THE VERY BEST OF STEELEYE SPAN - PRESENT 

A Review by Nick Clark

The story so far: It is 2001 and Steeleye Span are again approaching another crossroads in the long and winding road that is their history. Having just produced one of the most original and creative records of their career, they are rocked by the sudden departure of key members and are hardly able to even honour their concert commitments. In addition, despite the public acclaim of the critics and fans for the quality of their new work, it becomes clear that a significant but silent section of the groups support would be quite happy to turn up annually simply to hear the best of the bands glory years catalogue played live. It is time to touch base.

Whilst Peter Knight, the one remaining Spanner from the heady days of the seventies, begins to put out feelers re a possible ‘reunion’ line-up, the bands label starts a much more public campaign on the internet to contact the scattered fans and find out what kind of material would be most acceptable. The focus is on those famous original recordings that shot the band to the heady heights of chart success thirty years before. After more than a year of the Ups and Downs, the ‘new’ line-up produces….’Present’, an album touted as ‘The Very Best’ or ‘Greatest Hits’ of Steeleye Span. It’s a double CD - more than an hour and a half of everything their followers had ever wanted, played by a ‘classic’ line-up - original singer Maddy Prior, balladeer Bob, bassist Rick, eighties drummer Liam and of course, the ever present Master of Ceremonies, Peter Knight himself.

In this business, the expression treading on dreams comes to mind. These are timeless tracks - the very soundtrack of many fans’ life over the past thirty years. The project needed to be approached with extreme caution but obviously also with an injection of originality sufficient to make it interesting to those who had previously watched the band explore every avenue in the genre. A careful mix of the old and the new then was called for.

I have to confess that I myself approached the album from a slightly unusual standpoint. I got into Steeleye at the end of the 1980’s and although I listened to all the back catalogue, I was more comfortable with the later material and my favourite tracks come mostly from the last twenty years. Consequently I could approach this CD with an open mind.

The selection, although largely ‘user-driven’, is a good mix of ballad, traditional folk and a bit of rock. It opens with ‘Sir James the Rose’ - one of the big numbers Bob always did so well and it’s a good solid starter giving fans a chance to hear him singing vocals again on a Steeleye record. The first significantly new arrangement arrives afterwards in ‘Hard Times of Old England’ which is more acoustic guitar and a much softer approach. Although I was pleased to hear a new depth in Maddy’s voice I felt the lyrics didn’t sit comfortably within the confines of the tune and overall it had lost the rhythm that was one of the high points on the original. ‘Cam Ye O’er Frae France’ and ‘Thomas the Rhymer’ were not much different but pointed the way to a new rockier Steeleye which was accentuated by the band on tour. ‘Lyke Wake Dirge’ was a surprise inclusion for me but a very welcome one. The vocals of the group have always been a strong point and sound great through the medium of crystal clear CD. For me, this was the first time I became aware that thirty years more of musical experience and the enhanced quality of modern techniques made even the ‘standard’ arrangements of well-known songs more enjoyable.

The first CD is rounded up by ‘Two Magicians’ - an example of the humour that has run through the whole of the bands career and ‘Black Leg Miner’. Considering how popular ‘Hark’ is as the first album, it’s a wonder that there isn’t more from it (like the fantastic ‘Lowlands’ for example) but ‘Miner’ certainly benefits from Rick’s great bass arrangement and is completely reinvigorated by a new pace. The natural conclusion to the side is The Hat Song - pretty much untouchable. Enough said!

The second CD is a more interesting (and longer) selection. There is a certain inevitability about ‘Thomas’, ‘Black Jack’ and the others - you couldn’t really have a ‘Best of’ without them but what else would be on with them? I was surprised at ‘When I Was On Horseback’. This was a personal favourite of mine but I was interested to see that others rated it as highly. Its opening chords were actually the main theme from the BBC’s adaptation of John Wyndham’s ‘The Kraken Wakes’ but hey! You didn’t need to know that. Just that it’s a new arrangement that breathed new life into the old song - perhaps the strongest of all the ‘adapted’ versions. I was reminded of the last album and another Irish army type song played to a marching beat - ‘I See His Blood Upon the Rose’ What a great decision to get Rick Kemp to do the lead vocal on ‘John Barleycorn’. He is probably the most traditional folk voice the band has now and its no simple job following Tim (Hart) but he did well (and sounds even better live). ‘Long Lankin’ was another of the ‘greats’ and so an expected cut but I was surprised at ‘Misty Moisty Morning’ although again, I was pleased to hear it sound so fresh. At long last though, Peter’s ‘Let Her Go Down’ is recorded in full as he originally wrote it, perhaps ending the eternal questions to the poor man of what exactly it means! In ‘Gaudete’ the harmonies of the band are once more much in evidence although I don’t think they touched the range of the original recording. Even so, it somehow seems a stronger version than the first. Another of my personal favourites ‘The Weaver and the Factory Maid’ was a great choice for inclusion. Peter’s wailing fiddle (not heard as often as I would like striking out) accompanies Maddy’s new introduction and Rick’s bass is busy creating the sound of the loom in the background, slightly stronger than I remember first time around - a good move. To end, ‘Drink Down the Moon’ and a much enhanced ‘King Henry’ (which I never really liked originally) round off the album. Interestingly, the latter sounds even better on stage with the addition of Ken Nicol’s guitar.

Altogether, I was pleased that the new renditions complemented the tracks as we know them rather than taking them too far away from their originals. Nobody is going to not like this album if only simply because all their most popular songs are here. If you are a Steeleye fan you’re going to love hearing Bob’s ballads, the great vocal harmonies, the sound of Peter’s fiddle and Maddy’s distinctive vocals. Having seen the live performance to accompany this album you do feel that the bus is rolling again and this may be only another stage in its development. The addition of Ken Nicol, although not represented in these cuts has already created much excitement in making the band even more like their old selves than before. It is to be hoped they can go on from there and break more new ground.

Nick Clark 2002