Steeleye Span - Drink Down the Moon

[turnipfield]

A bit rude as well :-) Great stuff though. What a wonderful voice MP has. I also like the bass playing - very precise.

[Honeysucklebommie]

What a joyful end.

[snoerl007]

Still supercoooL!

[gassednstoked]

All of the musicians are terrific on this song, but the drummer just floors me.

[atfatw]

maddy is just disneyland a replica of what she once was

[stubbieoz]

I think Maddys voice has only gotten better over the years.

But I still think her dress sense sucks ;)

[YngvarOppedal]

Fenomenalt!!!

[tonylast47]

Awesome!! Last time I saw them was in Croydon Fairfield Halls in the 80s. Just bought the DVD this is taken from.

[GreatBonFire]

This version is far more out than the Lp version!! And I so dig her expresions and (kind of) dance! She's just one of my kind of people! ...annd that'll be cool, if anyone wonder!

[GreatBonFire]

Maddy is sooo cooool!

[redphonedeb]

When was this video made?

[tsukinomori]

Razaak666: her name is Maddy Prior. Check out all the rest of the Steeleye Span ouvre!

[Razaak666]

What's the singer's name? She's amazing!

[atfatw]

good ol maggy prior too bad she didn't retire to lancastershire where her kind belong

bad maddy you have no talent anymore

[atfatw]

maddy sucks big time!

[Omnipotens]

Does anyone know where this performance is from, as in, is it available on DVD?

[tonybanjo]

Maddie makes a great cup of tea

[telemacherT2]

@tonybanjo She *IS* a great cup o'Tea!

[soaringvulture]

These harmonies blow my head off. Are they playing untempered? It sure sounds that way to me, but the bass and guitar have frets...

[cheaptwangers]

I suppose it takes a certain sensibility to accept the historical value of what SES and Fairport Convention do. Of course, Americans, with a mere 350 years of history, try to forget history and 'modernize' everything. Maybe we have a cultural Attention Deficit Disorder. In any case, we owe much to the musical antecedents of the British Isles. Listen to Appalachian music of this century...it still has this haunting sound.

[atfatw]

they are not important after all they're english

[dariogneri]

@atfatw  you're really funny-really you're a genius

[atfatw]

@dariogneri

thank you. you are unusually preceptive you must be a well educated sane American

not like those stupid wretched english

[tombuggie]

@atfatw Do us all a favour you prick and fuck off, hm?

[atfatw]

@tomboogger,

Ha ha ha a typical english krel you miserable stupid crud why don't you forget life!!!

[dariogneri]

@atfatw no I'm Italian if you bothered to look at my name(i do not hide behind an alias), you could have established that. But I love english culture that's why i learnt to speak the language and appreciate their culture. I like America though.

[esirenbotdon]

Used to play fiddle in Hastings sometimes with Pete Knight when I was a kid- This is one of my favourite songs....I need to practise again methinks!

[1st17]

RIP ...Tim....respect man ...much respect.....

[calpont]

Today I have known that Tim Hart is dead. What a pity! Long live to Tim.

[smokindog]

You are right cpdaddy7. The 70's are kinda fuzzy in places :-)

[Atomikguy]

Maddy brings chills to my spine....she sings so divine. She is my muse.

[soaringvulture]

The best band of the last thousand years

[atfatw]

@soaringvulture

not anymore they just suck. those now untalented musical ghouls should be forced to retire like that dippy english queen.

[rosewoodflower]

Excellent!!!!

[Jimala3]

Well I discovered SES in 73. Seems I've got relatives from Cheshire via Rome now they say. I truly believe DNA has memory...why do I love all the olde English folk music?

[Pangael]

I've often thought my DNA remembers, too!

Love bagpipes, tin whistles, all those old songs and growing up in the southern United States, there's no cultural reason why I should.

My Irish grandmother would say, 'Sure, it's in the genes now, isn't it?'

[boscombefun]

your grandmother is right. ;)

[gilesderoet]

@Pangael

My nan used to say 'athair a labjraionn gaeilge, ta tu Gaeilge'- if your father (ie ancestor) speaks irish, you're Irish too.

[BillySeagull]

@Pangael Aye, it must be in the genes, for I love this music too. My grandmother, Mary Murphy, passed many years ago...but her essence carries on through me and my enjoyment of tunes such as this. RIP Ma...

[aprilonpot]

@Pangael i would agree totally !

[cavcollector]

@Pangael The southern USA has one of the largest concentrations of English, Scottish, Irish and Welch descendants in the world. There is every cultural reason that you should enjoy!

cavcollector

[motherthing]

@cavcollector Yes, there are folk songs lost in Britain that were found preserved in Appalachia during the early 20th century. Even if the people singing them did not understand all of the references.

[AledoBren]

@cavcollector Yes the Welsh do welch when it comes to buying thier round of drinks.

[Stuart2554]

This is fantastic! thank you so much for posting. I've been a fan of this band for 30 years.

[goodtogonow3]

Maddy is still wonderful For a comparison, listen the the 17 year old Mayranne Faithful and the 50 Something singing as Tears Go By

[snifferenator]

Don't bag Marianne Faithfull's voice as it is now, it has a marvellous soul quality, probably cost her a lot of money to achieve it over the years. As for Maddy, awesome for 40 years, I saw them in Brisbane, Australia recently, brilliant.

[NapalmTheElf]

wots all this saying Maddys voice isnt any good...heres a tip...take ur head out of your arse and you'll be able to hear better!

[nettie0004]

what spiteful and unkind things some people have written about maddy. She is a wonderful singer and performer and a lovely person . She has inner beauty , there is nothing wrong with the way she looks either !

[OffLimitsRockFolk]

Maddy's Voice is still great. Sure everyone of us is growing older, but she and the band is real legend.

[ESaetre]

Fantastic! Maddys voice is magic.

[BubCar2]

Maddy's singing here is even better than in the original Steeleye Span recording. Lovely stuff, apart from the "makings of a young cuckoo" sexist bit that could easily be discarded in the interests of sexual equality etc. Folk music is supposed to evolve - this doesn't just mean adding drums and bass.

Now for the LGBt version :)

[buttonpuncher]

Your remarks about the "Cukoo's Nest" segment of this viddy may be the stupidest thing I've ever heard come from an allegedly adult human being. The idea is to preserve old folks songs, and that does NOT mean filtering them through today's sensibilities. The song is a couple of hundred years old. I hope you'll get some sense of what history is, and how important it is to preserve it -- including the music.

[DaMuttzNutz]

@BubCar2 The trouble with evolving a traditional song is that eventually, the song becomes lost. Steeleye are in the business of keeping those ancient folk songs alive. Electrify them by all means, but don't lose the essence of the song.

I worry that traditional Folk will become marginalised now that there are so few young bands around to take up the mantle from bands like Steeleye and The Fairports.

[BubCar2]

@DaMuttzNutz "Steeleye are in the business of keeping those ancient folk songs alive" This wasn't true in regard to the Steeleye of the 1970s. The folksy pop they produced was far removed from traditional folk music. In fact after their first couple albums, they wrote most of their songs themselves, just loosely based on folkloric material. I suppose my point is, if little else about the music is traditional, why retain the (unfortunate) traditional sexist attitudes of the past?

[DaMuttzNutz]

@BubCar2 Might as well rewrite Shakespeare while we're at it, and bring all his into the arena of political correctness.

[BubCar2]

@DaMuttzNutz *shrug* If you're happy with folk songs merely being museum pieces preserving social attitudes of the past, then fine. But if you want people to warm to such songs as relevant music for today, then it would be a good idea to leave out the sexist crud.

[DaMuttzNutz]

@BubCar2 Relevant music for today? What's that then; the pap Simon Cowell feels he can feed us?

[atfatw]

they certianly are no where near as good as they were in the sixties R-e-t-i-r-e-m-e-n-t maddy retirement

[qvide]

you clearly hate maddy prior (which shows your lack of discernernemt) so why do you spend your time watching all the video clips of her? go back to the sports bar where you belong

[atfatw]

quite, maddy really sucks she lost all her talent along with her beauty years ago. there should only by still photos 2. and song on these videos that way we can

all enjoy the music and not see maddy, the music being the good old stuff. maddy of course will still get her precious lovely money she is as greedy as a wall street broker with the morals of a tory!

[bonniedrasco]

Tears in my eyes. Wat een nummer.

[rosewoodflower]

stunning performance!! thanks.

[smokindog]

The Best of English folk rock! I had the "We are six" Lp that was produced by David Bowie back in the day :-)

[cpdaddy7]

@smokindog It was Ian Anderson. Bowie played sax on one track.

[themountainviewguy]

The beautiful vocal just make this song! Go Maddy!

[lichtbroeder]

"Myth? its a subtle, saucy song about sex! "

Of course it is. Didn't suggest otherwise. The imagery though - three women (triple goddess) meeting a man in woods (god) who drink down the moon - and procreate, making new life - is imagery that's certainly grounded in old mythology. Or have it your way. It's a sex song. Good in either case! :)

[nettie0004]

This is the first Steeleye song I fell in love with back in 1974- it's dripping with atmosphere and it sounds even better toaday because Maddys voice is even stronger.

[shoeboy190]

Fantastic

[lichtbroeder]

This folk song is rife with wonderful pre-christian myth connotations.  Wonderful song!

[DangWurtzel]

Myth? its a subtle, saucy song about sex!

[fuzzy10337]

Not even all that subtle really...

[chuckler1]

Wonderful as always

[alastairI]

Thanks for posting...saw them in their haeyday in Glasgow Apollo about 1974...still one of my fave concerts!

[impcirca1988]

Wow! I'm jealous.