Two years after the previous studio CD Bloody Men appears on the
scene, I was lucky enough to pick up my copy at the opening concert of the
2006 Autumn tour in Basingstoke (and acquired three autographs…). The cover
has overlapping faces of the band sharing eyes – 5 members & thus 6 eyes
– a bit like the cover of Hat but more successful.
There are two CDs in the package - in fact my CDs fitted very tightly &
it was with difficulty that I prised the discs out. The album has quite detail
notes from the band, however there is more than one occasion where the printed
lyrics do not exactly match to what is sung.
CD 1 (47 minutes)
1. Bonny Black Hare
2. The Story of the Scullion King
3. The Dreamer & The Widow
4. Lord Elgin
5. The 3 Sisters
6. The 1st House in Connaught / The Lady of the House
7. Cold Haily Windy Night
8. Whummil Bore
9. Demon of the Well
10. Lord Gregory
CD 2 (17 minutes)
11. Ned Ludd part 1 (Inclosure)
12. Ned Ludd part 2 (Rural Retreat)
13. Ned Ludd part 3 (Ned Ludd)
14. Ned Ludd part 4 (Prelude to Peterloo)
15. Ned Ludd part 5 (Peterloo the Day)
I have listened to this album a number of times & have also seen many
of the songs played on both the 2006 tours – this colours my impressions
since I “see” the stage set when listening to the album…. Initial
impression was that tracks from the album are not as powerful as the live
songs – the album is much clearer to hear but for example Maddy’s voice
sometimes lacks the “punch” that she has on the stage. The harmonies are
as good as one has come to expect from Steeleye.
The Bonny Black Hare was the opener during the Spring tour and
raised the roof. Laim’s initial drumming leads you to expect a dance around
a wigwam… Listening to this one gives you the impression that Steeleye have
gone “heavy” in their old age. The theme is similar to Drink Down the
Moon only more so – don’t try teaching the words to any young members
of your family.
The Story of the Scullion King results from Ken’s interest in things
historical (a la Babylon). Its OK but not quite up to the title track
of Babylon. The album notes describe the story around Lambert Simnel
who was basically “put up” by a group of people to claim heir to the
throne. At the end King Henry had most of the rebels put to death but gave
Lambert a job as a scullion in his kitchen. According to Wikipedia he
eventually became a royal falconer.
The Dreamer & The Widow combines a tune by Ken with a Maddy song
& is performed by threesome Peter, Maddy & Ken – in a style similar
to Mantle of Green. Has excellent crisp acoustic guitar playing from
Ken, great violin from Peter & Maddy’s super voice.
A highlight on the album is Lord Elgin written by Peter and is sung
by Maddy & Peter (he plays acoustic guitar on this one). On hearing this
on the tours you are sure you have known this song for years – it rolls
along in a jolly sort of way and YOU CANT GET IT OUT OF YOUR HEAD. This is a
riddle song and it took us ages to work out what it was really about. We came
to the conclusion that its about a watch – see http://elginwatches.org
The 3 Sisters (sung by Ken) goes at a fast pace and has a US-flavour to
the tune. The song ends with two dead bodies. The 1st House in Connaught /
The Lady of the House are fairly standard jigs. Cold Haily Windy Night
appeared on a very early Steeleye album – of course with modern playing
& recording techniques the current version (sung by Rick) has a much
fuller sound. This song has found its singer.
Whummil Bore is a slow song sung by Maddy with restrained backing – again
a bit in the Mantle of Green style. The whummil is something like a
gimlet or perhaps small auger & the song is about the King’s servant
peeping through a hole (in a door or wall?) at the King’s daughter. Super
violin from Peter – without which the track might have become a bit boring.
The Demon of the Well is currently my favourite on the album –
helped by having seen it performed live on the two 2006 tours. It’s a Ken
song from up North about murder, ghosts & lovers – but not only that;
there is the unusual instrumentation which fits excellently to the song. Ken
starts off with his purple-coloured slide guitar (held & played flat
rather than vertically) and you have the initial impression of being out in
the Wild West. Maddy sings clearly about poor Peg o’Nell being murdered
& thrown down the well and once the song gets really going the slide
guitar is echoed by the ghostly groans & screeches of Peter’s octave
violin. Ken leads the chorus. A masterpiece. A search of Google for Waddow
Hall produces a number of references including photographs of the hall and
various stories that its still supposedly haunted. We just have the impression
that Maddy’s voice was more dramatic in the onstage version of this song.
Lord Gregory is one of the tear-jerking betrayed lover songs sung by
Maddy again with restrained backing with Peter’s violin fittingly filling in
between the verses plus an interlude by Ken on electric guitar.
So now we come to the second CD which is Rick’s 5-piece project around
the industrial revolution & the mythical leader Ned Ludd. To be honest I
have misgivings about this since I feel the subject is away from what I
associate with Steeleye, probably because it goes into the realms of UK folk
music that I personally don’t like – the rather modern, complaining sort
of folk music. It turns out that the songs can be identified as having the “Steeleye
sound”. During Ned Ludd part 4 you can “hear” the machinery
(musically) in the factory. All-in-all the project is better than expected
(feared?) and I know of some who really like the second CD.
Currently from the album our favourites are Bonny Black Hare, The
Dreamer & The Widow, Lord Elgin and Demon of the Well.
This does not mean to say the other tracks are bad – in my opinion this
album is better than the Babylon album (which had 3 or 4 very good
tracks but I thought some of the rest were also-rans). This album is back to
the usual Steeleye style in that you can start counting the bodies on the CD (Winter
was corpse-less). What does this album miss? Two songs from the recent tours
jump to mind: Who’s the Fool Now (brilliant on-stage) and I live
not Where I love.
What does the future offer? The band is now in their 37th year and we are
all not getting any older – just those around us are younger. I just hope
that we can all be part of the 40th anniversary tour & album to match –
this will surely happen? If so – we’ll make every effort to be there.
