Christmas
Eve 2009 sadly saw the passing of Tim Hart who will probably remain best be
remembered as a founding member of Steeleye Span or as part of his sublime
duo with Maddy Prior. In fact it is the unusual pairing of Maddy’s vocals
along with one of Hart’s “friends” B J Cole on pedal steel guitar on
“Sing A Song Of Sixpence” that makes this a must buy for all completists
of the folk-rock genre. Casting his net outside of the Steeleye framework (Maddy,
Peter Knight, Bob Johnson and Rick Kemp) other musicians involved in the
project include John Kirkpatrick, Davy Spillane (seriously!) and Melanie
Harrold.
As
Tim mentions in his sleeve-notes these albums (originally released as two
separate recordings) were basically an antidote to the numerous rubbish
releases of a similar ilk foisted on a gullible public that didn’t know
any better. Of course the seam of songs (featuring deceptively ‘catchy’
melodies) such as “Lavender’s Blue”, “Oranges And Lemons” and
“London’s Bridge Is Falling Down” have a far darker significance if
you care to dig a little into their history and unravelling these gems was
always a feature of any Steeleye album at the time. John Dagnall and all at
Park Records should be justifiably proud in re-releasing (on double disk)
what was a labour of love for its protagonist and a fitting tribute to one
of the enduring legends of the folk scene.
www.parkrecords.com
