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Steeleye Span / Maddy Prior: A Rare Collection 1972-1996
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A Rare Collection 1972-1996 Raven Records RVCD 90 (CD, Australia, July 1999) |
A collection of 20 rare Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior tracks.
Tracks
- The King
(Roud 19109)
(1.15)
Soundcheck rehearsal, Adelaide - 1982 - Thomas the Rhymer
(Roud 219; Child 37)
(6.47)
Full length (LP) version - 1974 - Elf Call
(Roud 3723; Child 40; G/D 2:328)
(2.57)
Australian edited single version - 1975 - Gaudete
(2.25)
Original single version - 1973 - Lanercost
(3.40)
UK single B-side - 1985 - I Live Not Where I Love
(Roud 593)
(4.37)
Live at the Royal Opera Theatre, Adelaide - 1982 - The Boar’s Head Carol
(Roud 22229)
(3.35)
Original single version - 1977 - Montrose
(3.58)
Live in Bournemouth, Australian-only single edit - 1978 - The Holly and the Ivy
(Roud 514)
(3.32)
Single B-side, with rare Christmas greetings - 1973 - Like the Wind
(2.38)
From the Mandalaband’s album Eye of Wendor, with Maddy Prior - 1978 - I Have a Wish
(3.13)
Sound check rehearsal, Adelaide - 1982 - Rag Doll
(3.17)
Original US single version - 1972 - Rave On
(1.26)
de-scratched version - 1972 - Fire on the Line
(4.29)
By Rick Kemp and Maddy Prior - 1991 - Somewhere Along the Road
(3.31)
Bonus track of the Silly Sisters’ CD No More to the Dance, vocal by Maddy Prior - 1994 - Autumn to Spring Medley
(8.32)
Live at Perth Concert Hall - 1984 - Betsy Bell and Mary Gray
(Roud 237; Child 201; G/D 6:1257)
(4.25)
Live in Eastbourne, England - 1986 - Stookie
(1.54)
Scottish Television children’s TV theme, by Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp - 1978 - The Royal Forester
(Roud 67; Child 110; G/D 7:1465)
(5.13)
Live at the Royal Opera Theatre, Adelaide - 1982 - All Around My Hat
(Roud 22518)
(4.00)
From the Status Quo album Don’t Stop, with Maddy Prior - 1996
This is a collection of 20 rare Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior tracks released late July 1999. I got the following information from Warren Barnett of Raven Records on 23 June 1999:
Hi Reinhard,
I am contacting you from Sony Music Mastering studios in Sydney. My name is Warren Barnett and I am currently working on the final mastering of the new Australian Steeleye Span Rarities CD for Raven Records. The material on this album is spectacular to say the least a lot of it comes exclusively from Australian only releases and live performances plus some unreleased gems from both the U.K. and Australia.
This CD has been a long time coming due to extensive re mastering work and locating many of the rare items from around Australia in which Nigel Pegrum who now lives in here helped a great deal, plus I have a very extensive collection of material from my own personal Steeleye Span archives that I have collected from 1974 when I first heard Steeleye during the mastering sessions for Commoners Crown Australian release at Festival Records in Sydney.
I have worked at Festival Records now for 25 years as a mastering Engineer and my profile is located on Festival’s web site on the studio archive page.
The new CD contains 20 tracks of rare material from both Steeleye and Maddy Prior and is titled A Rare Collection 1972-1996 and is due for release late July on Raven Records RVCD-90.
Nigel Pegrum has written the liner notes and I have written the track notes along with rock historian Glenn A. Baker
Rick Kemp has recently visited Australia and was given a private listening session of the new album and was delighted with the final results and took a copy back to the U.K. for Maddy who thought it was superb.
The sound restoration process was exhaustive particularly the live tracks which needed special attention and Sony’s restoration engineer Albert Zychowski helped a great deal in getting the sound the best it could possibly be.
Hope you will as delighted as we are with the final results of many months of dedicated work to make this CD the very best Steeleye rarities album available.
WARREN BARNETT
Mastering Engineer
RAVEN RECORDS AUSTRALIA
Sleeve Notes
The King
A rare version of a track that originally appeared on Steeleye’s second album Please to See the King. This was recorded in Adelaide during an afternoon rehearsal for an evening concert on Steeleye’s 1982 Australian Tour. It appeared, with overdubbed applause, on the On Tour album but this is how it was recorded.
Thomas the Rhymer
The full length studio version of what has become probably Steeleye’s most popular classic after All Around My Hat and the version most commonly heard in live performance. This long version popped up originally on the vinyl release of the Original Masters compilation set but was replaced on the CD release with the shorter version. According to the original Chrysalis release sheet, the song “is the story” of Scotland’s legendary prophet and seer, who is believed to have lived in the 13th century. He was given the gift of prophecy by the Queen of Elfland. She also gave him the tongue that can never lie from which he became known as “Truthful Thomas”.
Elf Call
Australia has always held a special place in Steeleye’s career not only for the band but also for the thousands of fans who took them to their hearts. Their enormous popularity prompted Festival Records, who distributed their product, to release some very rare edited singles to promote the albums and tours. Elf Call is one. Taken from the Commoners Crown album, it has a different start and fade out here. The single was never released outside Australia and was used for Steeleye’s 1975 Tour.
Gaudete
First released in 1972, and then re released in November 1973, was the band’s first outstanding chart success. It has appeared on many compilations over the years but with the exception of the Original Masters 2CD Original Masters set, this single version seems to have become lost in favour of the album version from Below the Salt which features the Cathedral voices. An original tape copy was found recently in the Festival tape vaults and has been fully sound restored for this CD.
Lanercost
The B-side of the Somewhere in London single and a different recording to the version on the Back in Line album. This single version has an instrumental ending as opposed to the a cappella offering on the album.
I Live Not Where I Love
This song features Tim, Maddy and Pete as part of a concert performance recorded by ABC Radio during Steeleye’s 1982 Australian tour and produced by David Mulhalan. The recording effort was eventually released by Festival Records as the On Tour album but never issued outside Australia. Although the band were disappointed with the commercial results of the live album, it has become a rare and desirable piece of Steeleye recording history. The version that appears here includes Maddy’s introduction which didn’t appear on the On Tour album.
The Boar’s Head Carol
Steeleye’s 1977 British Christmas single recorded in Holland and given special mention by Nigel Pegrum in the liner notes.
The ancient ceremony of The Boars Head Carol was performed for many years on Christmas Eve at Queen’s College, Oxford. The College Choir processes into the Hall stopping 3 times so that a verse from the Boar’s Head Carol may be sung; and the singer is given an Orange, decorated with Bay and Rosemary, from the Boars Head’s mouth.
Montrose
On March 7 1978, Steeleye delivered at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens what just may be their finest ever live performance. The evening concert was recorded for what was to become the Live at Last album. A highlight of that magical night was the 15 minute epic Montrose which Nigel reflects upon in his notes and Tim describes as the most complicated arrangement ever undertaken by the band.
Upon Australian release of Live at Last in late 1978, Festival Records was given exclusive permission to edit this mammoth track down to an acceptable single length to promote the forthcoming live album. An eight-hour editing session was undertaken by devoted Festival Mastering Engineer Warren Barnett, and the result, as heard here, were never issued outside Australia.
The Holly and the Ivy - With Christmas Greetings
This obscure track released as the B-side to Gaudete in 1972 has become a rare piece of Steeleye Span history. Preceding this fine yuletide offering are special Christmas greetings from the band members.
Like the Wind
All the members of Steeleye Span undertake other musical projects from time to time, but Maddy Prior remains the most diversified and has appeared in an array of different roles. Her effort with Mandalaband, lifted from their second album The Eye of Wendor on Chrysalis, displays that amazing vocal style for which she is acclaimed.
I Have a Wish
Recorded live in 1982 at the Royal Opera Theatre, Adelaide during the soundcheck for the evening performance that resulted in the On Tour album. I Have a Wish is presented here in its original form, without overdubbed applause.
Rag Doll
Recorded during the band’s 1972 American Tour, and produced by Dick Glasser of Everly Brothers fame. The track was not released as a single until 1978 and appeared in the U.S. as a bonus track on the Live at Last album as a substitute for Bonnets So Blue. The song was originally a number one for the Four Seasons in 1964.
Rave On
First released as a 1972 U.S. single and later on a U.K. compilation album of British folk songs, Rave On is a rollicking outing from the early days of Steeleye Span, before they became a major influence in British folk rock. Buddy Holly just made it into the Billboard top forty with the song in 1958.
Fire on the Line
Taken from Rick and Maddy’s Happy Families album, this delightful song is just another example of the different musical styles various members of Steeleye pursued on their own away from the Steeleye Span spotlight.
Somewhere Along the Road
Included as a bonus track on the CD of No More to the Dance featuring Silly Sisters Maddy and June Tabor, this magnificent song penned by Maddy’s husband and former Steeleye bassist, Rick Kemp, is an expression of Maddy’s powerful and compassionate vocal ability and rightfully commands a place on this rarities compilation.
Autumn to Spring Medley
This an extremely rare live performance recorded during Steeleye’s 1984 tour of Australia, brings together Marigold / Harvest Home from the Sails of Silver album with a previously unissued song The Spring Will Bring Us Together into an 8-minute piece specially remastered for this CD.
Betsy Bell and Mary Gray
A rare live version of a song that had its studio debut on the album Tempted and Tried This performance was recorded at a concert in Eastbourne, England during the band’s Back in Line U.K.tour, and transferred from its original cassette master format to digital and fully restored for this CD release.
Stookie
The theme to the late 1980s British children’s TV show written and produced by Maddy and Rick. A rare piece of Steeleye history.
The Royal Forester
The climax of a spectacular live performance recorded at the Royal Opera Theatre in Adelaide during Steeleye’s Australian 1982 tour. This version was intended for inclusion on the On Tour Australian release but was subsequently deleted due to time limitations of vinyl pressings. We now present this rare piece of Steeleye Span, live sprinkled with that essence of magic which has enthralled audiences across the world’s concert stages for 30 years.
All Around My Hat
A fitting end to this collection is Status Quo’s 1996 version of All Around My Hat with Maddy guesting on harmony vocals followed with some mumbling by Peter Sellers from the final moments of the Commoners Crown album. Quo recorded the song on their album of covers and tributes to their heroes titled Don’t Stop - The 30th Anniversary Collection Album’ Like the Beach Boys, Maddy Prior was invited to participate in the studio.
Warren Barnett
Sydney, July 1999