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".
Jacobite Relics is a two volume collection of songs related to the Jacobite risings, compiled by the Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg on commission from the Highland Society of London in 1817. Most of the songs in the collection are Jacobite, and a minority are Whig. A number of the songs were written or adapted by Robert Burns and scholars speculate as to how many of them were authored or at least substantially altered by Hogg himself.
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.
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. Therefore, it is one of only two Steeleye Span studio albums to feature two female vocalists, the other being Time (1996). A similar sound was apparent years later when Prior teamed up with June Tabor to form Silly Sisters. Overall, the album's sound is essentially folk music with rock drumming and bass guitar added to some of the songs. The banjo features prominently on several tracks, including "Blackleg Miner", "Lowlands of Holland" and "One Night as I Lay on My Bed".
Please to See the King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A major 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 a male vocalist. The band even reprised a song from their debut, "The Blacksmith", with a strikingly different arrangement making extensive use of syncopation. Re-recording songs would be a minor theme in Steeleye's output over the years, with the band eventually releasing an entire album of reprises, Present – The Very Best of Steeleye Span.
Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in September 1971. It was issued on the short-lived Pegasus label, and then the Mooncrest label, also in 1971. It was not initially issued in the US until Chrysalis acquired the group's first three albums in 1975, when it reissued all three in the UK and US. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are essentially pure folk. It was the last album to feature founding member Ashley Hutchings; he left the band in November 1971, just after its completion, partly 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.
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.
Rocket Cottage is the ninth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in 1976 by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Mike Batt, it was hoped that the album would cement the band's popular and commercial success, building on their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album All Around My Hat and its title track, which reached #5 on the UK singles chart. By the time it was released, the sudden explosion of the British Punk scene saw audience tastes in the UK rapidly shift away from formerly popular genres like folk rock and progressive rock, and groups that previously been critical favourites, like Steeleye Span and Yes, soon found themselves being derided as "dinosaurs". Rocket Cottage did not reach the Top 40, and it was the last album recorded by the "classic" mid-seventies lineup of the group, with Peter Knight and Bob Johnson both subsequently leaving the group.
Sails of Silver is the eleventh studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in 1980 by Chrysalis Records. 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 departed after the release of Live at Last. Despite being produced by Elton John's producer Gus Dudgeon, Sails of Silver was a commercial failure, and this proved a final straw for Tim Hart, who departed the band, leaving Maddy Prior as the band's sole remaining founding member.
Back in Line is the twelfth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It is their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business entirely. It is also the last album they recorded with Maddy Prior's husband, Rick Kemp, until They Called Her Babylon; Kemp suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to stop playing for a long time.
Time is the fourteenth studio album by Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1996, after a seven-year hiatus, and was their first on the Park Records label. 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. Maddy Prior was experiencing voice problems so she spoke to Gay Woods, a founding member who had left the band after the first album, to rejoin. Woods initially resisted this move, since she had not performed publicly for some time, but Prior eventually prevailed and Woods returned to the band. The result was only the second Steeleye Span album to feature two female singers, which was used to very good effect on the ironic "Old Maid in the Garrett" and to a lesser extent on "The Prickly Bush" and "The Cutty Wren". Both, Prior and Woods, provide lead vocals on different songs. Priors' voice troubles are reflected in her musical choices on this album; she generally sings less powerfully and in a lower range, but still effectively. Woods also introduced a few Irish elements to the bands' repertoire, including the "Old Maid in the Garrett/Tam Lin reel" and her bodhrán. This album was to be Prior's last album with Steeleye Span until 2002's Present.
Horkstow Grange is an album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Present – The Very Best of Steeleye Span is the 17th studio album by Steeleye Span, released in 2002. The album contains new recordings of previously released songs.
They Called Her Babylon is an album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The title track deals with the Siege of Lathom House in 1644, during the English Civil War, during which Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby, held out for four months against Parliamentarian efforts to take the house.
Tonight's the Night...Live is the second live album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Cogs, Wheels & Lovers is the twenty-first studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released on 26 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.
A 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.
Cam Ye o'er frae France? is a Scots folk song from the time of the Jacobite rebellions of the 18th century. It satirises the marital problems of the Hanoverian George I.
Wintersmith is the twenty-second studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in October 2013. It features the line-up of Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Rick Kemp, Julian Littman, Pete Zorn and Liam Genockey. Guest musicians are Terry Pratchett (voice), Kathryn Tickell, Bob Johnson (vocals), and John Spiers (melodeon).
Dodgy Bastards is the twenty-third studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in October 2016, and features several arrangements of the Child Ballads.
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