Nerd said:

Actually, it's not true that Ashley was "always involved in traditional music."

Actually it is, though I grant you Fairport's initial recorded output was pure rock, influenced more by west coast America than England's west country musical landscape.   And not just Ashley's, but Richard Thompson's musical experience was rooted in the tradition. My source? The first major interview I published on Steeleye's relaunch with Martin Carthy in the lineup in 1971. Prior to this, as a full-time EFDSS worker, I'd had the pleasure of meeting members of both bands on an almost daily basis as they researched Liege & Lief , Hark The Village Wait and Please To See The King.

To the best of my knowledge, Tim Hart had never been in a rock band before joining Steeleye, though Bob Johnson and Rick Kemp certainly had.