It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: nickp
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 09:17 AM

Sorry guest, I'm amazed I still have any of them. grin**

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 08 - 09:11 AM

nickp: the first series broadcast dates were:

20/03/1974        Nottingham Thoresby Great Hall BBC Electric Folk (Wed)
27/03/1974        Warwick Castle Great Hall BBC Electric Folk (Wed)
03/04/1974        Kent Penshurst Place BBC Electric Folk (Wed)

how frustrating that you didn't tape Warwick - the only audio 'missing' (see above) :-)

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,kp
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 06:37 PM

If people keep sending me unwanted e-mails about a seminal 1970's English folk-rock band, is that Steeleye Sp....... no sorry, can't bring myself to complete the pun. Don't know what I was thinking really...

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 02:21 PM

After seeing the Electric Proms last week I wouldn't put 'spectre' and Tim Hart in the same sentence. That Canary Islands sun must be bloody hot.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 01:40 PM

Is now the time to raise the spectre of Tim Hart singing 'Nick Nack Paddy Whack'? With syndrums?

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: nickp
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 11:24 AM

Interesting. My two audios come from the original dates but had I known they were repeated I'd have tried again for a better quality. Pretty sure that 'Long A Growing' had Maddy miming - either that or a very well hidden microphone!

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 11:18 AM

BTW following on from the above my 'educated guess' comes from a 'Maddy Prior Talk-In' with Jerry Gilbert in 'Sounds' magazine dated 15 December 1973, which mentions the filming of the second programme.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 11:07 AM

There were 6 shows in all - 3 broadcast in '74 and 3 in '75. Two of the first series (Thoresby and Penshurst) were re-broadcast concurrently with the '75 series. Most audio off-air recordings come from the second re-broadcast, hence the fact that Warwick Castle has yet to surface amongst collectors. The first series was *probably* recorded in December 1973, although this is an educated guess. The performance does seem a little artificial in places, I agree. Does anybody else think they appear to be miming in places? Or is it just me? I remember speaking to Pete and Maddy about the series after a concert a while back and they seemed to imply that the 'finished product' was only acheived after many false starts and camera placing/lighting issues, so ..... A magnificent sight for Steeleye fans though, may I suggest the Holy Grail? :-)

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: nickp
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 10:52 AM

From the above link 5, but that doesn't include the one just repeated for some reason, so I guess there were 6.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,redmax
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 10:18 AM

So how many Electric Folk shows were there in all?

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: nickp
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 09:03 AM

Thoresby:

Gaudete
One Misty Moisty Morning
Hares On the Mountain
Cam Ye O'er Frae France
Alison Gross
Two Magicians
Tunes: Musical Priest/Silver Spear/??
Saucy Sailor

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:46 AM

I didn't suggest that they were novices.

I also didn't recognise John Fitzpatrick - he has aged very well!

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:38 AM

Touche re Carthy! Just a matter of personal taste, really.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:37 AM

I remember seeing this show when it was first shown in the spring of 1974. I was round my girlfriends house and insisted we watch it. Then I told her I'd got tickets to see them.

A couple of weeks later she binned me.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:34 AM

'I've always preferred Gibsons and regard Martins as really only suitable for bluegrass players'

absolutely, Martin Carthy and the Smokey River River Boys....

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:03 AM

The band was:

John Kirkpatrick (accordian)
Barney Morse-Brown (guitar)
Giles Lewin (violin)

who are scarcely back-seat novices.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 07:00 AM

'Strange no Martins' - not strange to me, Richard. I've always preferred Gibsons and regard Martins as really only suitable for bluegrass players......in the 1973 film Tim Hart played a double necked Gibson so he's obviously a loyal fan.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 06:50 AM

Who were "the band" in the C# House concert? It seemed to me as if they had been told to stay in the back seat and as far as possible to play unison.

Does anyone know who was on the desk? It was curious that the band's guitarist was mixed very low but that when Tim Hart came up his guitar (a newer Gibson, strange no Martins) was a lot louder and more defined. Also curious that the soundman missed a substantial part of two of June Tabor's usually illuminating commentaries or intrductions.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 06:42 AM

Steeleye Span AND John Kelly, Al. What is this world coming to:-D

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 06:39 AM

Ken Nicol is doing a tour with Phil Cool. He's in Nottinghan next week.

well we can agree on something Dave. the band i saw earlier this year were amazing.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 06:26 AM

Out of interest has anyone seen Maddy or Steeleye recently? for the last 5 years or so we have always made sure we see Steeleye or Maddy and the Carnival band aroud this time of year. Can't find any Steeleye tours this year but the Carnival band are on in Southport on Dec 21st and I hope to go there.

The current line-up of Steeleye with Maddy Prior, Peter Knight, Ken Nicol, Rick Kemp an Liam Genockey is one of the strongest ever, in my opinion. Wih the experience and polish you would expect they put on stunning shows and the last 3 CDs, 'They called her Babylon', 'Winter' and 'Bloody Men' are brilliant in content, quality and production.

I am a bit of a fan if you han't guessed:-)

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: nickp
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 03:58 AM

Broadcast dates from my cassette labels

Penshurst 3rd April 74
Thoresby Hall (as mentioned on link above) 20th March 74

I suppose someone is going to ask what the Thoresby set list was next, aren't they...

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Brian Peters
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 02:45 PM

"I sort of graduated from the Wombles to Hawkwind... without any real intermediary music"

Not so illogical. Wasn't there a Wombles space-rock number called 'Womble of the Universe'?

'Banana Rock' is the classic, though.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Dame Pattie Smith EPNS
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 12:44 PM

I've always loved Steeleye Span, I bought their first album "Hark the Village Wait" and went to see them when they came to Cardiff in 1970 with Ralph McTell supporting them. Maddy Prior played the spoons then although a lot of people don't know that. I had never seen this before and went home after the concert and had a go on the kitchen cutlery not really knowing how to do it but trying to remember what she did and so developed my own style of playing. Years later at Bracknell Folk Festival I happened to be one of the performers at a percussion workshop and Maddy was in the audience. Afterwards she came up to me and said where did I learn to play spoons like that, she had never seen them played so well.............the rest is history.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,surreysinger
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 09:19 AM

Based on that particular programme I for one wouldn't want a DVD of it. I was surprised how awful it sounded - singing was off key, and forced (and I bought all of their LPs right up to Sails of Silver). The only bit that really grabbed me was the Albion Morris - good stuff !

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,redmax
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:44 AM

Referring back to the earlier question about Electric Folk getting a DVD release, this topic occasionally comes up among Steeleye fans but there doesn't seem much chance of it happening. Peter Knight doesn't seem one to dwell on the past much, and there's no evidence that the others' attitude is any different. They're still making good music, and they seem to me to be a band content to just tour occasionally and make an album now and again. Semi-retirement or semi-hibernation, I don't know which is the better description.

There's no official Steeleye website, it's very hard to find out what they're up to. I don't think their management/label are the most dynamic bunch in the world. Their profile is woeful compared to Fairport's, and yet they arguably have a larger potential fanbase. Unfortunately hardly anyone outside the folk scene knows they're still going.

My hope is that BBC4 might show some more Electric Folk shows. I've emailed them, and humbly suggest that you do too. No email address, I'm afraid, you have to submit via the site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/feedback/

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:40 AM

More than likely.. the world and his wife appeared in those costumes.. that was the beauty of them. No-one would know who you were, whether you were singing in time or lip-synching properly or even awake!

Apparently they were very difficult to launder as well, so were quite often extremely smelly. Especially the Orinocho one.

LTS

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:12 AM

Yep - He did. Produced 'Rocket Cottage' amongst others. Wikipedia reckons Steeleye appeared in Womble costume at one time!

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:07 AM

Working Radish - I sort of graduated from the Wombles to Hawkwind... without any real intermediary music, then Punk happened. Down in deepest Darkest Dorset, f*%K was a dirty word.

LTS

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 08:07 AM

Didn't Mike Batt produce Steeleye at one time and then went on to do the Wombles? Could just be faulty memory of course. I'll check it out...

DeG

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,Working Radish
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 07:48 AM

I don't know, I was 8 and still into the Wombles.

Steeleye were time-served folkies, and they were still into the Wombles...

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 07:05 AM

Yeah, but it was before Estuary became fashionable. People tend to have one register for public speaking, another for family, another for mates etc. In those days the tendency was to use RP (or as near as you could manage) for public speaking.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 06:47 AM

I was surprised just how middle class the spoken voices were on the Penshurst Place one.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: nickp
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 04:34 AM

I have a crap audio recording of the Thoresby broadcast and ditto the one just repeated - lots of TV noise in the background. I will have the broadcast dates on the cassettes. I'll check.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 Nov 08 - 03:23 AM

Manitas said it was 1973-74, the dates on the link are transmission dates. I don't know, I was 8 and still into the Wombles.

He's pretty sure the Penhurst Place one was filmed in late 1973, and even recognised a couple of people in the audience.

LTS

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 24 Nov 08 - 10:20 PM

I got the impression from the C#H concert that (apart from Maddy) they seemed to be restrained for some reason, perhaps due to the presence of the TV cameras - a pity, I kept wanting to jostle them along a bit!

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,One-eye Spank
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 03:40 PM

how old is it ?

errrmmm.. just click the link I already posted

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Will Fly
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 05:46 AM

That's like the days when people used to complain Slade were too loud with a 300watt rig.

Actually, the drummer with Slade became profoundy deaf through the sound ouput - apparently, it's not the actual output of the sound system, it's what you do with it, and Slade were unbelievably loud.

The bass player in a rock'n roll trio I once played in had been their sound set-up man for quite a few of their gigs. He was a hearing/acoustic engineer and used to say: if you wake up in the morning after the previous night's concert, and still have a ringing in your ears - that's permanent hearing damage. He now works as an audiologist in London's ENT hospital.

And, yes, I think the film was early 70s - must check the credits today and confirm.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 05:37 AM

It was a lovely old square-shoulder Gibson that the guitarist on the Maddy Prior concert was playing, though.

The best bits of that set were the stunning songs between Prior and Tabor. Glorious!

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 05:19 AM

It gives a fair indication of the attitude of the BBC to folk that they haven't more up to date footage of our premier folk rock band.

As you say though Will, great playing and singing in both concerts. What was that film - early 1970's, I'd guess. Its got to be over thirty years old.

That's like the days when people used to complain Slade were too loud with a 300watt rig.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Will Fly
Date: 23 Nov 08 - 04:51 AM

Whatever the quality or otherwise of the Penshurst Place concert, it had one interesting side effect. I was replaying it from my recorder on Saturday afternoon, when my son and my 15-month grandosn were visiting. When the Albion Morris came on, my grandson was riveted to the TV. He started swaying his body to the music and was spellbound by the dancing. I suppose the simple tunes and movement on the telly combined to get his interest - mmm... perhaps a future Morris dancer in the making...

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 09:17 PM

Bit disappointed.

what year was the steeeleye concert? It sounded like it was mixed on a cassette player off the market. every instrument sounded really distorted.

the guitar playing was a bit pedestrian in the Maddy Prior thing. Okay..pleasant even, but the guy was no Ken Nicol, with his mastery of modal tunings.

An evening of Steele Span with no Ken Nicol. Don't they realise they have the best acoustic guitarist in England curently in their line up?

A bit like an evening of the Hot Club of France with no mention of Django.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 07:22 PM

On my related thread about the Maddy Prior concert (same night) the question of how to rip the iplayer download to create either DVD or sound-only is in play. Further input on that point would be useful.

And I like Steeleye Span, in fact prefer them to Fairport who IMHO now sound very dated.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: stevi
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 06:17 PM

Oh... just seen it (recorded) original line up as well fantastic brill! they all look very young. Being a life long span fan this is just the tonic. In the 70s they made several pebble mill at one lunchtime show appearances does anyone know if these are still in existance? more Steeleye Span please.

Steve

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,One-eye Spank
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:50 PM

..or at the very least, a BBC CD compliation of the soundtracks ?

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,One-eye Spank
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:48 PM

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/32385


so how much of the rest of this exellent series
still exists in the same broadcastable quality
as last night "Penshurst Place" show ?

and what would be the realistic possibility of an official DVD release ???

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 01:32 PM

I'm going to namedrop now...

There are still two members from that 1974 line-up at Penshurst Place who dance occasionally with Albion Morris, a bloke by the name of Dots and the musician, John Watcham. Remarkably, Dots is about the only early member who hasn't grown another stomach. John has filled out some, especially in the face-fur department.

And the name dropping? Well you saw the lion that came in at the end? I've had the dubious pleasure of carrying that lion through Customs at Toronto Airport.

'What's in the box ma'am?'

'Lions' head on a stick'

'Beg yer pardon ma'am?'

'It's a lions' head on a stick!'

'Ma'am, I'm going to ask you one more time, what's in the box?'

'It is a lions' head, on a stick.'

'Ma'am, open the box, reeeeal careful!   Hmm. It's a lions' head, on a stick...'

And that was that very same lion!

LTS

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,Your Friends up North
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:50 AM

If it wasn't for Steeleye Span I would not have got into folk music. As much as I love Fairport the combination of Maddy and Rick really made it for me. I do believe that they are as good now as they were in the 70's, now that Rick Kemp has rejoined the band. It was Rick driving riffs that made this music special, together with Maddy's terrific voice.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:30 AM

Hmm
like the music - mostly. Have avoided them since Bridgnorth FF. Part of the attraction is how they treat the audience not from the stage but behind the scenes.
Gilt and gingerbread refer.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,redmax
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 10:23 AM

It seems almost obligatory for folk-lovers to either sneer at Steeleye Span or to feel they have to apologise for quite liking them (usually qualifying their praise by stressing that only the Carthy era was any good). Personally, if it wasn't for hearing All Around My Hat as a kid I'd never have become curious about Fairport, then delved a little deeper and learned to love singers like Peter Bellamy, The Watersons etc.

I know that some of the songs about elves and the Mike Batt productions can irk many ears, but isn't it fair to say that Steeleye were almost the only artists in the 70s that played folk music that "the folk" actually listened to?

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Vin2
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:01 PM

I still have the original vinyl issue of 'Please To See the King'(their second album?) from 1971 (eee don't time fly). Still an amazing sounding LP, even today, in my opinion. Fist time i saw em live at M/C Free Trade Hall, they blew me away (to coin a phrase). Fantastic powerful sound even before Nigel Pegrum joined em on drums when they six.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: GUEST,buspassed
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 05:28 AM

Steeleye Span night on BBC4? Fine, but when are going to get the Waterson Tribute night? There's more than enough BBC archive material, the '66 documentary 'Travelling for a Living', the Martin Carthy birthday documentary and concert, Eliza's BBC4 Session and the Lal Waterson's Electric Prom from 2007 still yet to be given a proper network showing.

What a night it could be.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 02:39 PM

Hoping to get some live music in on Friday (Preston, Sean?)

That's our thinking anyway, Ross. Maybe we'll have our own freeview recorder by then too. See you for W&R tomorrow; sorry we missed you today - we were on our Sunday constitutional to Cleveleys...

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 09:44 AM

I too used to follow Steeleye Span avidly. Their early stuff (pre-"Hat") is unreservedly brilliant, even Storm Force Ten, joined by Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick recovered some of the early magic with adventurous material like "Black Freighter".
They also had an unusually generous attitude to "support" acts, giving Horslips, Planxty and Gryphon successively the opportunity to blow Steeleye off the stage.
Hoping to get some live music in on Friday (Preston, Sean?) but I'll set the machine.
Ross

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Will Fly
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 07:34 AM

Video recorder set to roll. Their early album (I have it on vinyl somewhere), with songs like "The Blacksmith" and "The Blackleg Miner", was an excellent set of songs. Must get it out and convert to mp3 for the iPod...

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 05:26 AM

Must remember to record this as I'll be elsewhere on Friday. Thanks for the heads up.

Subject: RE: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 04:07 AM

There was a time when I avidly followed Steeleye Span... in the good old days. The last time I saw them was many years ago in Southport with their drinks on stands on the stage and looking much less professional than the early days. I guess they had their day but just maybe i would go see them again... and I might even listen to them on the radio.
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: It's Steeleye Span 'Night' on BBC4!
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 03:59 AM

Whatever my deeply personal & life-long misgivings with respect of Steeleye Span, 700 Elves and all, it comes to my attention that it is Steeleye Span Night this coming Friday on BBC4 - and not a word of it thus far on Mudcat! Well, it doesn't amount to that much really - beginning at 9 with the Folk Britannia episode on Folk-Rock, continuing at 10 with Maddy Prior at the Electric Proms and concluding at 11 with a half-hour of Steeleye Span at Penshurst Place with the Albion Morris. So not so much of a night at all really...   

Shame there wasn't more stuff like this around: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHYl7Kv50g