Peter Knight (born 27 May 1947) is an English folk musician, a former member of British folk rock group Steeleye Span. Born in London, Knight learnt to play the violin and mandolin as a child before going to the Royal Academy of Music from 1960 to 1964. The recordings of the Irish fiddler Michael Coleman inspired him to take part in Irish pub sessions. He teamed up with guitarist and singer Bob Johnson until 1970 when he joined Steeleye Span. The parting was short-lived, as Johnson himself also joined Steeleye Span in 1972. Since 2016, he has performed as a duo with Bellowhead founder and melodeon player, John Spiers. [1]
Knight's classical roots were well hidden until he recorded "A Canon by Telemann" on the album Back In Line, multi-tracking with himself on this tricky baroque piece. In the mid-70s he was once secretly a member of The Wombles and appeared on Top of The Pops as Uncle Bulgaria, with Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson also in Womble suits. [1] He left Steeleye Span in January 1977, when it started to look as if the band was about to break up. Knight teamed up with Johnson again to record a concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter (1978), based on the novel by Lord Dunsany. It included one song sung by blues legend Alexis Korner and another by Mary Hopkin. In 1980 he returned to Steeleye Span and appeared on every one of their albums since then up until Wintersmith (released October 2013).
He announced his decision to leave Steeleye Span at the end of 2013 on his website on 14 November 2013. [2]
Some of the most accomplished folk fiddlers of England and Scotland joined together for a tour in 2001. An album of live performances from the 2001 tour was sold as "Feast of Fiddles" in 2002. The group has continued to tour annually since 2001, but describe themselves as "unsigned". They sell albums of live performances from previous concerts, but in a very restricted way. The CDs are available at the gigs or over the internet. They consist mainly of traditional English tunes, in varying combinations of solo, duo or band.
David James Mattacks is an English rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with British folk rock band Fairport Convention.
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".
Pentangle are a British folk rock band, formed in London in 1967. The original band was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a later version has been active since the early 1980s. The original line-up, which was unchanged throughout the band's first incarnation (1967–1973), was Jacqui McShee (vocals); John Renbourn ; Bert Jansch ; Danny Thompson ; and Terry Cox (drums).
Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years as "Tyger" Hutchings, is an English bassist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of three noteworthy English folk-rock bands: Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band. Hutchings has overseen numerous other projects, including records and live theatre, and has collaborated on film and television projects.
Tim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
John Michael Kirkpatrick is an English musician, playing free reed instruments such as the accordion and concertina and performing English folk songs and tunes.
Christopher Julian Leslie is a British folk rock musician. He joined Fairport Convention in 1997.
Now We Are Six is the sixth studio album by British folk rock 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. The album was released in 1974 through Chrysalis Records. It reached number 13 in the UK albums chart.
Mr Fox were an early 1970s British folk rock band. They were seen as in the 'second generation' of British folk rock performers and for a time were compared with Steeleye Span and Sandy Denny's Fotheringay. Unlike Steeleye Span they mainly wrote their own material in a traditional style and developed a distinct 'northern' variant of the genre. They demonstrate the impact and diversity of the British folk rock movement and the members went on to pursue significant careers within the folk rock and traditional music genres after they disbanded in 1972 having recorded two highly regarded albums.
Robert Michael Leonard Johnson was a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of the British folk rock band Steeleye Span from 1972 to 1977, and again from 1980 to 2001.
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.
Storm Force Ten is the tenth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span, released in 1977 by Chrysalis Records. Until their 2013 album Wintersmith, released 36 years after Storm Force Ten, this 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 still a contractual obligation, they invited Martin Carthy back again. Back in 1971 when Martin Carthy had joined he had recommended John Kirkpatrick but they decided on fiddler Peter Knight instead. This time they accepted his recommendation and Kirkpatrick's fiery accordion playing replaced Knight's fiddle.
Live at Last is a live album by the British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It is the first live album the band issued, after eight years of performing and releasing 10 studio albums. It was originally intended to be a farewell album. "This then is our eleventh and final album. Steeleye Span amicably disbanded five days after making this recording for reasons that are irrelevant here.”
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.
Barry Dransfield, is an English folk singer, fiddler, cellist and guitarist. He has appeared as a session musician on numerous albums by other artists, and has released his own albums as well. The Rout of the Blues (1971) was voted Melody Maker folk album of the year. His 1972 album for Polydor simply called Barry Dransfield was voted the rarest folk album in Record Hunter, worth approximately £400. Unlike most fiddlers he is comfortable playing in the "off the chest" position, instead of under the chin.
Liam Genockey is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
The King of Elfland's Daughter is a 1977 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. The cover illustration is by Jimmy Cauty.
The Fiddle Collection is a studio album with tracks from various British fiddle players produced by Phil Beer. Released in 1999, it was Beer's first solo project of the year during his temporary break from Show of Hands. Promoted with the tagline "this really is modern folk music", it featured fifteen different, original tracks by different UK violin-playing folk musicians, and was designed to represent the fiddle and folk scene in the United Kingdom.
I left Steeleye Span at the end of 2013 having been in the band for around 42 years, and now look back on the good times and not so good times with a smile and no regrets.