Talk:Steeleye Span

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Contents 1 Folk Rock 2 The Span history 3 Thomas the Rhymer 4 Finger in the ear 5 Personnel 6 Trivia 7 Graham Hedworth 8 Wombles 9 Better than Radiohead? 10 Mike Batt era

[edit] Folk Rock

B.Bryant 09:58 Jan 3, 2003 (UTC): I had this note at the end of the article, but moved it here due to SGBailey's Talk: comment, which is below:

Note that the term "folk rock" is avoided here because it is likely to give an incorrect impression of the band and its music.

In what way is "folk rock" going to give an incorrect impression? I consider SS to be folk rock and feel that "folk" gives the wrong impression. They don't do finger in the ear stuff and whilst they do ballads and mellow songs, all work best electrified. Can you call "Thomas the rhymer", "Padstow", "Seagull" folk rather than folk rock? Even Gaudete has a rocky presentation to it. -- SGBailey 22:32 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

Whenever I hear the term "folk rock" it evokes something quite different from what the Span offers. (Truly, I am tempted to dub it "rock folk".) Maybe others' mileage varies? Hopefully some others will comment on it. B.Bryant 22:44 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

It's kind of hard to classsify a band like Steeleye Span when they've been mixing up the genres for almost 35 years. Maddy Prior herself uses the term "folk" in the [notes for Spanning the Years]. And of course the back cover of live at last! mentions "folk clubs" etc. RossPatterson 05:26, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)

If not finger in the ear, I am sure they sang "Gaudete" on TOTP with a hand over the ear ! -- Beardo 04:07, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Steeleye Span are part of the definition of folk rock — or something called 'British folk rock,' as the folk rock page dubs it. Njál 08:25, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

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BTW, "Gaudete" is a Christmas carol, so I'm not sure I'd categorize it as "a Latin religious song". It is, however, quite old even by Folk standards! (The liner notes list it as from a 1582 manuscript -- late Renaissance.) B.Bryant 22:48 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

"Gaudete Sunday" is the third Sunday in Advent, falling round about the 14th December, so it is not precisely Christmas, but close. It is certainly not a carol, except in the late-twentieth-century sense of "somthing that choiristers sing in church in December". All real carols are in the vernacular,not Latin. Ogg 08:27, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

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[edit] The Span history

"The story goes that they were formed when Fairport Convention bassist Ashley Hutchings wanted to form a new band to play folk rock music with a more folky tone, rather than the more rocking direction that Fairport was taking." The story goes? Horrible phrase. But I can't change it--I don't know whether the story is true, and it's pretty unattributable. Perhaps sticking to the known facts might be more useful? In which case, what are they? Wooster 20:17, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I agree that "the story goes" is not exactly an encyclopedic phrase. The facts on record are that Ashley Hutchings was the founder member of Fairport Convention. The band was involved in a road accident in 1969 in which the drummer, Martin Lamble, was killed. After recovering, the band rented a manor house in Hampshire and worked on their album Liege And Lief. This album was released in late 1969 and was very successful. despite that success, Ashley Hutchings and the band's vocalist Sandy Denny left Fairport in early 1970.

Fairport's co-founder, guitarist Simon Nicol, says in an interview on the band's website [1]: "I believe the crash hung over the band in unseen ways. I think it was one of the unspoken reasons ... when Ashley decided to leave the band later that year after we had recorded Liege & Lief... Whatever the upfront reasons about musical differences and wanting to concentrate on traditional material, I think the accident was the underlying reason why Ashley felt he couldn't continue with us."

Hutchings also wanted to pursue a different, more traditional, direction than the other members of Fairport did at that time.

I will incorporate this info into the article. Andy F 15:00, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Thomas the Rhymer

Interesting fact: The CD versions of Thomas the Rhymer are incomplete. Does this deserve a mention on the page? --Slashme 12:16, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

It's discussed in a couple of the album entries.

[edit] Finger in the ear

What is this whole "finger in the ear" thing? Do folk-singers put their fingers in their ears? If so, why? --Slashme 11:15, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

"Finger in the ear" or "turning the ear" (turning the flap of the outer ear against the earhole to close it) is a technique used by traditional singers in many cultures, as well as radio announcers in the time before monitor headphones came into common use. It alters the way the singer or speaker hears their own voice, and in the case of singers, allows more accurate intonation. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we hear louder sounds as being sharper than they really are, compensating with a tendency to sing a bit flat. __ Just plain Bill 13:45, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

OK, interesting! Strange, and interesting. --Slashme 12:56, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Personnel

In line with other articles, and in particular because this is a long running band with presumably lots of lineup changes, could somebody in the know please construct a lineup list or table please? Add it to the bottom of the article, or a seperate article if monstrously big. That would be great, thanks. --kingboyk 00:18, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Done.

[edit] Trivia

The single 'Gaudete' is one of only two songs sung in Latin to reach the British Top 50 (the other was "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Requiem"...

Well, actually, Enigma's "Sadeness Part I" made No. 1 on the UK pop charts back in the early 1990s. So it looks like this bit of trivia is inaccurate. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bpolhemus (talk • contribs) 19:53, 3 February 2007 (UTC).

I am responsible for writing that bit of trivia. I notice that the Wikipedia article for Sadeness (Part I) does not contain any mention of Latin, though it does mention "foreign language". Assuming your claim is true, please put that information in the "Sadeness (Part I)" article and not in a comment here. It will then have a better chance of being verified or refuted. Ogg 12:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I have made the supreme sacrifice by deleting my own trivia (on Terry Pratchett). Ogg 20:26, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Graham Hedworth

I can find no evidence that Graham Hedworth has ever been associated with Steeleye Span in any way. The anonymous user has got a few days to put some evidence on this discussion page. If no evidence arrives, I'll delete Graham Hedworth. Ogg 18:12, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Nobody has come along to defend the presence of Graham Hedworth in this article, so I have removed the reference to him. Ogg 13:42, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wombles

Although the band did perform in Womble suits on TOTP, Knight did not play on the original recording and has never been "widely accepted" to have. Chris Spedding, who did play in the original recording, notes that Lack Rothstein played violin on the Wombles tracks.[2] McWomble (talk) 12:51, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Better than Radiohead?

There is a website which charts the frequency with which authors are published. It also gives a "Reading Level".

For example Enid Blyton is easy at 0.16 http://orlabs.oclc.org/identities/lccn-n2007-76814

Hegel is at 0.71 http://orlabs.oclc.org/identities/lccn-n79-21767

Here is the search page http://orlabs.oclc.org/Identities/

Music is rated as well.

Bing Crosby is easy at 0.43 http://orlabs.oclc.org/identities/lccn-n50-18853

Listening to Wagner is at 0.62 http://orlabs.oclc.org/Identities/lccn-n79-89831

Stockhausen 0.74

Now for poular music.

Radiohead is apparently kids stuff: 0.40

Nick Drake 0.41

Fairport Convention 0.45

Steeleye Span 0.50 http://orlabs.oclc.org/identities/lccn-n91-69527

All hail to the intellectuals who go for Steeleye Span. Ogg (talk) 17:59, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mike Batt era

"But while All Around My Hat was the height of the band's commercial success, the good times were not to last very long" Very clever inclusion. 66.215.20.28 (talk) 04:35, 28 April 2008 (UTC)