Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
Encyclopedia
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 essentially pure folk. It was the last album to feature founding member Ashley Hutchings
, who left the band in part because he felt that the album had moved too far toward Irish music and away from English music. The band was also considering touring America, and Hutchings was reluctant to make the trip.
The album begins with an adaptation of the Christmas carol
"Gower Wassail
". "When I was on Horseback" is one of the few folk songs to have an alternative existence as a blues song, sometimes known as "Six White Horses". It is also an Irish variant of a tune that inspired "Streets of Laredo
" and "St James Infirmary". The last song, "Skewball
" employs an effective counterpoint between a banjo and an electric guitar.
The album was notable for having a textured "gatefold" sleeve and inner pages on its original release. This was paid for by the band but cost more to print than the album generated in profits, meaning the band lost money on each album sold. None of the re-releases have included the original number of pages of liner notes.
The album's curious title and subtitle require some explanation. A 'mop' or 'mop-fair' is a late medieval term for a job fair, where labourers come looking for work. (The song "Copshawholme Fair", from the band's first album, is about such a fair.) The conceit was that the band was out of work and job-hunting. A 'ten man mop' would be a very poor show, since there would be few potential employees to choose from. The even more curious subtitle is a reference to Reservoir Butler, who had originally performed one of the songs covered on the album. The band was so struck by his unusual name that they decided it needed to be saved from obscurity.
The photograph on the sleeve was taken c. 1900 by John Benjamin Stone
. Entitled "Sippers" and "Topers", it is of two villagers at the Bidford Mop, an annual fair held at Michaelmas in the village of Bidford-on-Avon
, Warwickshire. The village has a centuries-old reputation for heavy drinking.
Produced by Sandy Roberton.
Additional tracks on the Castle Music re-issue CMQDD 1252 in 2006:
Additional tracks on the Castle Music re-issue CMQDD 1252 bonus CD in 2006:
BBC "Peel's Sunday Concert" 15 September 1971
song "Rave On!". A second disc was included that contained a recording from "Radio One in Concert with John Peel", dated 26/9/71 (following British dating conventions). The quality of the recording was quite variable, but the bonus tracks include a number of pieces not released on any album.
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
, recorded in 1971. Of all their albums, it is the most acoustic and it also has considerable Irish influence, second only to Horkstow Grange
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...
. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are essentially pure folk. It was the last album to feature founding member 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...
, who left the band in part because he felt that the album had moved too far toward Irish music and away from English music. The band was also considering touring America, and Hutchings was reluctant to make the trip.
The album begins with an adaptation of the Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
"Gower Wassail
Gower Wassail
The Gower Wassail is a wassail song from Gower in Wales, UK. It is printed in A.L. Lloyd's book Folk Song in England , having been heard from Phil Tanner...
". "When I was on Horseback" is one of the few folk songs to have an alternative existence as a blues song, sometimes known as "Six White Horses". It is also an Irish variant of a tune that inspired "Streets of Laredo
Streets of Laredo
Streets of Laredo is a 1993 western novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the second book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the fourth and final book chronologically. It was adaptated into a television miniseries in 1995.-Plot introduction:...
" and "St James Infirmary". The last song, "Skewball
Skewball
Skewball was the name of an 18th-century British racehorse, most famous as the subject of a broadsheet ballad and folk-song.-History:The horse was foaled in 1741, and originally owned by Francis, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, and later sold. His name has been recorded as "Squball", "Sku-ball", or...
" employs an effective counterpoint between a banjo and an electric guitar.
The album was notable for having a textured "gatefold" sleeve and inner pages on its original release. This was paid for by the band but cost more to print than the album generated in profits, meaning the band lost money on each album sold. None of the re-releases have included the original number of pages of liner notes.
The album's curious title and subtitle require some explanation. A 'mop' or 'mop-fair' is a late medieval term for a job fair, where labourers come looking for work. (The song "Copshawholme Fair", from the band's first album, is about such a fair.) The conceit was that the band was out of work and job-hunting. A 'ten man mop' would be a very poor show, since there would be few potential employees to choose from. The even more curious subtitle is a reference to Reservoir Butler, who had originally performed one of the songs covered on the album. The band was so struck by his unusual name that they decided it needed to be saved from obscurity.
The photograph on the sleeve was taken c. 1900 by John Benjamin Stone
John Benjamin Stone
Sir John Benjamin Stone , known as Benjamin, was a British Conservative politician, and noted photographer.Stone was born in Aston, Birmingham the son of a local glass manufacturer...
. Entitled "Sippers" and "Topers", it is of two villagers at the Bidford Mop, an annual fair held at Michaelmas in the village of Bidford-on-Avon
Bidford-on-Avon
Bidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830.-Location:...
, Warwickshire. The village has a centuries-old reputation for heavy drinking.
Personnel
- Maddy PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
- vocals, spoons, taborTabor (instrument)Tabor, or tabret, refers to a portable snare drum played with one hand. The word "tabor" is simply an English variant of a Latin-derived word meaning "drum" - cf. tambour , tamburo... - Tim HartTim HartTim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
- vocals, dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, organ, 5-string banjo, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Peter Knight - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, tenor banjo, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, vocals, timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet... - Ashley HutchingsAshley HutchingsAshley 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...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Martin CarthyMartin CarthyMartin 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...
- vocals, guitar, organ
Produced by Sandy Roberton.
Track listing
Original album released by Pegasus Records PEG 9 in 1971. Re-issued by Mooncrest Records CREST 9 in 1974, CREST 009 (vinyl) in 1991 and CRESTCD 009 (CD) in 1991:- Gower WassailGower WassailThe Gower Wassail is a wassail song from Gower in Wales, UK. It is printed in A.L. Lloyd's book Folk Song in England , having been heard from Phil Tanner...
- Jigs: Paddy Clancey's Jig/ Willie Clancy's Fancy (instrumentals)
- Four Nights Drunk
- When I Was On Horseback
- Marrowbones
- Captain Coulston
- Reels: Dowd's Favourite/ £10 Float/ The Morning Dew (instrumentals)
- Wee Weaver
- SkewballSkewballSkewball was the name of an 18th-century British racehorse, most famous as the subject of a broadsheet ballad and folk-song.-History:The horse was foaled in 1741, and originally owned by Francis, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, and later sold. His name has been recorded as "Squball", "Sku-ball", or...
Additional tracks on the Castle Music re-issue CMQDD 1252 in 2006:
- 10. General Taylor (studio outtake)
- 11. Rave On ('scratched' effect original single version)
- 12. Rave On (cleaned up 'two verse' version)
- 13. Rave On (cleaned up 'three verse' version)
Additional tracks on the Castle Music re-issue CMQDD 1252 bonus CD in 2006:
BBC "Peel's Sunday Concert" 15 September 1971
- 01. False Knight on the Road
- 02. The Lark in the Morning
- 03. Rave On
- 04. Reels: £10 Float / The Musical Priest
- 05. Captain Coulston
- 06. Martin Carthy: Handsome Polly-O
- 07. Martin Carthy: Bring 'Em Down / Tim Hart: Haul on the Bowline
- 08. Four Nights Drunk
- 09. When I Was on Horseback
- 10. Tim Hart & Maddy Prior: I Live Not Where I Love
- 11. Peter Knight: The Wind That Shakes the Barley / Pigeon on the Gate / Jenny's Chickens
- 12. Female Drummer
- 13. General Taylor
- 14. College Grove / Silver Spear / Ballymurphy Rake / Maid Behind the Bar
Bonus tracks
When Castle Music re-released Ten Man Mop..., they added a substantial number of bonus tracks. On the first disc, the bonus tracks included "General Taylor" and three versions of the Buddy HollyBuddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
song "Rave On!". A second disc was included that contained a recording from "Radio One in Concert with John Peel", dated 26/9/71 (following British dating conventions). The quality of the recording was quite variable, but the bonus tracks include a number of pieces not released on any album.