Steeleye Span

Steeleye playlist

Contributor: Merric Davidson

First of all, thank you (and not for the first time) to Ashley Hutchings who formed the band after leaving Fairport Convention.

It seemed that the only sensible way to pare back the magnificent Span output was to nick one track off ten different albums, covering the waterfront as it were, but that proved painful when you could easily include EVERY track on Please To See The King. In the end, I went with five favourite albums (or is it six) and even then I had to do without Ten Man Mop, All Around My Hat and Rocket Cottage or indeed anything beyond 1976, sticking with the golden years of the first half of the 70s. I tried to include all the classics but even then there was no place for Boys Of Bedlam and The Blacksmith and Spotted Cow and One Misty Moisty Morning – still don’t know how I managed to leave that one out. In the end, though, I guess I’m happy with this Steeleye Mix Tape and commend it to the house.

Having thanked the Guv’nor at the top, only right to doff the hat to the other members of Steeleye Span throughout this glorious era starting with the ever-present Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, Gay & Terry Woods, Martin Carthy, Peter Knight (who joined with the second album), Bob Johnson, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum and, indeed, everyone who has contributed to Steeleye Span’s twenty-one albums over the years.

Lastly, two kwik kwiz questions. Who played sax on Span’s cover of a Phil Spector song? Who played ukulele on New York Girls on Commoners Crown?

Unofficial Steeleye Span fan site

Steeleye Span biography (Apple Music)

Merric Davidson is a retired publisher. He tweets toppermost @AgeingRaver

TopperPost #26