Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

Pages: (4) < [1] 2 3 4 > [ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 28 2006, 06:08 Last night was the first night of Steeleye Span's new tour, at Colne Municipal Hall. It's a small venue, but all the more intimate for that; an audience of maybe 1000 or so (I'm guessing). The first half was a bit shaky (not surprising) but they really got into their stride in the second half, and indeed I think I've never heard Maddy Prior sing better: rich, with great dramatic power - and no trace of that tendency to shrillness that she had when she was younger (eg at the time of 'Exposed' ). At the break, Maddy wandered into the audience selling raffle tickets for Cancer Research, with time for a word with anyone and everyone, but gently fending off autograph requests until after the show, so she could sell as many tickets as possible. Back on stage, she produced a series of blistering performances (this was certainly the best performance of the great Tam Lin ballad that I've ever heard her do - she was terrifying! ) Then, after the show, within minutes she was among the audience again, with all the time in the world, asking what we thought of the new material, chatting about this and that, and signing autographs. And even though I know she hasn't the slightest recollection of who I am, (I've gone through this little ritual dozens of times), she always makes me feel as if she does - and I know she makes everyone feel the same: you just have to watch all the instinctive hugs, handshakes, warm smiles, and the looks in everyone's eyes. (That sounds a bit gooey when I read it back; but it's only my poorly chosen words that are gooey, not the event.) OK, Steeleye as a band are well past their prime. But they are still inventive, still making stunning arrangements of traditional songs. And as I sat there listening to them last night with my wife and friends, all completely absorbed in the music, I was aware in some part of my consciousness that to be there, doing this, with these people, was what I wanted above all other things at that moment. [Here's the autograph she wrote for me.] Back to top

Tansy Group: Members Posts: 416 Joined: April 2005 Posted: April 28 2006, 07:06 That's a lovely account of an evening so obviously enjoyed Alan I greatly admire Steeleye Span & their music. Now to learn of Maddy Prior's compassion in helping/supporting Cancer Research,and of her making fan's feel welcome - that's so nice. At this moment in time, I have the song "All Things Are Quite Silent" in my mind. This is one of my favourites Big Cheer for Steeleye Span! Back to top

Baggiesfaninessex Group: Members Posts: 682 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: April 28 2006, 16:16 Lovely description Alan and not gooey at all. Simply honest.   -------------- “A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: April 28 2006, 17:16 A few extra details for the Span Fans: They did (as ever) 'All Around My Hat' as an encore - and you'd think, wouldn't you, that they'd be so sick of that song by now? But she grinned broadly as she announced it, and said, with obvious sincerity, 'I still love hearing this when they play it on the radio'! Peter Knight (the demon fiddler) offered a set of song introductions, each of which was presented as a riddle, to which we were invited to find the answer. (This is all done in a very tongue-in-cheek manner - like the comment he once made about how kind it was of all these people to pay so much money to come and see a rehearsal...) Anyway, in 'Who told the butcher?' we had to guess what the butcher symbolised (I had no idea and still don't). In 'Seagull' we had to guess what the song was really all about (shove-halfpenny, for those interested). Then finally he put the fiddle down and strapped on an acoustic guitar (something I have never seen him do in all these years), and we had to guess ... what instrument he was playing in this song? (At the end he asked if anyone had got it...) Back to top

Inkanta Group: Admins Posts: 1453 Joined: Feb. 2000 Posted: Oct. 01 2006, 23:27 Maddy is going to be part of a quest...er no--*The* Quest-- coming up this autumn--check out http://www.graillegend.com/news.php for details (thanks to Rob M over on the AML, for the tip). -------------- "No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris." Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 02 2006, 03:31 And Steeleye are touring again this Autumn/Winter: for dates and venues, see here. Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Oct. 02 2006, 21:47 Seems to me that the band has got also a page at My Space. -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 03 2006, 04:51 And Peter Knight's website is here. Back to top

Ecco Group: Musicians Posts: 229 Joined: Nov. 2002 Posted: Oct. 03 2006, 06:19 Thank you, Alan, for that most excellent account of your evening. Maddy and Co. came to the states many years ago and I was fortunate enough to see them in an intimate venue that only seated an few hundred people. (same place where I saw Mike warm up for his first Morth America Tour (Five Miles Out). Maddy's a great artist and humanitarian and we are glad that you got to experience a fine event as this. -------------- http://www.myspace.com/twilighttide Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Oct. 03 2006, 08:36 Hi everyone! Hi Alan, I had to seek you out on tubular.net today to tell you that I've finally been bitten by the Steeleye bug....and what's the first thread I see, but this one!  Heh. I've been buying up a lot of Fairport Convention/Sandy Denny/Richard Thompson CDs of late, and it was only natural that I made the short sidestep to check out some early Steeleye too.  So last weekend I picked up the Lark In The Morning anthology (the first three albums plus a couple of extras), and boy, I've been bowled over! Of course I was somewhat prepared for Maddy's singing because of her work with Mike, and I was prepared for Ashley Hutchings' bass playing because of his Fairport work - but combine those two with, on the earlier songs, Gaye Woods similarly beautiful singing, and, later, Martin Carthy's superb repertoire, and it's a rich feast indeed. But it's particularly that first album, Hark! The Village Wait, that has impressed.  Dark Eyed Sailor sounds like The Byrds fronted by two exquisite sirens.  And The Blacksmith is beyond haunting.  Both these songs have shot straight into my favourite songs of all time list. The British and Irish folk/rock idioms are rich pickings indeed.  I urge everyone to seek out Steeleye and Fairport's greatest works immediately and prepare to be moved beyond words! I've also been having some really touching email communications with fiddler Dave Swarbrick (ex-Fairport), but that's another story..... Love, Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 03 2006, 10:19 Quote (familyjules @ Oct. 03 2006, 13:36) I've finally been bitten by the Steeleye bug.... Jules! My dear chap, you have such a feast ahead of you, exploring their back catalogue, that you make me envious at the idea of discovering it all again. Yes, 'Hark, the Village Wait' has some magical things on it - and the voice of Gay Woods is a marvellous complement to Maddy's (and vice-versa). How about 'My Johnny was a Shoemaker', eh? And for Gay Woods at her best, how about 'Lowlands of Holland'? Makes me melt, that one. But to tell the truth, these early albums of Steeleye's, ground-breaking tho' they were, and are, are not my favourites. If I had to pick three (let's say), then well, first I'd complain that three isn't enough, and then I'd choose.... let's see: First, 'Below the Salt' and 'Time' (two of the finest albums ever made by anyone, anywhere, anytime); and then, more arguably but more personally, 'They Called Her Babylon' - because just when I thought they were getting too long in the tooth to make a really good album, they came up with this one a couple of years ago, and delighted me beyond measure. Maddy's 'Mantle of Green' is one of the best things she's ever done (old softie time). Don't miss the upcoming tour Jules - surely they must be coming somewhere near your neck of the woods? Let's see... [pause] Worcester on 6th December, Melton Mowbray on 10th. I think that's as close as they come to you, sadly. (Me and my gang are going to Preston on 22nd.) I'm wondering how you got into an email correspondence with Dave Swarbrick, but doubtless you'll tell us in due course. Great to see you here, Jules, even if you're just 'popping in'. Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Oct. 03 2006, 10:57 Alan, Below The Salt will be my next Steeleye purchase for sure. As for Mantle Of Green - I have Sinead O'Connor singing that one and she does a splendid job too.  Can't keep a good song down! And as for Swarb.....well, I went to see him and Martin Carthy play a duo show the other weekend and went up to Swarb during the intermission to ask him about a lyric I couldn't make out in an old, rare Fairport song.  Well he couldn't remember either, but he suggested I email him.  So I did.  He was still none the wiser and suggested I send him the song in question (Farewell To A Poor Man's Son).  I actually sent him a whole disc of rare Fairport that had the song on.  He got back to me with the miussing lyric and also said how moved he'd been to hear this and other tracks for the first time since he'd recorded them.  And he was especially moved because as a result of having SEVEN throat operations involving the severing and repairing of his vocal chords, he can currently talk but can't sing.  In a few years if they heal well, he might be able to sing again.  I really hope so - imagine being a singer who can't sing....you'd be utterly devastated (I sure would be). Anyway, it was lovely and very moving to have such an exchange with the maestro.  He thanked me for bringing back lots of long-forgotten memories and asked me to tell him where and when all the rare songs I sent him were recorded, which I did. Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 03 2006, 12:12 Oh the poor chap. Yes, that's unimaginably cruel about his voice. I presume he's still the demon fiddler he always was? Although Liege and Lief is a wonderful album, I was never much of a Fairport fan after the loss of Sandy Denny, but I know Swarbrick's fiddling from those albums of Carthy's. I saw Swarbrick and Carthy a few years ago, with a friend who was an old friend of Martin's. I didn't get to talk to Dave, but my companion introduced me to Martin. I was hopelessly overawed of course, and said so! At such times, all one's carefully thought-out intelligent questions evaporate into stammering silence..... [afterthought: can you have such a thing as a 'stammering silence'?] Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 04:22 I had a wee chat with Martin too - both men are very down to earth and unaffected.  I guess folk differs very much from rock in this respect - one is less likely to get Swellhead Syndrome. And yes, Swarb is still the consumate fiddler for sure. I would recommend a handful of Fairport albums post-Sandy.  I actually think Swarb is an equally gifted singer, just very different.  Try the CD reissue of the Full House album - I'm sure you won't be disappointed.  It now includes the single Now Be Thankful and you won't hear a more perfect hymn-like two and a half minute song anywhere. Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 04:42 Quote (familyjules @ Oct. 04 2006, 09:22) I would recommend a handful of Fairport albums post-Sandy. I know they're good. I've had periods where I've tried them: in fact someone recently lent me a live album of theirs to try. And I can see it's good stuff, but it doesn't ignite that spark for me, somehow. You know how it is - just one of those inexplicable personal things. Despite my decades-long love of Steeleye and (some of) June Tabor, and the traditional aspects of their music, I'm not really a 'folkie' at heart. Although I have great admiration for Carthy, for instance, I don't actually choose to listen to him much. But I know that without these guys - Carthy, Fairport, et al - the whole business would shrivel up and die. Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 04:52 Fair enough, but I should point out Full House, is less of a folk album that Liege and Lief was.  It's a rock album with folk influences.  Or a folk/rock album.  I still reckon you should give it a whirl next time you've a spare tenner in your pocket and there's a CD emporium close by.... Oooh, am I not the very tempting divil his-self?  ;-) Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 05:48 Quote (familyjules @ Oct. 04 2006, 09:52) I still reckon you should give it a whirl next time you've a spare tenner in your pocket and there's a CD emporium close by.... OK then, but I'm not paying a penny over £9.99. I'll try it and report back. [Minutes later] Been there, done that. £5.62 on Amazon incl. postage. Watch this space. Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 06:04 Oooh, now I feel so responsible and that my very reputation is on the line! Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 07:09 Quote (familyjules @ Oct. 04 2006, 11:04) Oooh, now I feel so responsible and that my very reputation is on the line! So you should. That was my last £5.62, so it's dandelion and pebble soup for dinner. Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2006, 07:28 I don't feel sorry for you - I'm on soil and dog's milk. -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ] Pages: (4) < [1] 2 3 4 >

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net