Steeleye Span: Discography 1970 - 1975

 

Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band

were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and were commercially successful in that period, with four Top 40 albums and two hit singles: "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat". A highly influential British band who helped deliver folk-rock to the mainstream in the mid-'70s, Steeleye Span have enjoyed a lengthy tenure at the vanguard of British roots music, innovating their country's traditional songs while adding a host of their own original material to its canon.
                   

Steeleye Span have seen many personnel changes, with Maddy Prior being the only remaining original

member of the band. Their musical repertoire consists of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of jigs 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 moved completely away from traditional music, which draws upon pan-British traditions.
                 

Along with Fairport Convention, with whom they share many similarities, they are the most

recognizable and enduring group to have sprung from Britain's late-'60s folk-rock movement. After a few fits and starts in the early '70s, the group hit their stride with inventive albums like Parcel of Rogues (1973) and Now We Are Six (1974), eventually finding significant U.K. chart success with the 1975 hit "All Around My Hat" and its accompanying album.
                  

Commercially, their star began to fade at the end of the '70s, though they managed to remain a popular

touring act for decades to come, consistently experimenting with their sound and occasionally hitting new creative peaks with quality albums like Tempted & Tried (1989), Bloody Men (2006), and Wintersmith (2013), the latter of which returned them to the U.K. charts after a multi-decade gap.
          

Sounding as robust as ever, the group celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2019 with a new album, Est'd

1969, and a lengthy U.K. tour. Released in 2022, the generously appointed Good Times of Old England collated the band's output from 1972 to 1983 and featured the highly sought-after concert recording of Live at the Rainbow Theatre 1974. Steeleye Span continued celebrating 50 years since the release of their classic Folk Rock albums by touring throughout November and December 2023, including a concert at the Cadogan Hall in London on 18 December 2023.
             

2024 is the 55th anniversary of the band and there have been further tours in May and October, both

supported by a new album 'The Green Man Collection' and featuring new violinist Athena Octavia. It contains six newly recorded tracks in addition to songs from their last two studio albums. It features a new version of 'Hard Times of Old England' with a guest appearance of Francis Rossi (Status Quo) on guitar and vocals.
                

01. STEELEYE SPAN - HARK! THE VILLAGE WAIT 1970

                    

Hark! The Village Wait is the debut album by the British folk rock band Steeleye Span, first released in 1970. It is the only album to feature the original lineup of the band, as they broke up and reformed with an altered membership immediately after its release, without ever having performed live. This was

probably the best singing edition of Steeleye Span, with Gay Woods and Maddy Prior melding beautifully on tracks like "Dark-Eyed Sailor" and "My Johnnie Was a Shoemaker," and Terry Woods adding some realistic coarseness on "The Hills of Greenmore." The sound is fully electric here (with superb playing on the epic "Lowlands of Holland"), if not as aggressive or well crafted as later albums -- Hart, Hutchings, and Woods comprise a good core band, and Gerry Conway and Fairport Convention's Dave Mattacks sit in on drums.
              

Steeleye Span – Hark! The Village Wait
Label: Shanachie – 79052, Shanachie – SHANACHIE 79052
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1991
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk Rock, Folk

TRACKS

              

01. A Calling-On Song    1:12
02. The Blacksmith    3:40
03. Fisherman's Wife (Words By – Ewan MacColl)   3:14
04. Blackleg Miner    2:47
05. Dark-Eyed Sailor    5:58
06. Copshawholme Fair    2:34
07. All Things Are Quite Silent    2:39
08. The Hills Of Greenmore    4:01
09. My Johnny Was A Shoemaker    1:11
10. Lowlands Of Holland    6:00
11. Twa Corbies    2:06
12. One Night As I Lay On My Bed    3:30

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals, 5-string banjo
Tim Hart - vocals, electric guitar, electric dulcimer, fiddle, 5-string banjo, harmonium
Ashley Hutchings - bass guitar
Terry Woods - vocals, electric guitar, concertina, mandola, 5-string banjo, mandolin
Gay Woods - vocals, concertina, autoharp, bodhran

GUEST MUSICIANS

Gerry Conway - drums (tracks 2–3, 5–8)
Dave Mattacks - drums (tracks 4, 10–12)

Flac Size: 230 MB

02. STEELEYE SPAN - PLEASE TO SEE THE KING 1971 (2CD) 2006

              

The debut of Steeleye Span (Mark II), with Peter Knight on fiddle and Martin Carthy on guitar, is more solid in almost every area from repertory to production. The group still had its feet in both modern and

traditional sounds simultaneously, so Please to See the King mixes very beautiful, distinctly archaic sounding songs such as "Boys of Bedlam" with amplified, electric numbers like the rousing, ironic "Female Drummer" (which was a highlight of their concerts). Although a second female voice would've been nice, the singing and harmonizing (with help from some careful overdubbing) is still impressive and the performances are tighter, the group's overall sound reflecting the quintet's status as a working band and their experience performing these songs on-stage.
                 

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals, spoons, tabor, tambourine
Tim Hart - vocals, guitar, dulcimer
Peter Knight - violin, mandolin, vocals, organ, bass
Ashley Hutchings - bass, vocals
Martin Carthy - vocals, guitar, banjo, organ

Steeleye Span – Please To See The King
Label: Castle Music – CMQDD 1253
Format: 2 x CD, Album, Reissue, EDC 2006
Country: UK
Released: 1971
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk Rock, Folk

CD1.

                 

01. The Blacksmith    4:46
02. Cold, Haily, Windy Night    4:35
03. Jigs: Bryan O'Lynn / The Hag With The Money    3:17
04. Prince Charlie Stuart    4:14
05. Boys Of Bedlam    4:19
06. False Knight On The Road    2:43
07. The Lark In The Morning    4:30
08. Female Drummer    4:02
09. The King    1:28
10. Lovely On The Water    5:19

TOP GEAR RADIO SESSION 27/6/70        

    
11. The Blacksmith    4:23
12. Female Drummer    3:15
13. Rave On (Written-By – Tilghman, Petty, West)  1:22
14. I Was A Young Man    3:51
15. The Lark In The Morning    3:41

STUART HENRY SHOW RADIO SESSION 23/7/70        

16. The King    1:26
17. Prince Charlie Stuart    4:10
18. Bold Poachers    5:27

Flac Size: 367 MB

Track No 16 (The MIssing Track): The King Take it HERE

CD2. FOLK ON ONE RADIO SESSION 17/10/70        

                

  
01. College Grove/Silver Spear    2:51
02. Lay Down Your Weary Tune    4:20
03. False Knight On The Road    3:22
04. Hitler's Downfall/The Hag With The Money    1:58
05. Female Drummer (Mk2)    3:50
06. Wee Weaver    4:23
07. Reel    2:36

STUART HENRY SHOW RADIO SESSION 4/2/71        

08. Female Drummer (Mk2)    4:12
09. General Taylor    3:36
10. Farther Along    3:10
11. Two Reels    2:32

TOP GEAR RADIO SESSION 27/3/71        

12. Let's Dance    1:45
13. Bring 'Em Down/A Hundred Years Ago    2:40
14. Lark In The Morning    3:52

BBC TV PERFORMANCE (DATE UNKOWN)        

    
15. The King    1:24
16. Bryan O'Lynn/The Hag With The Money    2:13
17. The Blacksmith    3:49

Flac Size: 225 MB

03. STEELEYE SPAN - TEN MAN MOP,  OR MR. RESERVOIR BUTTLER RIDES AGAIN 1971 (2CD 2006)

                  

The first song on the album 'Gower Wassail' kicks off with a rockish backbone but it is when it comes to singing and song construction unmistakably folk. Even jigs have a strong distinctive bass based rhythm, fiddle is not allowed to roam on its own. This album is the best example of the folk rock with stress on both words. Simply speaking this album would not be half as good without electric guitars.

Every song is a gem and it is definitely among top 20 albums of the 1971. Gorgeous Maddy Prior's voice highlights the peak of this beautiful record 'when I was on horseback' but music is as gorgeous and as delicate. Maddy Prior's voice finds another somewhat darker even chilly dimension on 'Captain Coulston' another highlight although production somehow throws her voice behind the screeching music half drowning it. 'Wee Weaver' provides more of lovely Maddy Prior's vocals but stylistically its minimalism could have worked better on other band's or on her solo projects. 'Skewball' ends the album on a high note adding more tough electric guitars bordering on riffs and it also showcases that guys can sing too.
                  

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals, spoons, tabor
Tim Hart - vocals, dulcimer, guitars, organ, 5-string banjo, mandolin
Peter Knight - fiddle, tenor banjo, mandolin, vocals, timpani
Ashley Hutchings - bass guitar
Martin Carthy - vocals, guitar, organ

Steeleye Span – Ten Man Mop Or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again
Label: Castle Music – CMQDD 1252
Format: 2 x CD, Album, Reissue 2006
Country: UK
Released: 1971    
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk Rock, Folk

CD1

 

        
01. Gower Wassail    5:28
02. Jigs: Paddy Clancey's Jig / Willie Clancy's Fancy    3:11
03. Four Nights Drunk    3:06
04. When I Was On Horseback    6:13
05. Marrowbones    4:28
06. Captain Coulston    5:06
07. Reels: Dowd's Favourite / £ 10 Float / The Morning Dew    03:47
08. Wee Weaver    2:41
09. Skewball    3:31

BONUS TRACKS        

    
10. General Taylor (Studio Outtake)    3:31
11. Rave On (Single)    1:54
12. Rave On (Alternate Version)    1:24
13. Rave On (Alternate Version II)    2:07

Flac Size: 289 MB

CD2. BBC Radio 1 In Concert With John Peel    

              

01. False Knight On The Road    4:13
02. The Lark In The Morning    4:50
03. Rave On    2:37
04. Three Reels: Dowd's Favourite / The £ 10 Float / Musical Priest    4:01
05. Captain Coulston    5:15
06. Handsome Polly-O    2:39
07. Two Sea Shanties: (Bring 'Em Down / Haul On The Bowline)    2:53
08. Four Nights Drunk    3:04
09. When I Was On Horseback    6:09
10. I Live Not Where I Love    4:40
11. Three Reels: (The Wind That Shakes The Barley / Pigeon On The Gate / Jenny's Chickens)    3:40
12. Female Drummer    4:19
13. General Taylor    4:04
14. Four Reels: (College Grove / Silver Spear / Ballymurphy Rake / Maid Behind The Bar)    3:41

Flac Size: 246 MB

04. STEELEYE SPAN - A PARCEL OF STEELEYE SPAN - THEIR FIRST FIVE CHRYSALIS ALBUMS 1972 - 1975

                      

Steeleye Span – A Parcel Of Steeleye Span (Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975)
Label: EMI – 50999 6 85436 2 4
Format: 3 x CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: Europe
Released: 2009
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock
             

DISC 1.
Steeleye Span – A Parcel Of Steeleye Span (Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975)  

          

STEELEYE SPAN - BELOW THE SALT 1972

                  

Below the Salt is the fourth studio album by Steeleye Span and their first after they joined the Chrysalis

label. The album takes medieval influence and combines it with the band's British folk rock style. The lineup on the album includes Bob Johnson and Rick Kemp making their debuts in the band. By this point, Ashley Hutchings had left the band, leaving Tim Hart and Maddy Prior as the only remaining founding members.
                  

01. Spotted Cow     3:04
02. Rosebud In June    3:39
03. Jigs: The Bride's Favourite / Tansey's Fancy    3:09
04. Sheepcrook And Black Dog    4:42
05. Royal Forrester    4:32
06. King Henry    7:08
07. Gaudete    2:23
08. John Barleycorn    4:46
09. Saucy Sailor    5:48
10. Gaudete (Single Version)    2:23
11. The Holy And The Ivy (Single B Side)    2:22
Written-By – Robert Johnson, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Tim Hart

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals
Tim Hart - vocals, Appalachian dulcimer, guitar
Peter Knight - violin, viola, mandolin, banjo, piano, vocals
Rick Kemp - bass, drums, vocals
Bob Johnson - guitar, vocals

STEELEYE SPAN - PARCEL OF ROGUES 1973

                  

Parcel of Rogues is the fifth studio album by English folk rock group Steeleye Span. It was released in

1973 by Chrysalis Records. The album was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30. The album grew out of a theatrical project the band undertook, a version of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Kidnapped, staged in Edinburgh. The book and play were set against the backdrop of the Scottish Jacobite movement, and in the course of developing the play, the band came across a considerable amount of 18th-century Scottish poetry that they mined for the album.         
                  

  
12. One Misty Moisty Morning    3:28
13. Alison Gross    5:26
14. The Bold Poachers    4:34
15. The Ups And Downs    2:42
16. Robbery With Violins   1:45

Flac Size: 377 MB

DISC 2.
Steeleye Span – A Parcel Of Steeleye Span (Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975) CD2.

                  

01. The Wee Wee Man    3:56
02. The Weaver And The Factory Maid    5:19
03. Rogues In A Nation    4:31
04. Cam Ye O'er Frae France    2:45
05. Hares On The Mountain    4:31
06. Bonny Moorhen (From The "Parcel Of Rogues" Sessions)    4:14

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals
Tim Hart - vocals, guitar, Appalachian dulcimer
Bob Johnson - vocals, guitar
Rick Kemp - bass guitar, drums
Peter Knight - violin, viola, mandolin, piano, recorder, harmonium

STEELEYE SPAN - NOW WE ARE SIX 1974 (REMASTER 2 CD 2012)

                 

Now We Are Six is the sixth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Its title (borrowed

from Winnie-the-Pooh author A. A. Milne's collection of poems for children) refers to both its sequence among their albums, and the band's size, in light of the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum. The album was released in 1974 through Chrysalis Records. It reached number 13 in the UK albums chart. Nigel Pegrum also contributed flute and oboe parts.
                    

PART 1.        

                

07. Seven Hundred Elves    5:16
08. Drink Down The Moon    6:25
09. Now We Are Six   2:20
Vocals – The St. Eleye Primary School Junior Choir
10. Thomas The Rhymer    6:40
11. The Mooncoin Jig    3:53
12. Edwin    4:42
13. Long-A-Growing    4:01
14. Two Magicians    4:25
15. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star   1:32
Vocals – The St. Eleye Primary School Junior Choir
16. To Know Him Is To Love Him   2:41
Alto Saxophone – David Bowie - Written-By – Phil Spector
17. The Wife Of Ushers Well (Live 1974)    4:44

PART 2. BONUS CD

                 

 
18. Just As The Tide
19. Let Her Go Down
20. Edward
21. Two Constant Lovers
22. Prince Charlie Stuart
23. Cam Ye O'er Frae France
24. Creeping Jane
25. Cold Haily, Windy Night
26. Bonny Black Hare
27. All Around My Hat
28. Gaudete

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior – vocals
Tim Hart – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric dulcimer, banjo
Peter Knight – vocals, violin, mandolin, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar, piano
Bob Johnson – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer
Rick Kemp – vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
Nigel Pegrum – drums, tambourine, oboe, recorder, flute, synthesizer

GUEST MUSICIAN

David Bowie – alto saxophone on "To Know Him Is to Love Him"
Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) – producer

Flac Size: 785 MB

DISC 3.
Steeleye Span – A Parcel Of Steeleye Span (Their First Five Chrysalis Albums 1972-1975) CD3.
             

STEELEYE SPAN - COMMONER'S CROWN 1975

                  

Commoners Crown is the seventh studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span, released in

1975 by Chrysalis Records. It was their second album with the band's most commercially successful line-up. The album reached number 21 in the UK album charts. The album's title refers to a sculpture produced by Shirtsleeves Studio, which appears on the cover of the album. The sculpture is composed of hundreds of tiny human figures assembled to form a crown. The tiny figures also decorate the liner notes.         
                

  
01. Little Sir Hugh    4:44
02. Bach Goes To Limerick   3:41
Written-By – Robert Johnson, Maddy Prior, Nigel Pegrum, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Tim Hart
03. Long Lankin      8:40
04. Dogs And Ferrets    2:43
05. Galtee Farmer    3:46
06. Demon Lover    5:53
07. Elf Call    3:55
08. Weary Cutters    2:03
09. New York Girls  (Ukulele – Peter Sellers)   3:12

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals
Tim Hart - vocals, guitar, appalachian dulcimer
Bob Johnson - vocals, guitar
Rick Kemp - bass guitar, drums
Peter Knight - violin
Nigel Pegrum - drums, flute

GUEST MUSICIAN

Peter Sellers - ukulele on "New York Girls"

STEELEYE SPAN - ALL AROUND MY HAT 1975

              

All Around My Hat is a 1975 album by Steeleye Span, their eighth and highest-charting; it reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for six months. It was produced by Mike

Batt, who also produced their follow-up album Rocket Cottage. It briefly made the band a household name in the UK. In the United States it became the band's first album to chart, reaching number 143. The title track was edited to just over three minutes long for single release (omitting the final verse) and became their highest-charting single, reaching No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, with "Black Jack Davy" as its B-side.         
                  

  
10. Black Jack Davy    4:15
11. Hard Times Of Old England    5:11
12. Cadgwith Anthem    2:44
13. Sum Waves (Tunes)   4:00
Written-By – Robert Johnson, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Tim Hart
14. The Wife Of Usher's Hall    4:32
15. Gamble Gold (Robin Hood)    3:40
16.All Around My Hat   4:07
Written-By – Robert Johnson, Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Tim Hart
17. Dance With Me    3:52
18. Bachelor's Hall    5:47

LINE - UP

Maddy Prior - vocals
Tim Hart - guitar, vocals, dulcimer
Bob Johnson - guitar, vocals
Rick Kemp - bass guitar, vocals
Peter Knight - violin, vocals, mandolin
Nigel Pegrum - drums, flute

Flac Size: 473 MB