It's no surprise that I adore english folk-rock (or electric folk), and I'm particularly fond of the "Fairport family" (Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard and Linda Thompson, Fotheringay...). But I had never put my heart and soul into listening to the other major british folk-rock ensemble, i.e. Steeleye Span and Pentanle. My bad, of course. Anyway, although I still have some problems listening to Pentangle (because of Jacqui McShee's voice mainly...but I dig Bert Jansch's solo repertoire), I am now starting to love Steeleye Span too.
And the album I love the most (at least until now) is their third, this "Ten Man Mop or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again": I think everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) should try and listen at least to When I was on horseback and Gosser Wassail. The work of Martin Carthy on this two songs is simply incredible (the Gosser Wassail lick does sound like new-wave to me...)
Unfortunately I haven't found any video on youtube with Gosser Wassail. But I found When I was on horseback:
Ten Man Mop...
1 comment:
I appreciate your comments about Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler rides again. Gower Wasseil is a fun Christmas song, referring to the fine art of wasseiling. When I was on horseback is a sad song about a young soldier dying of syphilus. Sqewball is about a famous horse race from a very long time ago. I could go on. Ashley Hutchins is magnificent. Maddy Prior has a tremendous voice. Tim Hart, who died recently was an immensely talented musician.
Francis J. O'Reilly
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