Show Notes
It’s well known that the 1960s had seen a revival of interest in the US and the UK in folk music – most particularly in its crossover to more contemporary styles. In the UK, traditional folk music preservation, academia and performance had long been part of the culture, but by the 1960s it seems there was conflict between those who wanted to play the music “authentically” (thus ignoring that folk songs had always evolved over the centuries), those who wanted to play those songs in a more contemporary fashion, and (shock horror) those who wanted to compose NEW songs in an accepted folk style.
Welcome to episode 187 of Love That Album podcast.
While there were many groups in the UK who were a part of the folk-rock scene starting in the 1960s, the three most famous were Fairport Convention, Pentangle and Steeleye Span. It seems that group memberships had something of a revolving door policy with many leaving one to join another when musical ideologies weren’t being met. Ashley Hutchings had become dissatisfied with the direction that Fairport was headed, and formed Steeleye Span. Span themselves went through several lineup and sound changes before arriving at its accepted classic lineup for their sixth LP, Now We Are Six.
The focus of this LTA is album number 7, released in 1975, Commoner’s Crown. I am joined once again by the co-host of the superb Only Three Lads podcast, Brett Vargo. He is a man of many musical passions, and one of them is the English folk scene of that 60s / 70s period. I discovered you can’t have a proper discussion on Span (or maybe other folk groups as well) without talking about the Child Ballads. I need to give credit to Nate Wilcox of the wonderful Let It Roll podcast who drew my attention to the existence of the Child Ballads through his show. It’s a shame our recording schedules couldn’t align for him to join us, but hopefully somewhere down the track Nate will be back on LTA.
Brett and I discuss some Steeleye Span history, Frances Child’s contribution to the folk and rock repertoire, murder, infidelity, drugs and theft – all folk subject staples. The folk repertoire is so much about story-telling, so we delve into the origins of some of these songs, how the stories changed over the centuries to the point of Steeleye Span recording, and the musicianship and vocal arrangements on Commoner’s Crown…..oh and we discuss about how Hercules Grytpype-Thynne dropped by to play some ukelele.
My huge gratitude goes to Brett for providing his insight to this music and time to the show. Only Three Lads is an essential podcast listen. Every week, Brett and Uncle Gregg bring in incredible musician guests from the golden age of alternative music to discuss not only their own work, but to help count down a top 5 of whatever the given subject may be. Search for Only Three Lads at your favourite podcast app.
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