant hole in the band. For the 1977 album Storm Force Ten
, early member Martin Carthy rejoined on guitar. When he originally joined the band for their second album, Carthy had tried to persuade the others to bring John Kirkpatrick on board, but the band had chosen Knight instead. This time, Carthy's suggestion was accepted, and Kirkpatrick's accordion replaced Knight's fiddle, which gave the recording a very different texture from the Steeleye sound of previous years. Kirkpatrick's one-man morris dances quickly became one of the highlights of the band's show. 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. But Carthy and Kirkpatrick had only intended to play with the band for a few months and had no interest in a longer association with the band.
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. Sails was not a commercial success, in part because Chrysalis chose not to promote the album aggressively, but also because many fans felt uncomfortable with the band's new direction in its choice of material. The failure of the album left Hart unhappy enough that he decided to leave the band and give up commercial music entirely, in favour of a reclusive life overseas.
After Sails of Silver there were to be no new albums for several years, and Steeleye became a part-time touring band. The other members spent much of their time and energy working on their various other projects, and the band went into a fitful hibernation. "Sails of Silver" was used as a theme song for the science fiction literary show "Hour of The Wolf" on NYC radio station WBAI 99.5FM since the 80s. This introduced many younger U.S. listeners to the band.
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. St Clair sang the songs, and The Maddy Prior Band did the backing instrumentals.
. Pegrum ran a music studio. Prior and Kemp devoted much energy to their own band (The Maddy Prior Band; see Maddy Prior (solo albums)), recording 4 albums, and also had children together. The result was that the band's output dropped sharply, producing only three albums over the space of ten years (including a concert album), although the band continued touring.
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. One was bassist Rick Kemp, who needed to recover from a serious shoulder injury, exacerbated by playing bass on stage. His eventual replacement (after two tours, each with a different bassist) was Tim Harries
, who was brought in less than two weeks before the band was scheduled to start a tour. A friend of Pegrum's, Harries was a self-taught rock bassist, as well as a classically trained pianist and double bassist. With Harries on board, Steeleye released Tempted and Tried
(1989), an album that formed the basis for their live set for many years to come.
Not long after recording Tempted, drummer Nigel Pegrum emigrated to Australia for personal relationship reasons. He was replaced by eccentric drummer Liam Genockey
of Gillan
, easily identified by his long, plaited beard. He and Knight were simultaneously members of "Moiré Music", a free-jazz band with a classical flavour, led by Trevor Watts. Unlike Pegrum, who employed a traditional rock drumming style, Genockey favoured a more varied drumming style, influenced by both Irish and African drumming, in which he hit, brushed, and rubbed the various surfaces of his drums and cymbals, creating a more varied range of sounds. Consequently, when the band embarked on their 20th Anniversary Tour, they did so with a totally new rhythm section.
Both Harries and Genockey were interested in experimenting with the band's sound, and they helped re-energise the other members' interest in Steeleye. The band began reworking some of their earlier material, seeking new approaches to traditional favourites. For example, Johnson experimented with an arrangement of "Tam Lin" that involved a heavy Bulgarian influence, inspired by Eastern European versions of the Tam Lin legend. In 1992, the band released Tonight's the Night...Live
, which demonstrates some of this new energy and direction. The band continued to tour the UK every year, and frequently toured overseas as well.
A by-product of this gig was founding vocalist Gay Woods rejoining the band fulltime, partly because Prior was experiencing vocal problems, and for a while Steeleye toured with two female singers, and released the album Time
1996, their first new studio album in seven years.
There were doubts over the future of the band when 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). Fans of Steeleye's "rock" element felt that Horkstow Grange was too quiet and folk-oriented, while fans of the band's "folk" element complained that Bedlam Born was too rock-heavy. Woods received considerable criticism from fans, many of whom did not realise that she was one of the founding members and who compared her singing style unfavourably to Prior's. There was also disagreement among the band about what material to perform; Woods advocated performing old favourites such as "All Around My Hat" and "Alison Gross", while Johnson favoured a set that emphasised their newer material.
Liam Genockey had also left the band by 1998, and on these albums the drum kit was manned by Dave Mattacks
.
For a while the band consisted of just Peter Knight and Tim Harries, plus various guest musicians, as they fulfilled live commitments. Rick Kemp resumed playing with the band at some of these gigs, with Harries switching to lead guitar. This was an uncertain time for the future of the band, and when Harries announced he was not keen to continue his role, even the willingness of Kemp to return to the line-up full-time was not enough to prevent what was effectively a breakup.
In 2002, Steeleye Span reformed with a "classic" lineup, bringing an end to the uncertainty of the previous couple of years. Knight hosted a poll on his website, asking the band's fans which Steeleye songs they would most want to see the band re-record. Armed with the results, Knight persuaded Prior and Genocky to rejoin, coaxed Johnson out of a health-induced retirement, and along with Kemp and Knight, they released Present--The Very Best of Steeleye Span (2002), a 2-disc set of new recordings of the songs.
But Bob Johnson's health prevented him from playing live shortly before the 2002 comeback tour, and he was replaced at the eleventh hour on guitar by Ken Nicol, formerly of the Albion Band. Nicol had been talking with Rick Kemp about forming a band when Kemp invited him to play for the tour.
early in 2004, and extensively toured the UK, Europe and Australia, and their relatively prolific output continued with the release of the Christmas album 'Winter' later the same year, as the band ended a busy year of touring with a gala performance in London's Palladium
theatre.
In 2005 Steeleye Span were awarded the Good Tradition Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
, while the 2005 book, Electric Folk by Britta Sweers devotes much space to the band.
With a new sense of purpose and a stable line-up now consisting of Prior, Nicol, Kemp, Knight and Genockey, the band carried out a UK tour in April and May 2006, followed by dates in Europe and an appearance at the 2006 Cropredy Festival
. They were the final act on Cropredy's first night. They started with "Bonny Black Hare" and finished with "All Around My Hat
" with backing vocals from the Cropredy Crowd. The full play list is at Crop Log 2006. The tour was supported by a live album and DVD of their 2004 tour.
In November 2006, Steeleye released their studio album Bloody Men
. Their Autumn/Winter tour started on 24 November 2006 in Basingstoke
and ran until just before Christmas.
They headlined at their namesake festival, Spanfest 2007 at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk from 27–29 July 2007, and returned for Spanfest 2008. However, as Kentwell Hall declined to hold the festival again, it was held at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. A UK tour took place between 17 April and 16 May 2008.
For their 40th anniversary tour in 2009, Pete Zorn
joined the line-up on bass, as Rick Kemp was unwell. Kemp and Zorn both toured with the band for the winter tour that year, with Zorn playing guitar, and Kemp announced that he would be retiring at the end of the tour.
A live double CD and DVD set entitled 'Live at a Distance' was released in April 2009 by Park Records
, and their new studio album entitled Cogs, Wheels & Lovers was released on October 26, 2009. Several tracks from this album featured in the sets of the autumn tour.
Founding member Tim Hart died on December 24, 2009 at his home in La Gomera on the Canary Islands at the age of 61, after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
In June 2010 Ken Nicol (guitar) announced that he was leaving Steeleye. However, the remainder of the band announced a tour for March and April 2011, and confirmed that contrary to previous suggestions, Rick Kemp would still be part of the line-up.
Until the 1990s, Steeleye often toured as part of double bill, supporting Status Quo, or featuring support from artists such as Rock salt & nails
and The Rankin Family
. However, in recent years they have generally appeared without support.
In November 2007, Liam Genockey and Tim Harries recorded an album with Mandyleigh Storm
, called "Fire and Snow", live at Dean St Studios, Soho, London. Produced by Mick Glossop (Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, The Waterboys etc.), it also featured Johnny Scott (Van Morrison) on guitar, and James Lascelles
(Frank Zappa) on hammond, mini-moog, piano, hammered dulcimer and percussion. An interesting fact that came out of this is that Liam has perfect natural timing. He never needs a click-track or any form of timing assistance.
" for the Time album, but it did not appear on it. It was released on the anthology The Best of British Folk Rock. Similarly they recorded "General Taylor" for Ten Man Mop but the song did not appear on it. It resurfaced on the compilation album Individually and Collectively instead. It was also included in another compilation The Lark in The Morning (2006), as well as re-issues of Ten Man Mop. "Bonny Moorhen" was recorded at the time of the "Parcel of Rogues" session. It appears, however, on the compilation album Original Masters, and is also packaged as part of A Parcel of Steeleye Span. The song "Somewhere in London", recorded for Back in Line (1986) was released instead as a B-side single, but returned to its proper place "Back in Line" when the album was reissued in 1991. "Staring Robin", a song about a man described by Tim Harries as an "Elizabethan psycho", was recorded during the Bedlam Born (2000) sessions, but it was left off the final album as it was deemed by Park Records to be too disturbing.
The set called Bedrock In Concert (2002) contained the audio CD Live in Nottingham plus the DVD Classic Rock Legends in a single box.
Steeleye Span 2: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Carthy, Peter Knight
Steeleye Span 3: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp
Steeleye Span 4: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum
Steeleye Span 5: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick
Steeleye Span 6: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson
Steeleye Span 7: Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson
Steeleye Span 7.1: Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Mark Williamson
Steeleye Span 7.2: Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Chris Staines
Steeleye Span 8: Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries
Steeleye Span 9: Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Liam Genockey
Steeleye Span 10: Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Liam Genockey, Gay Woods, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Carthy, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, John Kirkpatrick, Michael Gregory, Tim Hart
Steeleye Span 11: Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Liam Genockey, Gay Woods
Steeleye Span 12: Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Gay Woods
Steeleye Span 12.1: Peter Knight, Tim Harries, Gay Woods, Rick Kemp
Steeleye Span 12.2: Peter Knight, Tim Harries, Rick Kemp, Terl Bryant
Steeleye Span 13: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Bob Johnson, Liam Genockey
Steeleye Span 13.1: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Ken Nicol
Steeleye Span 14: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Ken Nicol
Steeleye Span 14.1: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Ken Nicol, Pete Zorn
Steeleye Span 14.1: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Pete Zorn, Julian Litman
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
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
Gaudete
Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582...
" and "All Around My Hat
All Around My Hat (song)
The song "All Around my Hat" is of nineteenth century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancee, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss by wearing green willow...
". They had three Top 40 albums. They achieved a certified gold record with sales of "All Around My Hat".
The name Steeleye Span comes from a character in the traditional song Horkstow Grange
Lincolnshire Posy
Lincolnshire Posy is a piece by Percy Grainger for concert band composed in 1937 for the American Bandmasters Association. Considered Grainger's masterpiece, the work is composed of six movements, each adapted from folk songs that Grainger had collected on a 1905–1906 trip to Lincolnshire,...
(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. Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
gave Tim Hart
Tim Hart
Tim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
the idea to name the band after the song character. When the band discussed names, they decided to vote between the three suggestions "Middlemarch Wait", "Iyubidin's Wait", and "Steeleye Span". Although there were only five members in the band, six ballots appeared and "Steeleye Span" won out. Only in 1978 did Hart confess that he had voted twice. Terry Woods maintains that the members had agreed that if more than one person departed, the remaining members would select a new name, and he was upset that this did not happen when he and Gay Woods
Gay Woods
Gay Woods is an Irish singer. She was one of the original members of Steeleye Span.-Early years:Gabriel Corcoran was born in Dublin, a neighbour of her future husband Terry Woods . Gay's elder brothers shared Terry's love of hillbilly music and blues. Gay and Terry performed together in 1963 at...
left the band. The liner notes for their first album include thanks to Carthy for the name suggestion.
Throughout their long history, Steeleye Span have seen many personnel changes but has maintained a strong continuity of tradition. Lead vocalist Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
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
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
, Renaissance
Renaissance (band)
Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, most notable for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia" and "Ashes Are Burning".-Original incarnation :...
's Annie Haslam
Annie Haslam
Annie Haslam is an English progressive rock vocalist and songwriter.Originally a fashion student, she began studying under opera singer Sybil Knight in 1970 and developed her five-octave vocal range...
, Jacqui McShee
Jacqui McShee
thumb|300px|right|Jacqui McShee performing with [[Pentangle]] at the 2007 [[BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards]]Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz influenced folk rock band.-Biography:McShee's musical career began as a soloist in British folk...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, and Linda Thompson
Linda Thompson (singer)
Linda Thompson is a British singer. Born Linda Pettifer in Hackney, Thompson became one of the most recognised names—and voices—in the British folk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s, in collaboration with her former husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard...
).
Their typical album is a collection of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
s and/or reels
Reel (dance)
The reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
added; the traditional songs often include some of the Child ballads
Child Ballads
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...
. In their later albums there has been an increased tendency to include music written by the band members, but they have never got completely away from traditional music, which draws upon pan-British traditions.
The early years
The Steeleye Span story began in late 1969 when LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-born bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
departed Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, 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 band members injured. They convalesced in a rented house near Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and worked on the album Liege & Lief
Liege & Lief
Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the English rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third and final album the group released in the UK in 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist...
. Despite the success of the album, Ashley Hutchings and the band's vocalist Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
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
Simon Nicol
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol is a guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founder member of British folk rock, or electric folk group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band...
, says in an interview on the band's website: "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
Tim Hart
Tim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
and Maddy Prior on the London folk club scene, and the initial lineup was completed by husband and wife team Terry Woods
Terry Woods
Terence 'Terry' Woods , is an Irish folk musician, specialising in playing the mandolin and cittern. He is known for his membership in such folk and folk-rock groups as The Pogues, Steeleye Span, Sweeney's Men, The Bucks and, briefly, Dr. Strangely Strange. Prior to being a founder member of...
(formerly of Sweeney's Men
Sweeney's Men
Sweeney's Men was an Irish traditional band. They emerged from the late 1960s Irish roots revival, along with groups such as The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. The founding line-up in May 1966 was 'Galway Joe' Dolan, Johnny Moynihan and Andy Irvine....
, later of The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
) and Gay Woods
Gay Woods
Gay Woods is an Irish singer. She was one of the original members of Steeleye Span.-Early years:Gabriel Corcoran was born in Dublin, a neighbour of her future husband Terry Woods . Gay's elder brothers shared Terry's love of hillbilly music and blues. Gay and Terry performed together in 1963 at...
. 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
Hark! The Village Wait
Hark! The Village Wait was the 1970 debut album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album is the only one to feature the original lineup of the band, as they broke up and reformed with a slightly altered membership immediately after its release, without having ever performed live...
(1970). While recording the album, the five members were all living in the same house, an arrangement that produced considerable tensions particularly between Hart and Prior on the one hand and the Woods on the other. Gay and Terry were replaced by veteran folk musician Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
and fiddler Peter Knight in a longer-term lineup that toured small concert venues, and recorded two albums - Please to See the King
Please to See the King
Please To See The King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A substantial personnel change following their previous effort, Hark! The Village Wait, brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lack of drums and the replacement of one female vocalist with...
(1971) and Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in 1971. Of all their albums, it is the most acoustic and it also has considerable Irish influence, second only to Horkstow Grange. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are...
(1972). While the first album was traditionally performed - guitars, bass and with a guest drummer - Please to See the King
Please to See the King
Please To See The King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A substantial personnel change following their previous effort, Hark! The Village Wait, brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lack of drums and the replacement of one female vocalist with...
was revolutionary in its hard electric sound and lack of drums.
A new direction
Shortly after the release of their third album, the band brought in Jo LustigJo Lustig
-Early career:Jo was born on October 21, 1925 in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 12 he saw Billie Holiday singing in a club and fell in love with music. He became an apprentice music journalist, meeting up with Gloria Swanson and Mel Brooks. Having gone solo, he handled publicity for Miles...
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
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....
and bass player Rick Kemp
Rick Kemp
Rick 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:...
, who brought strong rock and blues influences to the sound.
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...
record label, for a deal that was to last for ten albums.
With the release of their fourth album, Below the Salt
Below the Salt
Below the Salt is a 1972 album by Steeleye Span, and considered by many fans to be one of their best. The album has a slightly medieval theme, most notably in the artwork and title...
, later in 1972, the revised lineup had settled on a distinctive electrified rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
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
Parcel of Rogues (album)
Parcel of Rogues is an album by the Electric folk band Steeleye Span. It was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30....
(1973), the band had no permanent drummer, but in 1973 rock drummer Nigel Pegrum
Nigel Pegrum
Nigel 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...
, who had previously recorded with Gnidrolog
Gnidrolog
Gnidrolog was a British progressive rock band, with a sound that was compared to better known bands such as Van der Graaf Generator, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant.-History:...
, The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
and Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
, joined them, to harden up their sound (as well as occasionally playing flute and oboe).
Also that year, the single "Gaudete
Gaudete
Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582...
" from Below the Salt belatedly became a Christmas hit single, reaching number 14 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, although this a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
piece, taken from the late renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
song collection Piae Cantiones
Piae Cantiones
Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum is a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. It was compiled by Jacobus Finno or Jaakko Suomalainen , a clergyman who was headmaster of the cathedral school at Turku...
from Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and sung entirely in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, cannot be considered representative of the band's 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
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
for the first time. They often include it as a concert encore. Their popularity was also helped by the fact that they often performed as an opening act for fellow Chrysalis artists Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
.
Appropriately enough, their sixth album (and sixth member Pegrum's first with the band) was entitled Now We Are Six
Now We Are Six (album)
Now We Are Six is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. Its title refers to both its sequence among their albums, and the band's size, in light of the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum...
. Produced by Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson (musician)
Ian Scott Anderson, MBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.-Early life:...
, the album includes the epic track "Thomas the Rhymer
Thomas the Rhymer
Thomas Learmonth , better known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas, was a 13th century Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston . He is also the protagonist of the ballad "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
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
on saxophone.
The attempts at humour continued on Commoners Crown
Commoner's Crown
Commoners Crown is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span, its seventh release overall and the second album with the band's most commercially successful line-up. It reached number 21 in the UK album charts....
(1975), which included Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
playing electric ukelele on the final track, "New York Girls". Their seventh album also included the epic ballad "Long Lankin" and novelty instrumental "Bach Goes To Limerick".
The Mike Batt era
With their star now conspicuously ascendant, the band brought in producer Mike BattMike Batt
Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
(best known for his musical association with The Wombles
The Wombles (band)
The Wombles are a British novelty pop group, featuring musicians dressed as the characters from children's TV show The Wombles, which in turn was based on the children's book series by Elisabeth Beresford. Songwriter and record producer, Mike Batt, wrote the series' theme tune, and went on to...
and, more recently, Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
) 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. Other well-known tracks on the album included "Black Jack Davey" (sampled by rappers Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain is a comedic rap music group based in Newport, South Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the ‘chav’ culture and life in Newport and south Wales in general.-Background:Many of the songs...
on their track "The Maggot") and the rocky "Hard Times of Old England". But while All Around My Hat was the height of the band's commercial success, the good times were not to last 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
Rocket Cottage
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 . Unfortunately,...
(1976), also produced by Batt, proved to be a commercial flop, despite having much in common musically with its immediate predecessor.
The opening track, "London", was penned by Rick Kemp as a follow-up to "All Around My Hat", in response to a request from the record label that Kemp describes as "we'll have another one of those, please", and released as a single. The song failed to make the UK Chart, in complete contrast to "All Around My Hat", despite having much in common with its predecessor - a 12/8 time signature, upbeat tempo, solo verses and full harmony chorus.
Rocket Cottage also included experimental tracks "Fighting for Strangers" (with sparse vocals singing concurrently in a variety of keys) and, on the final track, excerpts of studio banter between the band members and a seemingly impromptu rendition of "Camptown Races
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...
", in which Prior gets the lyrics wrong.
But while their ninth album was one of their most interesting and varied, the advent of 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...
saw the mainstream market turning away from electric folk almost overnight, heralding a downturn in commercial fortunes for the band. However, as a thank you to their committed fans (and also to possibly to garner some publicity for their underperforming album), Steelye Span showered attendees of a November, 1976 concert in London, England, with the then-equivalent of US $13,600 in British pound notes. The unnanounced idea was Maddy Prior's, and -- remarkably -- no-one was injured in the rush to grab the falling bills. Indeed, contemporary press reports indicated that it took some time for the crowd to even realize what was happening.
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".
The late 1970s and early 1980s
While they would never regain the commercial success of All Around My Hat, Steeleye remained popular among electric folk fans, and generally respected within the music industry.It has been widely reported that Peter Knight and Bob Johnson left the band to work on another project together, The King of Elfland's Daughter
The King of Elfland's Daughter (album)
The King of Elfland's Daughter is a concept album by former Steeleye Span members Bob Johnson and Peter Knight. It was based on the 1924 fantasy novel of the same name by Lord Dunsany and recorded and released in 1977...
. The actual situation was more complex. Chrysalis Records agreed to allow Knight and Johnson to work on "King" only as a way to persuade the duo to continue working with Steeleye. Since the record company had no interest in "King" for its own sake, it made no effort to market the album. Chrysalis' ploy failed, however, and Knight and Johnson quit.
Their departure left a significant hole in the band. For the 1977 album Storm Force Ten
Storm Force Ten
Storm Force Ten is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span, the band's 10th effort, released in 1977.The album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After Rocket Cottage, Bob Johnson and Peter Knight left the band. As there was...
, early member Martin Carthy rejoined on guitar. When he originally joined the band for their second album, Carthy had tried to persuade the others to bring John Kirkpatrick on board, but the band had chosen Knight instead. This time, Carthy's suggestion was accepted, and Kirkpatrick's accordion replaced Knight's fiddle, which gave the recording a very different texture from the Steeleye sound of previous years. Kirkpatrick's one-man morris dances quickly became one of the highlights of the band's show. 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. But Carthy and Kirkpatrick had only intended to play with the band for a few months and had no interest in a longer association with the band.
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
Sails of Silver
Sails of Silver is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album was produced two years after the band's ostensible break-up, at the request of Chrysalis Records. Peter Knight and Bob Johnson both returned, replacing their own replacements Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick, who had...
saw the band moving away from traditional material to a greater focus on self-penned songs, many with historical or pseudo-folk themes. Sails was not a commercial success, in part because Chrysalis chose not to promote the album aggressively, but also because many fans felt uncomfortable with the band's new direction in its choice of material. The failure of the album left Hart unhappy enough that he decided to leave the band and give up commercial music entirely, in favour of a reclusive life overseas.
After Sails of Silver there were to be no new albums for several years, and Steeleye became a part-time touring band. The other members spent much of their time and energy working on their various other projects, and the band went into a fitful hibernation. "Sails of Silver" was used as a theme song for the science fiction literary show "Hour of The Wolf" on NYC radio station WBAI 99.5FM since the 80s. This introduced many younger U.S. listeners to the band.
In 1981 Isla St Clair
Isla St Clair
Isla St Clair , is a Scottish singer, actress and former game show co-host.-Early career:Isla St Clair was born in Grangemouth, central Scotland, in 1952. Her family came from North East Scotland and it was here that she spent her early years...
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. St Clair sang the songs, and The Maddy Prior Band did the backing instrumentals.
The wilderness years
For much of the 1980s, the members of the band tended to focus on outside projects of various sorts. Johnson opened a restaurant and then studied for a degree in psychology at the University of HertfordshireUniversity of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire is a new university based largely in Hatfield, in the county of Hertfordshire, England, from which the university takes its name. It has more than 27,500 students, over 2500 staff, with a turnover of over £181m...
. Pegrum ran a music studio. Prior and Kemp devoted much energy to their own band (The Maddy Prior Band; see Maddy Prior (solo albums)), recording 4 albums, and also had children together. The result was that the band's output dropped sharply, producing only three albums over the space of ten years (including a concert album), although the band continued touring.
After a quiet spell, the group's 12th studio album (and first without Tim Hart) Back in Line
Back in Line
Back in Line is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.This album, the band's 12th, was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It was their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business entirely...
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
Blackleg Miner
Blackleg Miner is a 19th-century English folk song, originally from Northumberland ....
" 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. One was bassist Rick Kemp, who needed to recover from a serious shoulder injury, exacerbated by playing bass on stage. His eventual replacement (after two tours, each with a different bassist) was Tim Harries
Tim Harries
Tim Harries is a British bass player.Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study Double Bass with Tom Martin at the Guildhall School of Music...
, who was brought in less than two weeks before the band was scheduled to start a tour. A friend of Pegrum's, Harries was a self-taught rock bassist, as well as a classically trained pianist and double bassist. With Harries on board, Steeleye released Tempted and Tried
Tempted and Tried
Tempted and Tried is the 13th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus after the release of Back in Line. After releasing ten albums in fairly rapid succession during the 1970s, the band entered something of a creative dry spell, with...
(1989), an album that formed the basis for their live set for many years to come.
Not long after recording Tempted, drummer Nigel Pegrum emigrated to Australia for personal relationship reasons. He was replaced by eccentric drummer Liam Genockey
Liam Genockey
Liam Genockey is an Irish drummer.Liam Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi-pro groups, then in the early 70's playing with Torbay based rock band Adolphus Rebirth...
of Gillan
Gillan
Gillan was a rock band formed in 1978 by Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan.-History:In 1978 Ian Gillan had become dissatisfied with the jazz fusion style of his band called the Ian Gillan Band and dissolved it, retaining only keyboard player Colin Towns, and formed a new band entitled Gillan...
, easily identified by his long, plaited beard. He and Knight were simultaneously members of "Moiré Music", a free-jazz band with a classical flavour, led by Trevor Watts. Unlike Pegrum, who employed a traditional rock drumming style, Genockey favoured a more varied drumming style, influenced by both Irish and African drumming, in which he hit, brushed, and rubbed the various surfaces of his drums and cymbals, creating a more varied range of sounds. Consequently, when the band embarked on their 20th Anniversary Tour, they did so with a totally new rhythm section.
Both Harries and Genockey were interested in experimenting with the band's sound, and they helped re-energise the other members' interest in Steeleye. The band began reworking some of their earlier material, seeking new approaches to traditional favourites. For example, Johnson experimented with an arrangement of "Tam Lin" that involved a heavy Bulgarian influence, inspired by Eastern European versions of the Tam Lin legend. In 1992, the band released Tonight's the Night...Live
Tonight's the Night...Live
Tonight's the Night...Live is the second live album by English electric folk band Steeleye Span.During the 1980s, Steeleye went through a creative lull, releasing only 3 albums. However, by 1991, the band had begun to be creatively revitalized, thanks to the arrival of a new bassist, Tim Harries,...
, which demonstrates some of this new energy and direction. The band continued to tour the UK every year, and frequently toured overseas as well.
Maddy 'leaves the bus'
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). The only former member not present was founding member Terry Woods.A by-product of this gig was founding vocalist Gay Woods rejoining the band fulltime, partly because Prior was experiencing vocal problems, and for a while Steeleye toured with two female singers, and released the album Time
Time (Steeleye Span album)
Time is an album by Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1996, after a seven year hiatus. The impetus for the album was a 25th anniversary reunion tour the year before, during which most of the former members of the band performed together...
1996, their first new studio album in seven years.
Horkstow Grange
Horkstow Grange is an album by the English electric folk band Steeleye Span.Released in 1998, it is the band's 15th album, and the first album the band recorded without founding member Maddy Prior. Gay Woods provides most of the lead vocals, although the other three members of the band all do the...
(1998), and then Bedlam Born
Bedlam Born
Bedlam Born is the 16th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. It is the second of two albums made by a line-up consisting of Gay Woods, Bob Johnson, Peter Knight, and Tim Harries, and only the second album on which Maddy Prior did not make an appearance. The title refers not to a...
(2000). Fans of Steeleye's "rock" element felt that Horkstow Grange was too quiet and folk-oriented, while fans of the band's "folk" element complained that Bedlam Born was too rock-heavy. Woods received considerable criticism from fans, many of whom did not realise that she was one of the founding members and who compared her singing style unfavourably to Prior's. There was also disagreement among the band about what material to perform; Woods advocated performing old favourites such as "All Around My Hat" and "Alison Gross", while Johnson favoured a set that emphasised their newer material.
Liam Genockey had also left the band by 1998, and on these albums the drum kit was manned by Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks is a rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician, and as a performance artist...
.
Breakup and comeback
Reported difficulties among band members saw a split during the recording of Bedlam Born. Woods reportedly was uncomfortable with the financial arrangements of the band, health problems forced Johnson into retirement, and drummer Dave Mattacks never saw himself as a permanent member.For a while the band consisted of just Peter Knight and Tim Harries, plus various guest musicians, as they fulfilled live commitments. Rick Kemp resumed playing with the band at some of these gigs, with Harries switching to lead guitar. This was an uncertain time for the future of the band, and when Harries announced he was not keen to continue his role, even the willingness of Kemp to return to the line-up full-time was not enough to prevent what was effectively a breakup.
In 2002, Steeleye Span reformed with a "classic" lineup, bringing an end to the uncertainty of the previous couple of years. Knight hosted a poll on his website, asking the band's fans which Steeleye songs they would most want to see the band re-record. Armed with the results, Knight persuaded Prior and Genocky to rejoin, coaxed Johnson out of a health-induced retirement, and along with Kemp and Knight, they released Present--The Very Best of Steeleye Span (2002), a 2-disc set of new recordings of the songs.
But Bob Johnson's health prevented him from playing live shortly before the 2002 comeback tour, and he was replaced at the eleventh hour on guitar by Ken Nicol, formerly of the Albion Band. Nicol had been talking with Rick Kemp about forming a band when Kemp invited him to play for the tour.
Return to form
With Nicol on board, the band released the album They Called Her BabylonThey Called Her Babylon
They Called Her Babylon is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album, the band's 18th studio album, was released in 2004. The album is perhaps most noteworthy for the return of Maddy Prior, the band's most central member, who had departed the band in 1996...
early in 2004, and extensively toured the UK, Europe and Australia, and their relatively prolific output continued with the release of the Christmas album 'Winter' later the same year, as the band ended a busy year of touring with a gala performance in London's Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
theatre.
In 2005 Steeleye Span were awarded the Good Tradition Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
, while the 2005 book, Electric Folk by Britta Sweers devotes much space to the band.
With a new sense of purpose and a stable line-up now consisting of Prior, Nicol, Kemp, Knight and Genockey, the band carried out a UK tour in April and May 2006, followed by dates in Europe and an appearance at the 2006 Cropredy Festival
Cropredy Festival
Fairport's Cropredy Convention is an annual festival of folk and rock music held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. It has taken place in August since 1976....
. They were the final act on Cropredy's first night. They started with "Bonny Black Hare" and finished with "All Around My Hat
All Around My Hat (song)
The song "All Around my Hat" is of nineteenth century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancee, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss by wearing green willow...
" with backing vocals from the Cropredy Crowd. The full play list is at Crop Log 2006. The tour was supported by a live album and DVD of their 2004 tour.
In November 2006, Steeleye released their studio album Bloody Men
Bloody Men (album)
Bloody Men is the 20th studio album by the British electric folk band Steeleye Span.This album represents a continuation of the band's recent surge of activity...
. Their Autumn/Winter tour started on 24 November 2006 in Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
and ran until just before Christmas.
They headlined at their namesake festival, Spanfest 2007 at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk from 27–29 July 2007, and returned for Spanfest 2008. However, as Kentwell Hall declined to hold the festival again, it was held at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. A UK tour took place between 17 April and 16 May 2008.
For their 40th anniversary tour in 2009, Pete Zorn
Pete Zorn
Pete Zorn is an American multi-instrumentalist who plays roots music. He is best known as a longstanding member of Richard Thompson's touring band, where he serves as backing vocalist and plays acoustic guitar, mandolin, saxophone, flute, and tin whistle.Although he frequently tours with Thompson,...
joined the line-up on bass, as Rick Kemp was unwell. Kemp and Zorn both toured with the band for the winter tour that year, with Zorn playing guitar, and Kemp announced that he would be retiring at the end of the tour.
A live double CD and DVD set entitled 'Live at a Distance' was released in April 2009 by Park Records
Park Records
Park Records is a British record label, based in Oxford, specialising in folk rock and AOR music.The company began in 1990, with singles and albums by Maddy Prior but have grown to include Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Capercaillie, Moonshee and others....
, and their new studio album entitled Cogs, Wheels & Lovers was released on October 26, 2009. Several tracks from this album featured in the sets of the autumn tour.
Founding member Tim Hart died on December 24, 2009 at his home in La Gomera on the Canary Islands at the age of 61, after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
In June 2010 Ken Nicol (guitar) announced that he was leaving Steeleye. However, the remainder of the band announced a tour for March and April 2011, and confirmed that contrary to previous suggestions, Rick Kemp would still be part of the line-up.
Steeleye Span today
For the Spring 2011 tour, the line-up consisted of Prior (vocals), Rick Kemp (bass, vocals), Peter Knight (violin, piano, vocals), Pete Zorn (guitar), Julian Littman (guitar) and Liam Genockey (drums and percussion), and draws on past and current Steeleye Span repertoire. They usually play to theatres and arts centres but they also perform at festivals.Until the 1990s, Steeleye often toured as part of double bill, supporting Status Quo, or featuring support from artists such as Rock salt & nails
Rock Salt & Nails (band)
The Rock Salt & Nails are a Celtic fusion band based in the Shetland, Scotland. The band formed in 1992.In 2009, the band wrote and released a single dedicated to the Scottish tennis player Andy Murray, called Volley Highway.- Line-up :2003 line-up:...
and The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.- Career...
. However, in recent years they have generally appeared without support.
Collaborations
When they supported Status Quo on tour in 1996, the latter had just issued their version of "All Around My Hat" as a single, and for their encore Prior joined them on stage to sing it with them. Status Quo's single is credited to "Status Quo with Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span" and reached number 47 in the charts. Prior also sang backing vocals on the title track of Jethro Tull's 1976 album Too Old To Rock and Roll, Too Young To Die. Ray Fisher's rare 1972 album Bonny Birdy includes one track with the High Level Ranters, one with Steeleye Span, and one with Martin Carthy.In November 2007, Liam Genockey and Tim Harries recorded an album with Mandyleigh Storm
Mandyleigh Storm
Mandyleigh Storm is an English female singer/song writer.-Biography:Storm was born on 27 May 1972 in Southampton, England. After 3 years of ballroom dancing between the ages of 8 and 11, and at the same time a stint at modeling, she settled on singing in her mid teenage years.She sang Barbra...
, called "Fire and Snow", live at Dean St Studios, Soho, London. Produced by Mick Glossop (Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, The Waterboys etc.), it also featured Johnny Scott (Van Morrison) on guitar, and James Lascelles
James Lascelles
James Edward Lascelles , styled The Hon. James Lascelles, is a British musician and the second son of the 7th Earl of Harewood and his first wife, the former Marion Stein...
(Frank Zappa) on hammond, mini-moog, piano, hammered dulcimer and percussion. An interesting fact that came out of this is that Liam has perfect natural timing. He never needs a click-track or any form of timing assistance.
The Lost Recordings
In 1995 Steeleye recorded "The Golden VanityThe Sweet Trinity
"The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286. The first surviving version, about 1635, was "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing In The Lowlands "The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286....
" for the Time album, but it did not appear on it. It was released on the anthology The Best of British Folk Rock. Similarly they recorded "General Taylor" for Ten Man Mop but the song did not appear on it. It resurfaced on the compilation album Individually and Collectively instead. It was also included in another compilation The Lark in The Morning (2006), as well as re-issues of Ten Man Mop. "Bonny Moorhen" was recorded at the time of the "Parcel of Rogues" session. It appears, however, on the compilation album Original Masters, and is also packaged as part of A Parcel of Steeleye Span. The song "Somewhere in London", recorded for Back in Line (1986) was released instead as a B-side single, but returned to its proper place "Back in Line" when the album was reissued in 1991. "Staring Robin", a song about a man described by Tim Harries as an "Elizabethan psycho", was recorded during the Bedlam Born (2000) sessions, but it was left off the final album as it was deemed by Park Records to be too disturbing.
Studio albums
- Hark! The Village WaitHark! The Village WaitHark! The Village Wait was the 1970 debut album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album is the only one to feature the original lineup of the band, as they broke up and reformed with a slightly altered membership immediately after its release, without having ever performed live...
(1970) - Please to See the KingPlease to See the KingPlease To See The King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A substantial personnel change following their previous effort, Hark! The Village Wait, brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lack of drums and the replacement of one female vocalist with...
(1971) - UK #45UK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... - Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides AgainTen Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides AgainTen Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in 1971. Of all their albums, it is the most acoustic and it also has considerable Irish influence, second only to Horkstow Grange. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are...
(1971) - Below the SaltBelow the SaltBelow the Salt is a 1972 album by Steeleye Span, and considered by many fans to be one of their best. The album has a slightly medieval theme, most notably in the artwork and title...
(1972) - UK #43 - Parcel of RoguesParcel of Rogues (album)Parcel of Rogues is an album by the Electric folk band Steeleye Span. It was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30....
(1973) - UK #26 - Now We Are SixNow We Are Six (album)Now We Are Six is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. Its title refers to both its sequence among their albums, and the band's size, in light of the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum...
(1974) - UK #13 - Commoners CrownCommoner's CrownCommoners Crown is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span, its seventh release overall and the second album with the band's most commercially successful line-up. It reached number 21 in the UK album charts....
(1975) - UK #21 - All Around My Hat (1975) - UK #7
- Rocket CottageRocket CottageRocket 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 . Unfortunately,...
(1976) - UK #41 - Storm Force TenStorm Force TenStorm Force Ten is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span, the band's 10th effort, released in 1977.The album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After Rocket Cottage, Bob Johnson and Peter Knight left the band. As there was...
(1977) - Sails of SilverSails of SilverSails of Silver is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album was produced two years after the band's ostensible break-up, at the request of Chrysalis Records. Peter Knight and Bob Johnson both returned, replacing their own replacements Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick, who had...
(1980) - Back in LineBack in LineBack in Line is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.This album, the band's 12th, was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It was their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business entirely...
(1986) - Tempted and TriedTempted and TriedTempted and Tried is the 13th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus after the release of Back in Line. After releasing ten albums in fairly rapid succession during the 1970s, the band entered something of a creative dry spell, with...
(1989) - TimeTime (Steeleye Span album)Time is an album by Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1996, after a seven year hiatus. The impetus for the album was a 25th anniversary reunion tour the year before, during which most of the former members of the band performed together...
(1996) - Horkstow Grange (1998)
- Bedlam BornBedlam BornBedlam Born is the 16th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. It is the second of two albums made by a line-up consisting of Gay Woods, Bob Johnson, Peter Knight, and Tim Harries, and only the second album on which Maddy Prior did not make an appearance. The title refers not to a...
(2000) - Present--The Very Best of Steeleye Span (2002)
- They Called Her BabylonThey Called Her BabylonThey Called Her Babylon is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album, the band's 18th studio album, was released in 2004. The album is perhaps most noteworthy for the return of Maddy Prior, the band's most central member, who had departed the band in 1996...
(2004) - WinterWinter (Steeleye Span album)Winter is the 19th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. So far it is the second of three studio albums made by a line-up consisting of Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Liam Genockey and Ken Nicol. This is their first Christmas album...
(2004) - Bloody MenBloody Men (album)Bloody Men is the 20th studio album by the British electric folk band Steeleye Span.This album represents a continuation of the band's recent surge of activity...
(2006) - Cogs, Wheels and LoversCogs, Wheels and LoversCogs, Wheels & Lovers is the twenty-first studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. It was released on the 26th October 2009. It is the band's fourth studio album to feature the line-up of Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Ken Nicol and Liam Genockey.The songs on the album are...
(2009)
Box sets
- The Lark In the Morning - The Early Years (2009) - Hark! The Village Wait; Please To See the King; Ten Man Mop, Or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again (including General Taylor)
- A Parcel of Steeleye Span: Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975A Parcel of Steeleye SpanA Parcel of Steeleye Span, full title A Parcel of Steeleye Span: Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975, is a 2009 remastered box set of Steeleye Span's first five Chrysalis albums: Below the Salt, Parcel of Rogues, Now We Are Six, Commoners Crown, All Around My Hat.-Track listing:All are...
(2009) - Below the Salt; Parcel of Rogues; Now We Are Six; Commoner's Crown; All Around My Hat - Another Parcel of Steeleye Span, Their Second Five Chrysalis Albums 1976-1989 (2010) - Rocket Cottage; Storm Force Ten; Sails of Silver; Live At Last; Tempted And Tried
Live albums
- Live at Last (1978)
- On Tour (1983)
- Tonight's the Night...LiveTonight's the Night...LiveTonight's the Night...Live is the second live album by English electric folk band Steeleye Span.During the 1980s, Steeleye went through a creative lull, releasing only 3 albums. However, by 1991, the band had begun to be creatively revitalized, thanks to the arrival of a new bassist, Tim Harries,...
(1992) - The Collection: Steeleye Span In Concert (1994)
- The Journey (1999)
- Live In Nottingham (2003)
- Folk Rock Pioneers In Concert (2006)
- Live At A Distance (2009)
- Now We Are Six Again (2011)
Singles
- "Rave On" / "Reels" / "Female Drummer" (1971)
- "Jigs and Reels" (1972)
- "John BarleycornJohn Barleycorn"John Barleycorn" is an English folksong. The character of John Barleycorn in the song is a personification of the important cereal crop barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it, beer and whisky...
" / "Bride's Favourite" / "Tansey's Fancy" (1972) - "GaudeteGaudeteGaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582...
" / "The Holly and The Ivy" (1972) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#14 - "The Mooncoin Jig" (1974)
- "New York Girls" / "Two Magicians" (1975)
- "All Around My HatAll Around My Hat (song)The song "All Around my Hat" is of nineteenth century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancee, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss by wearing green willow...
" / "Black Jack Davy" (1975) - UK #5 - "Rave On" / "False Knight On the Road" (1976)
- "Hard Times of EnglandHard, Hard TimesHard, Hard Times is a traditional Newfoundland folk song/ballad. There is an earlier version, from England, called "Rigs of the Times". The latest version written in 1936 at the time of the Great Depression by William Emberley of Bay de Verde and performed by Dick Nolan.Emberley's verses, which...
" / "Cadgwith Anthem" (1976) - "London" / "Sligo Maid" (1976)
- "Fighting For Strangers" / "The Mooncoin Jig" (1976)
- "Boar's Head CarolBoar's Head CarolThe Boar's Head Carol is a macaronic 15th century English Christmas carol that describes the ancient tradition of sacrificing a boar and presenting its head at a Yuletide feast...
" / "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 HallJack Hall (song)-Story:Jack Hall was a criminal who, as a young boy, was sold to a chimney sweep for a guinea. In later life he became a notorious highwayman. In 1707 he was arrested along with Stephen Bunce and Dick Low for a burglary committed at the house of Captain Guyon, near Stepney. All three were convicted...
" (1990) - "Lord Elgin" / "Lord Elgin" (live) (2007)
DVDs
- Classic Rock Legends (2002)
- A Twentieth Anniversary Celebration (2003)
- The 35th Anniversary World Tour 2004 (2005)
The set called Bedrock In Concert (2002) contained the audio CD Live in Nottingham plus the DVD Classic Rock Legends in a single box.
Line-ups
Steeleye Span 1: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Terry Woods, Gay Woods, Ashley Hutchings- Dates: 1969-70
- Albums: Hark! The Village WaitHark! The Village WaitHark! The Village Wait was the 1970 debut album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album is the only one to feature the original lineup of the band, as they broke up and reformed with a slightly altered membership immediately after its release, without having ever performed live...
- Notes: This line-up never performed live.
Steeleye Span 2: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Carthy, Peter Knight
- Dates: 1971-72
- Albums: Please to See the KingPlease to See the KingPlease To See The King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A substantial personnel change following their previous effort, Hark! The Village Wait, brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lack of drums and the replacement of one female vocalist with...
, Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides AgainTen Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides AgainTen Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in 1971. Of all their albums, it is the most acoustic and it also has considerable Irish influence, second only to Horkstow Grange. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are... - Notes: This was the first line-up to actually perform live.
Steeleye Span 3: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp
- Dates: 1972-73
- Albums: Below the SaltBelow the SaltBelow the Salt is a 1972 album by Steeleye Span, and considered by many fans to be one of their best. The album has a slightly medieval theme, most notably in the artwork and title...
, Parcel of RoguesParcel of Rogues (album)Parcel of Rogues is an album by the Electric folk band Steeleye Span. It was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30....
Steeleye Span 4: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum
- Dates: 1973-77
- Albums: Now We Are SixNow We Are Six (album)Now We Are Six is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. Its title refers to both its sequence among their albums, and the band's size, in light of the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum...
, Commoner's CrownCommoner's CrownCommoners Crown is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span, its seventh release overall and the second album with the band's most commercially successful line-up. It reached number 21 in the UK album charts....
, All Around My Hat, Rocket CottageRocket CottageRocket 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 . Unfortunately,... - Notes: The most commercially successful line-up.
Steeleye Span 5: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick
- Dates: 1977-78
- Albums: Storm Force TenStorm Force TenStorm Force Ten is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span, the band's 10th effort, released in 1977.The album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After Rocket Cottage, Bob Johnson and Peter Knight left the band. As there was...
, Live at Last - Notes: The first line-up to feature a returning former member.
Steeleye Span 6: Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson
- Dates: 1980-82
- Albums: Sails of SilverSails of SilverSails of Silver is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album was produced two years after the band's ostensible break-up, at the request of Chrysalis Records. Peter Knight and Bob Johnson both returned, replacing their own replacements Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick, who had...
- Notes: The same line-up as 4.
Steeleye Span 7: Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson
- Dates: 1982-86
- Albums: Back in LineBack in LineBack in Line is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.This album, the band's 12th, was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It was their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business entirely...
- Notes: Prior is the only remaining original member.
Steeleye Span 7.1: Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Mark Williamson
- Dates: 1986
- Albums: None
- Notes: This line-up existed for only one tour.
Steeleye Span 7.2: Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Chris Staines
- Dates: 1986-87
- Albums: None
- Notes: This line-up also only existed for touring purposes.
Steeleye Span 8: Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries
- Dates: 1988-89
- Albums: Tempted and TriedTempted and TriedTempted and Tried is the 13th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus after the release of Back in Line. After releasing ten albums in fairly rapid succession during the 1970s, the band entered something of a creative dry spell, with...
- Notes: Pegrum departed immediately after recording 'Tempted', so this line-up never toured to support the album it produced.
Steeleye Span 9: Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Liam Genockey
- Dates: 1989-95
- Albums: Tonight's the Night...LiveTonight's the Night...LiveTonight's the Night...Live is the second live album by English electric folk band Steeleye Span.During the 1980s, Steeleye went through a creative lull, releasing only 3 albums. However, by 1991, the band had begun to be creatively revitalized, thanks to the arrival of a new bassist, Tim Harries,...
- Notes: This line-up first toured in support of 'Tempted and Tried'.
Steeleye Span 10: Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Liam Genockey, Gay Woods, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Carthy, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum, John Kirkpatrick, Michael Gregory, Tim Hart
- Dates: 1995
- Albums: The Journey
- Notes: This line-up was the reunion tour. It included every former member of the band except Terry Woods. Michael Gregory had not played with the band before.
Steeleye Span 11: Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Liam Genockey, Gay Woods
- Dates: 1995-97
- Albums: TimeTime (Steeleye Span album)Time is an album by Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1996, after a seven year hiatus. The impetus for the album was a 25th anniversary reunion tour the year before, during which most of the former members of the band performed together...
Steeleye Span 12: Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Tim Harries, Gay Woods
- Dates: 1997-2000
- Albums: Horkstow GrangeHorkstow GrangeHorkstow Grange is an album by the English electric folk band Steeleye Span.Released in 1998, it is the band's 15th album, and the first album the band recorded without founding member Maddy Prior. Gay Woods provides most of the lead vocals, although the other three members of the band all do the...
, Bedlam BornBedlam BornBedlam Born is the 16th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. It is the second of two albums made by a line-up consisting of Gay Woods, Bob Johnson, Peter Knight, and Tim Harries, and only the second album on which Maddy Prior did not make an appearance. The title refers not to a... - Notes: The first line-up to not feature Maddy Prior.
Steeleye Span 12.1: Peter Knight, Tim Harries, Gay Woods, Rick Kemp
- Dates: 2000-01
- Albums: None
- Notes: This line-up only existed for touring purposes.
Steeleye Span 12.2: Peter Knight, Tim Harries, Rick Kemp, Terl Bryant
- Dates: 2001
- Albums: None
- Notes: This line-up only existed for touring. Terl Bryant was credited as a special guest.
Steeleye Span 13: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Bob Johnson, Liam Genockey
- Dates: 2002
- Albums: Present--The Very Best of Steeleye SpanPresent--The Very Best of Steeleye SpanPresent – The Very Best of Steeleye Span is an album by Steeleye Span, which is frequently mistaken for one of the band's many compilation albums. Although all but one of the songs had been previously released, the album is actually a collection of new studio versions of the songs involved...
- Notes: This line-up never toured because of Johnson's health.
Steeleye Span 13.1: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Ken Nicol
- Dates: 2002
- Albums: None
- Notes: Ken Nicol replaced Bob Johnson for the tour in support of 'Present'.
Steeleye Span 14: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Ken Nicol
- Dates: 2003-2009
- Albums: They Called Her BabylonThey Called Her BabylonThey Called Her Babylon is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album, the band's 18th studio album, was released in 2004. The album is perhaps most noteworthy for the return of Maddy Prior, the band's most central member, who had departed the band in 1996...
, WinterWinter (Steeleye Span album)Winter is the 19th studio album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. So far it is the second of three studio albums made by a line-up consisting of Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Liam Genockey and Ken Nicol. This is their first Christmas album...
, Folk Rock Pioneers in Concert, Bloody MenBloody Men (album)Bloody Men is the 20th studio album by the British electric folk band Steeleye Span.This album represents a continuation of the band's recent surge of activity...
, Cogs, Wheels & Lovers - Notes: This is the longest-lasting line-up to date, as well as the most productive in terms of albums.
Steeleye Span 14.1: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Ken Nicol, Pete Zorn
- Dates: 2009-2010
- Albums: None
- Notes: Existed for touring purposes only; Pete Zorn stood in for Rick Kemp (who was absent due to ill health) on the first part of the 40th Anniversary Tour in Spring 2009. Both Kemp and Zorn were present for the second part of the tour in Winter 2009.
Steeleye Span 14.1: Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Maddy Prior, Liam Genockey, Pete Zorn, Julian Litman
- Dates: 2010-present
- Albums: Now We Are Six Again
- Notes: Current lineup.
External links
- Steeleye Span's record label
- A comprehensive fan site
- Peter Knight's (Steeleye fiddle player) website
- Steeleye Span founder Ashley Hutchings' website
- Reinhard Zierke's rejuvenated Steeleye Span fan site
- Steeleye Span lyrics archive
- Folk Radio UK's review of Peter Knight's Gigspanner debut album
- Folk Radio UK News: Steeleye Span's 40th anniversary UK Tour Autumn 2009