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Steeleye Span: Parcel of Rogues

Steeleye Span: Parcel of Rogues (Chrysalis CHR 1046)

Parcel of Rogues
Steeleye Span

Chrysalis CHR 1046 (LP, UK, April 1973)
Chrysalis/Festival L 34898 (LP, Australia, 1973)
Chrysalis/Phonogram 6307 514 (LP, Germany)
Chrysalis/Ariola 202.750 (LP, Germany)
Shanachie 79045 (LP / CD, USA, 1987)
BGO Records BGOCD 323 (CD, UK, December 1996)

 Steeleye Span: Parcel of Rogues (BGOCD 323)

Produced by Steeleye Span and Jerry Boys;
Recorded at Sound Techniques, Chelsea, London;
Engineered by Jerry Boys and Roger Mayer;
Illustrations and design by Graham Berney of Dream Studio

Musicians

Maddy Prior: vocals
Tim Hart: guitar, dulcimer, vocals
Bob Johnson: guitar, vocals
Rick Kemp: bass, drum, vocals
Peter Knight: violin, viola, mandolin, piano, recorders, harmonium, vocals

Tracks

Side 1

  1. One Misty Moisty Morning (Roud 20075) (3.32)
  2. Alison Gross (Roud 3212; Child 35) (5.29)
  3. The Bold Poachers (Roud 1686) (4.19)
  4. The Ups and Downs (Roud 364) (2.46)
  5. Robbery With Violins (1.47)

Side 2

  1. The Wee Wee Man (Roud 2865; Child 38) (4.02)
  2. The Weaver and the Factory Maid (Roud 3085, 17771) (5.21)
  3. Rogues in a Nation (Roud 5516) (4.35)
  4. Cam Ye O’er Frae France (Roud 5814; G/D 1:120) (2.49)
  5. Hares on the Mountain (Roud 329) (4.35)

Comment

Recorded at Sound Techniques Jauary and February ’73. Produced by Steeleye Span and Jerry Boys. A varied album, with different band members dominating on different tracks. Alison Gross showed Bob’s increasingly effective use of rock techniques; Rick and Pete duetted on Robbery With Violins, and Pete and Bob were responsible for Hares on the Mountain, which they had sung together in their folk club days. Maddy suggested The Weaver and the Factory Maid, Tim brought in The Bold Poachers, while Rogues in a Nation and Cam Ye O’er Frae France had been worked out by the band as a whole as part of [the stage play] Kidnapped. Rick played drums on The Wee Wee Man and Cam Ye O’er Frae France.

Tim Hart, Robin Denselow: The Complete Steeleye Span, 1978

Reviews

Who on Earth put them on this list? Ok, ok, they are a good band, and the ‘progressive’-minded will find some good syncopes here, and not forgetting the world’s only heavy-metal track without drums, the amazing Alison Gross on their Parcel of Rogues. But seriously, this is folk rock, so be warned if you are a very conservative ‘progressive’ fart who can’t stand lyrics about broken love, because Steeleye has plenty of them. Of course, since their lyrics come a different era they are quite different from the standard rock cliches, so the lyrics are one more reason why they are fun to listen to from time to time.

From the Steeleye Span entry in the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock