Search - Steeleye Span :: Below the Salt

Below the Salt
Steeleye Span
Below the Salt
Genres: Folk, International Music, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (9) - Disc #1

Like Fleetwood Mac would five years later, Steeleye Span had lost its most celebrated members, Fairport Convention alumnus Ashley Hutchings and guitarist Martin Carthy, when they reconvened in a comparatively anonymous lin...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Steeleye Span
Title: Below the Salt
Members Wishing: 7
Total Copies: 0
Label: Bgo - Beat Goes on
Release Date: 7/25/2002
Album Type: Single, Import
Genres: Folk, International Music, Pop, Rock
Styles: Traditional Folk, British & Celtic Folk, Folk Rock
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Like Fleetwood Mac would five years later, Steeleye Span had lost its most celebrated members, Fairport Convention alumnus Ashley Hutchings and guitarist Martin Carthy, when they reconvened in a comparatively anonymous lineup that proved to be their most successful. This 1972 album found vocalist Maddy Prior and guitarist Tim Hart (who'd worked as a duo prior to joining Steeleye) taking the reins, with violinist Peter Knight providing an instrumental foil for the then-drummerless quintet's electric and acoustic guitars. Prior's regal alto and a carefully chosen program of traditional songs (including a medieval Christmas hymn, "Gaudete," that's among the few rock songs extant boasting a Latin lyric) sustain the album's decidedly pre-industrial mood. Below the Salt stands as a British folk-rock classic. --Sam Sutherland

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CD Reviews

A Miracle of Music Found!
D. M. Bongiorni | Leesburg, VA United States | 02/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1974 I heard the ethereal sounds of "Gaudaute" coming out of our console tv. The show - Midnight Special! I had missed the intro. and didn't know who the group was. I RAN to get my mod panasonic white cassette recorder and held it up to the 3 inch tv speaker and recorded it. Fast forward two years later to my best friends dorm room, and I hear the song again! I ran screeching into her room, "Who is that? Who is that?" She showed me the album, and I rushed out and bought my own copy. I was fortunate enough to see and hear them live in DC in the 80's. Steeleye Span and this album are completely awesome!

"
Buy or steal this music now
Here and Now | Florida | 05/30/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The sheer aural beauty of much of this album cannot be adequately stated in words. This is not (with the possible exception of 'Spotted Cow') a 'pop' folk album. This is an attempt to create great music. Maddy Prior's vocal in the haunting 'Sheepcrook and Blackdog'is one of those rare musical moments that can transport the listener to that special realm of pure emotional pleasure which constitutes one of the most profound experiences possible. The bouncing happiness of 'Royal Forrester' shows how little great rythm depends on a thudding drum. 'King Henry' also features a driving drum-less rythm with a wonderful duet. The two a cappella songs, 'Rosebud in June', and 'Guadete'are as different as shivering and infinity. Rosebud successfully evokes the hardship of rural struggles to 'keep our backs from the cold'. 'Guadete' is another "transport" moment, with Prior lifting us all to heaven as she joins the chorus. The album ends with 'Saucy Sailor''s interplay of vocal, lyric and long fade, evoking summation and completion."