Steeleye Span

Steeleye Span is a British folk-rock band that has been active since 1970.

History

Steeleye Span was founded by Ashley Hutchings, the London-born bass player who had co-founded Fairport Convention in 1967. Fairport was involved in a road accident in 1969 in which the drummer, Martin Lamble, was killed and other bandmembers injured. They convalesced in a rented house near Winchester in Hampshire and worked on their album Liege And Lief. Despite the success of the album, Ashley Hutchings and the band's vocalist Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention in early 1970.

Related Topics:
Ashley Hutchings - London - Bass - Fairport Convention - 1967 - 1969 - Winchester - Hampshire - Liege And Lief - Sandy Denny - 1970

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In part, Hutchings's departure was because he wanted to pursue a different, more traditional, direction than the other members of Fairport did at that time. However, Fairport's co-founder, guitarist Simon Nicol, says in an interview on the band's website http://www.fairportconvention.com/nicolint.htm: "Whatever the upfront reasons about musical differences and wanting to concentrate on traditional material, I think the accident was the underlying reason why Ashley felt he couldn't continue with us."

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In the years since, Steeleye Span has seen a great many personnel changes but has maintained a strong continuity of tradition throughout. Their lead vocalist, Maddy Prior, was one of the main attractions of the band's music, being one of a handful of strong-but-melodically-voiced women in rock music in the 1970s (along with Sandy Denny, Renaissance's Annie Haslam, and Linda Thompson).

Related Topics:
Vocalist - Maddy Prior - 1970s - Renaissance - Annie Haslam - Linda Thompson

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Steeleye Span is named after a character in the traditional song "Horkstow Grange", which they did not record until they released an album by that name in 1998. The song gives an account of a fight between John "Steeleye" Span and John Bowlin, neither of whom are proven to have been real people.

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Steeleye Span's first album, Hark! The Village Wait (1970) was very unusual for the time, having two female singers. Their lineup at the time consisted or Prior and Hutchings, the husband/wife team of Terry (formerly of Sweeney's Men, later of The Pogues) and Gay Woods, and Tim Hart, who had been part of a duo with Prior. They were to undergo many personnel changes, with the Woods departing after their first album, at which point Peter Knight and veteran folk musician Martin Carthy joined. In 1972 they brought in Jo Lustig as their manager. He brought a more commercial sound to their recordings. On their fourth album, Below the Salt, in 1972, they had settled on a distinctive electrified rock sound, although they continued to play mostly very old material. Their early albums had no permanent drummer but in 1973 Nigel Pegrum joined them, playing flute as well as drums. Rick Kemp (bass) joined in 1972, replacing Hutchings who left at that time to move on to various more purely-folk projects. Kemp, also a member of the ceilidh dance band Whapweasel, is one of several members who have been on-and-off band members. Since 1972 the line-up has generally been that of a typical folk-rock band -- an electric guitar, electric bass, and drum kit -- supplemented by a fiddle and fronted by a female vocalist for most of their songs. During one of the many personnel changes there was a substitution of John Kirkpatrick on accordion for the fiddle. When John departed, fiddler Peter Knight returned in 1980 and has been with band ever since. Nigel Pegrum left in 1989, to be replaced by Liam Genockey. Liam and Peter were simultaneouly members of "Moire Music". This was a free-jazz band, with a classical flavour, led by Trevor Watts. In 1981 Isla St Clair presented a series of four television programmes called "The Song and The Story", about the history of some folk songs. It won the Prix Jeunesse. Isla sang the songs, and Steeleye Span did the backing instrumentals.

Related Topics:
Hark! The Village Wait - 1970 - Terry - Sweeney's Men - The Pogues - Gay Woods - Tim Hart - Peter Knight - Martin Carthy - Jo Lustig - Below the Salt - 1972 - Rock - Nigel Pegrum - Fiddle - John Kirkpatrick - Accordion - Isla St Clair

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A recent book, Electric Folk by Britta Sweers (2005), devotes much space to the band.

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