King Henry - Steeleye Span

[unknownkingdom]

Wow, bad.

The female singer is off key much of the time

[motherthing]

@unknownkingdom It is just a poor audio system or recording, which is why the instrumentation sounds off as well. If you spent a few seconds checking, you would find better recordings here on YouTube, and that this band and Maggie Prior (the "female singer") is very famous and highly skilled.

[Sammicsno]

what is the background to this song?

[MrTezza13]

I've been a fan of STEELEYE for many ,many years.There music is timeless.Any-one know of the fanclub details?

[FenianandLimey]

I must admit I have not listened to these songs since the 1970's, when Ian Anderson sponsered them. Yet I know these particular songs by heart. I lost all my old albums in a house fire. Hey, they're still in my heart! God bless Tull and Steeleye Span.

[SlightlySusan]

Adrian Legg composed a tune, The Pregnant Folk Singer, in honor of Maddie Prior. According to Legg, Maddie "showed up" at an annual festival one year "agriculturally pregnant." She sang seated on a stool and the legs spread under her added weight.

[itsibitsispiderUSMC]

A Great group, cant hear enough of them, one of the best so far out of the U.K.- (TO PISS OFF THE IRISH LOT, ye im a patty)

[mikethefoto]

Guys,

What can you expect?

atfatw is a Yank!!

You really cannot expect coherent logical comments from them. Look at the selection of morons they have elected as president in the recent past, Bush, Bush, Reagan & they almost got Palin as VP - crooked airhead. You just have to feel sorry for the retard & admire his banjo playing in the film "Deliverance"

[Pangael]

Now Mike, don't judge us all by atfatw. Obama winning by 43 million votes isn't an 'almost'.

And yeah, we get collectively stupid from time to time, but we usually fix it.

I live in Texas and probably have more friends in England than atfatw has friends.

[Nd179]

I have to admit, not the best rendition of the song they might have done, but damn... the vocal harmonies at 6:55 put a shiver down my spine! Thanks for posting!

[atfatw]

bla bla blah banal. abba is much much too highbrow for those gross imbeciles that comprise the 'mighty english race' as is of course mozart, bach, brahmes. haydn, schubert schumann, chopan, mendelsohn, mahler,janis joplin, hank williams, and of course everybody in music history!

[atfatw]

maddy prior is now a blonde why?

nature does not allow brown eyed blondes!

[zoedeluca0401]

Really! My sister is a NATURAL Platinum blode with DARK BROWN EYES. My daughter is NATURAL strawberry blonde with MID BROWN EYES. I know nature allows blonde & brown

[blahblahblah85]

You are really starting 2 distress me.atfatw Actually, you made me cry. I am tired of you and you amatuer phycho Dr Phyll shit. Plz dont email me anymore

[atfatw]

blahblahgblababydiapers.

ok, baby little one thebig bad American boogeyman will not talk to you. now be nice and go to youir room and clean it up! then you can play with your dollies!

[buttonpuncher]

I first heard Steeleye Span on a cassette brought back from the U.K. by a colleague. We worked in Turkey; it was 1975 or 76. I have been fascinated by Maddie's voice ever since. Thirty three years later, I'm still listening to her songs. Funnily enough, I don't recall any other singer of that era.

[BoxeMachine]

So, all you which have written one or more comment in this page must admitt that the woman on the right is the famous Prof D'adamo... I LOVE YOU D'ADAMO.

[BoxeMachine]

she is D'addamo

[themountainviewguy]

Below The Salt is awesome!

[themountainviewguy]

I think Below The Salt is the best of the electric Steeleye ... that and Parcel Of Rogues ... and don't forget Now We Are Six!

[mickigoe]

Sheepcrook and Black Dog was the best thing they ever did ...also on the classic Salt album. Saw them do the album live in Dublin circa 74 and they were mindblowing.. esp when Maddy sang Sheepcrook.

[tjmck74]

I saw this LIVE as a 13 yr old, dragged to the Phila Folk Fest by my parents. Hated every second of it then, but think it's terrific now.

[Taylor510ceL9]

Sometimes, parents actually do know stuff.

[Oxbow2009]

Funny ... in 1987 (I was also 13 yrs old) I learned about Steeleye Span from a cousin. There was nothing more I wanted than to go to a Steeleye Span concert but it was impossible because I was living in Eastern Germany at this time and the borders were still closed.

[ThaFreshPrinceofGA]

Fucking ferry band.

[BrxSmith]

Hilarious - do you mean "fairy" or an actual boat? Brilliant.

Steeleye Span will live on forever.

[Chipmonk1963]

What I wanna know is what happened to King Henry. Did he become a beggar bacause his wife ate him out of house and home? Did he later get forgiven and go to Heaven?

[kenp3L]

No. This is actually an English or Scottish fairy tail. The woman in question is the daughter of King Under-waves and she is actually quite beautiful. But for some reason, she is under hideous enchantment. The spell can only be broken (apparently) when a man will, as she states, "give me all my will." Listen carefully to the last verse where the spell has been broken.

[SlightlySusan]

She is actually the Sovereignty Goddess, the goddess of the land who marries the king and grants him the right to rule. Found in Chaucer and the King Arthur stories.

[GRALISTAIR]

Yes - good song - not as good on this version as on the Album Below the Salt - my 2nd Steeleye Span album

[kenp3L]

Agreed. Too much rhythm. Maddys clogging needs work, but she rescues the lead singer at 3:51 when he forgets the words.

[vgiangvian]

nope...she messes up the words and he lets her continue.

its an one hundred year old ballad with an abundance of words

lol

[kenp3L]

No, she doesn't mess up. I have the album. The line is: "And he has slain his berry brown steed, though it made his heart full sore." That's exactly how she sang it.

[thedarknessrules312]

yeah i dont think he messed upeither just came a tad far from the micraphone.

[themountainviewguy]

I think what happened is that she switched harmonic modes and it threw him so he stopped singing for a sec. Maddy Prior seems to be able to twist her harmonies all over the place, she was a wonderful voice and sense for harmony.

[ricrichmond]

No....get rid of the Satriani guitar and Bass.....and everything will be back to normal!

[bagdadjoe]

I love a good violin tortured by a wah pedal! Not as good as my vinyl, but who gives a crap. It's just another version.  "It's all handmade and there will be variations in each rendition". Geez, the audience that was actually there seem to like this performance???

[motherthing]

Agreed, the performance is not as bad as the quality of the recording. The balance of the mics is _totally_ off, the drums are up way too high.

[tonbridgeman]

Please don't diss Bob Johnson. He took the band in a more rock orientated direction maybe but did a heck of good and original work. Just listen to Alison Gross or Long Lankin which is verging on prog in its structure.

[BubCar2]

Sounds like a case of the band needing more rehearsal with this particular live audio setup, combined with a really crap recording. These musicians are much better than this tape suggests.

[Xithinar]

The 80s weren't that kind to Steeleye Span...let's be honest. Being dropped by their record company in favour of punk/new wave rubbish, losing two world class members [Tim and Rick] in relatively quick succession, nine years of disappointment for the band...let's be glad they pulled through it.

1989's Tempted and Tried is a FANTASTIC album, and really shows them bck on top form. Thank heavens for Tim Harries is all I can say. Don't judge Steeleye by what you see from material from this time.

[lahore55]

that Bob Johnson is shite.

[zenziller]

What a mess, they totally wreck this song........

[reditall]

It's the audio recording that is bad. The balance is awful. This is recorded a 1980s video camera - very primitive compared to today's digital recording equipment. In many ways it's better than the recorded version. the harmonies (3 part) are more developed.

[chuckler1]

I wonder why there aren't that many videos posted of this great band?

[viking1au]

Ah, the guy on guitar is the guy who replaced Martin Carthy when he left; one Robert (Bob) Johnson. --- Good, but not in the same class as Carthy. Good song.

[Laurabirdsong]

Thanks for posting this. I have their old vinyl and even saw them live in Boston in the late 70s. Great music!

[ohisashiburi]

Wow at Bardney??? I was there too...great concert wasn't it! Had many bands including 'Incredible String Band'...

[payne7857]

I love this song.

I can still remember from when I was about 3 and up, my Dad would sing different Steeleye Span songs to me at night before I went to sleep. :)

[GrandPrix55]

I prefer the studio version with the heavy guitar bass. Always a great song though.

[viking1au]

Years ago, the "Green Guide" of the Age newspaper, in Melbourne, Australia, cited C'am ye O'er From France, by Steeleye Span, as the best test for your bass speakers. To this day this is still true of the original studio version. They hit, and sustain, bass notes you would not believe and at high volume, some speakers will give up. - Interesting for a folk band. It got me interested in them & I am still a big fan.

[BrxSmith]

Yes - and these first five Chrysalis albums have FINALLY been remastered and are available as a 3-CD set called "A Parcel of Steeleye Span." It sounds fantastic. This and "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" have never sounded so good. I recommend it!

[viking1au]

Great; checked this out on Amazon. No point to it if one has all (I think) original albums. Interesting point is that of the 3 cd's, there is NOTHING from the album 10 Man Mop (..etc), perhaps their best period, with Martin Carthy. He left in 71 (as did Ashley Hutchings) and rejoined in '77 for their "Stormforce 10" album, which also included Tim Hart, even though Maddy had left him for Rick Kemp, also on the album. A great album, even though Martin later left again, feeling it was a mistake.

[viking1au]

It seems that Steeleye keep re-releasing boxed sets etc of old stuff to keep the cash coming in; although I once got 10 Man Mop on cd, those days seem gone. They are all compilations and it is hard finding too much from the Martin Carthy albums. Might be a manarement thing as Steeleye became a band with an almost constantly revolving door. -- I am about to transfer Stormforce 10 to cd & my computer. It is so good (like 10 Man Mop) I want to avoid wear & tear on it, while it is still pristine.

[BrxSmith]

Yes - it kills me that the remaster of "Rocket Cottage" is out of print already. The recent release of "Ten Man Mop" does sound fantastic.

The "Parcel of Steeleye" set starts with "Below the Salt" because that's their first album on the Chrysalis label. I think it's Chrysalis, not the band, who's behind the re-releases. However, as the original Shanachie discs (among the first CDs I owned in the very early '90s) sound rather lousy, I'm ecstatic about the remaster job on this set!

[BrxSmith]

I will say that, having all these albums on LP, the newer remasters do sound better - gloriously so. The original CDs sounded simultaneously harsh and muddy compared to the vinyl as analog-to-digital converters were in their infancy then, but the new releases are fantastic. There's "space in the mix," and they never sounded better. The box I mentioned IS a collection, but at least the albums are complete, and it's a great price for five remastered albums. Makes me happy at a high volume!

[Golden3000997]

I ADORE Steeleye Span - have since the late 70's - Thank you!

[brianstrange]

I've got this album Below the Salt too , stull luv it - still great,

[smokindog]

Nice!! I had the LP back in the day. Still sounds good! :-)

[MrOdonoghue]

very good song been a long time since i heard it

[fractaldragon]

Thanks for posting this! Love Steeleye, King Henry's a favorite song.

[AmyMeacham]

Thank you, that is fantastic!

[tinaturntable]

Wot's with the slap bass?!

[HelgigApBwyd]

Superb. Haunting. So....Medieval English

[chad2281]

i like the song

[chubshaw]

whoopsie! someone fucked up XD

[alkalidocklive]

nice post!

[mja46805]

Thanks - great archival posting - sound quality is great

[REDNECKPEPI64]

thanks taylor,beautiful video!