Taken from my Musical Journey Book:
First of all – what a great album cover. The frisky play on being peasants well and truly ‘below the salt’ is riotously captured by the band playing up to the camera. I cannot help thinking they are also saying to the traditionalists that actually we do not care what you think but this is our version of traditional folk. This album captures all that is wonderful about these old songs but does so in a way that is more palatable, shall we say, for the non-devotee of traditional folk. This album will never, can never date. The songs are so old anyway at the time of recording that another couple of hundred years will not age them.
The traditionalists have their moments to savour also as there is some gorgeous acapella work on here. What voices they have, not just a one-woman band in Maddy Prior, although she does inevitably steal the show in the solo vocal department. I imagine she was dancing in the studio as well. My interest in Steeleye Span must have come from the fact they were formed out of the fracture in Fairport Convention after recording ‘Liege and Lief.’ Ironically, I came to them after Ashley Hutchings had left Steeleye due to him feeling they were heading in too commercial a direction. Fortunately, the composition of the band at the time of this album was just exactly to my taste. I love this album. Maddy Prior is at the peak of her powers on here and the band gives her the space to wrap her beautiful voice around some extraordinary lyrics. Death, destruction, mad kings, mad women, fearful beasts, ladies in much trouble, naughty men of the countryside, cows, and other assorted animals, should not really be song subjects in this period of introverted singer songwriters. Still, somebody had to do these songs justice and Steeleye Span fitted the bill perfectly. I first saw Steeleye at Blackburn King Georges Hall on the 1st of September 1973 when they were supported by Horslips – another super band but a bit over the top for me. Sounded a bit like Heavy Metal meets Traditional at the time, but that may be a little unfair to the Irish folk rockers. The hall was packed, we were in for an unforgettable evening. The main thing I remember looking back was the extraordinary performance of Gaudete, their unexpected acapella hit. The other was also acapella – the old English song Lyke Wake Dirge. Reverberating around this old civic hall the effect was breathtaking. Lyke Wake Dirge was a regular live song for Steeleye, although they did not record it until many years later.
Ralph McTell wrote his affectionate song ‘Maddy Dances’ about her enchanting, flowing dancing between vocal duties. This was my first sight of her performing and it was gorgeous. They finally brought the house down when they returned to the stage for the encores dressed as Rockers to bring it to a close with a riotous finale. That really did burn the bridges with the traditional stalwarts.
One of the strangest gigs I saw them perform was at Blackpool Football Club’s Bloomfield Road ground in July 1975. Bloomfield Road had to say the least seen better days. Like many stadiums of the day, it had not seen any investment for many years. The major perception of it was that the favoured building material was corrugated sheets, probably iron based although it could easily have been asbestos. One side had a stand of sorts with seats but for reasons best known to the organisers the stage was placed directly in front of the terracing known as ‘the Kop.’ This was devoid of any frills whatsoever for a concert lasting several hours. Those concrete steps were hard I can tell you. It was also a searingly hot day adding to the discomfort. I suppose we should have been glad that it wasn’t a winter show in Blackpool with a gale whipping in from the sea. With the layout leaving three sides of the ground and most of the pitch unused along with the relatively poor attendance it is fair to say the ‘festival’ lacked atmosphere. The line up included Roy Harper who was a cult ‘folkie’ draw at the time, Kevin Coyne, a complex character, an acquired taste musically, plus Chris Spedding, famous for the most part for his distinctive guitar session work hat permeated many a well-known album, although at this time he had a Top 20 hit with Motor Bikin’. Steeleye were top of the bill but despite everyone’s best efforts not even Bruce Springsteen could have put any life into the famous dilapidated old stadium. At least Maddy got to play in her hometown but the least said about this the better.
So, let’s get back to the album. This style of music and lyric is admittedly not to everyone’s taste. If you put your preconceived ideas about it to one side, strap on some headphones and immerse yourself in its beauty, then you will discover a wonderful work of English art. There is not a lot to be gained by looking at this song by song. It is not the type of material that lends itself to a lyrical critique as say a Jackson Browne album would do. Really a lot of the subject matter is just plain bonkers. Take ‘King Henry’ for example, one of the longer tales on the album. I am thinking this King Henry would be Henry VI who was perhaps a jewel short of a crown. Or maybe it was his son Henry VII who tended to have his portrait painted in his mature years to attract a fair princess to share his bed – there were no takers. Certainly, his son Henry VIII would never have fallen for the convoluted story told by the fearful beast. He preferred to marry the finished article not wait on the off chance she would miraculously transform to the woman of his dreams. The chorus shouting ‘More meat, more meat’ has to be one of the strangest committed to vinyl even by Traditional Folk standards. However, what a vocal by Maddy with the band really excelling on this, working hard to drive this weird tale until you almost start to believe it. It is not perhaps an album for vegans as another track ‘Rosebud in June,’ despite extolling the delights of early summer, does require the little lambs to come to a sad, inevitable early demise. The album opens with ‘Spotted Cow.’ An unlikely tale as I think I would never have lost my spotted cow, but there you go. Put that aside and the quite unacceptable actions of the young man who kindly finds said cow, we have here a stunning opener that lends itself to a great live performance for Maddy to grace the stage with her flowing movement. I can see it now as I listen to this studio version, I imagine her in the studio moving between the microphones and wires as she lilts her way through this gorgeous tune. The young man by the way is not as bad a rogue as the chap in ‘Royal Forester’ who does though actually meets his match in the wronged young lady. Musically throughout it is a joy with a clearly defined mix that elevates each instrument beautifully but always leaving room for Maddy’s glorious vocal. Whether you think the stories most unlikely you cannot fail to let it all wrap around you and be as seduced as some of the fair maidens. A shout out here for Rick Kemp’s bass playing – as good as you will hear, underpinning the overall sound that Steeleye create. You cannot help coming back to the vocals however. Especially when they sing acapella. They had their first commercial success with ‘Gaudete.’ Even fifty years on this is a stunning piece of work. With clever fade in the mix, they create the feeling of choristers (I tend to see hooded monks) moving slowly through the cloisters of an ancient abbey, chanting as they go. A truly atmospheric sound and one to savour if you have seen it performed live. As a band they show great dexterity on the jigs, but it is the overall musical arrangements that are so thrilling. It is fresh, it is not Fairport, it is truly a new look at the English tradition by adding a style of playing that draws on many influences but is unmistakably their own. Even on that ubiquitous English folk classic ‘John Barleycorn’ they are able to put their fresh stamp on it and make it theirs. Steeleye’s version simply makes you want to go out for a pint to celebrate the fruits of the English countryside. The album ends with a piece that is just the most exquisite arrangement on ‘Saucy Sailor.’ Living now in Somerset I suppose I should use local terminology and call it simply lush. A beautiful harmony of strings underpinned again by that sympathetic bass playing of Kemp with Maddy Prior almost lazily drifting through the vocal. The track ends with a long string instrumental with a soft vocal hum in the background. Gorgeous.
Steeleye had not got a producer in place at the time of recording, so they did it themselves. Thank goodness for that. Its ends, you return to the 21st century, you have been seduced by the sheer loveliness of the voices and music.
An English classic.
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