''Bedlam Born'' is the 16th studio album by
British folk rock
British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...
band
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...
. It is the second of two albums made by a line-up consisting of
Gay Woods
Gay Woods (18 September 1948) is an Irish singer. She was one of the original members of Steeleye Span.
Early years
Gabriel Corcoran was born in Dublin, a neighbour of her future husband Terry Woods. Her elder brothers shared Woods' love of ...
,
Bob Johnson,
Peter Knight and
Tim Harries
Tim Harries (born 1959) is a British bass player, who has played with various folk rock and jazz bands in his career.
Biography
Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study double bass with Tom ...
, and only the second album on which
Maddy Prior
Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...
did not make an appearance. The title refers not to a
bedlam, but to Christ's birth in Bethlehem (which is occasionally corrupted to 'Bedlam'). "There is a child in Bedlam born" is a line from "Stephen".
Tracks and reception
Their previous album, ''
Horkstow Grange
''Horkstow Grange'' is an album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Released in 1998, it is the band's 15th album, and the first album the band recorded without founding member Maddy Prior. Gay Woods provides most of the lead vocals, al ...
'' was not well received by fans, many of whom complained that the album was too light on rock and too heavy on folk. For ''Bedlam Born'' the band emphasized the rock elements, producing tracks such as "Well Done Liar", "John of Ditchford", and "We Poor Laboring Men" that have a strong rock guitar line, driving bass, and comparatively heavy drumming, provided by the band's regular guest drummer Dave Mattacks. While Woods was the primary lead singer on ''Horkstow Grange'', on this album she sings lead on only five songs, mostly quieter pieces that allowed her to demonstrate her high range. Two of these pieces, "Arbour" and "The White Cliffs of Dover" experiment with spoken-word sequences, something entirely new for the band. ("John of Ditchford", incidentally, is a fairly accurate retelling of an actual murder case that occurred in England in the early 14th century.)
According to Woods, two tracks, "I See His Blood Upon the Rose" and "Stephen", attracted considerable complaint from fans. Both pieces are explicitly Christian, with "Stephen" being about a stable boy in Bethlehem at the time of the
Massacre of the Innocents. Fans objected that the band had always stuck to secular music and felt uncomfortable about the religious sentiments of these two tracks. This complaint is to some extent unjustified since, although the majority of the band's repertoire is secular, the band has in fact performed a number of explicitly Christian pieces over the course of its history. Its second-highest charting song, "
Gaudete
''Gaudete'' ( or , ; "rejoice ye.html"_;"title="wikt:ye.html"_;"title="/nowiki>wikt:ye">ye">wikt:ye.html"_;"title="/nowiki>wikt:ye">ye/nowiki>"_in_Latin.html" ;"title="wikt:ye">ye.html" ;"title="wikt:ye.html" ;"title="/nowiki>wikt:ye">y ...
" is a Latin chant celebrating Christ's birth. "Harvest Home", off ''
Sails of Silver
''Sails of Silver'' is the eleventh studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. It was released in 1980 by Chrysalis Records. The album was produced two years after the band's ostensible break-up. At the request of Chrysalis Records Pe ...
'' is a 19th-century Anglican hymn. Although Steeleye Span didn't get around to recording "
Lyke-Wake Dirge
The "Lyke-Wake Dirge" is a traditional English folk song and dirge listed as number 8194 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song tells of the soul's travel, and the hazards it faces, on its way from earth to purgatory. Though it is from the Chri ...
" until 2002, this medieval song about
purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
was the introduction of their first American tour, while "
Lanercost
Lanercost is a village in the northern part of Cumbria, England. The settlement is in the civil parish of Burtholme, in the City of Carlisle local government district. Lanercost is known for the presence of Lanercost Priory and its proximit ...
" from ''
Back in Line
''Back in Line'' is the twelfth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It is their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business ent ...
'' uses the
Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ).
In the Bible
The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives fro ...
as its chorus. In 2004, the band would release ''
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...
'', an album of Christmas songs, about half of which were traditional Christian pieces.
Like the previous album, reactions to ''Bedlam'' were mixed. Many complained that the album was too rock-heavy, while others lamented Prior's continued absence. On the other hand, some celebrated the album as a return to the sound the band had during the mid-1970s.
Aftermath
The recording of this album was reportedly tumultuous, with Woods eventually quitting the band again, reportedly over money issues, and Harries also departing after the release of the album. Johnson, who had been the band's main guitarist for most of the band's history, chose to retire because of health trouble. This left a need for a lead guitarist for the band's tour, and
Rick Kemp
Frederick Stanley 'Rick' Kemp (born 15 November 1941) is an English bass player, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Projects
In the 1960s, he shot to prom ...
, who had been a member in the band's commercially successful middle period, returned and eventually rejoined the band on a full-time basis. During the tour, Kemp and Harries alternated playing lead guitar and bass.
Track listing
#"Well Done Liar!" (Traditional;
arranged by Bob Johnson) – 4.35
#"Who Told the Butcher?" (
Peter Knight) – 2.58
#"John of Ditchford" (
Tim Harries
Tim Harries (born 1959) is a British bass player, who has played with various folk rock and jazz bands in his career.
Biography
Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study double bass with Tom ...
) – 3.43
#"I See His Blood Upon the Rose" (Joseph Plunkett,
Gay Woods
Gay Woods (18 September 1948) is an Irish singer. She was one of the original members of Steeleye Span.
Early years
Gabriel Corcoran was born in Dublin, a neighbour of her future husband Terry Woods. Her elder brothers shared Woods' love of ...
, Harries) – 4.58
#"Black Swan" (Harries) – 1.50
#"The Beggar" (Traditional; arranged by Bob Johnson) – 3.00
#"Poor old Soldier" (Knight) – 2.20
#"Arbour" (Harries, Woods) – 1.26
#"There was a Wealthy Merchant" (Traditional; arranged by Harries) – 4.58
#"Beyond the Dreaming Place" (Knight, Woods) – 3.04
#"We Poor Labouring Men" (Traditional; arranged by Steeleye Span) – 5.05
#"The Connemara Cradle Song" (Traditional, Delia Murphy) – 5.38
#"Stephen" (Harries) – 4.25
#"The White Cliffs of Dover" (Burton, Kent; arranged by Woods) – 3.06
Personnel
;Steeleye Span
*
Gay Woods
Gay Woods (18 September 1948) is an Irish singer. She was one of the original members of Steeleye Span.
Early years
Gabriel Corcoran was born in Dublin, a neighbour of her future husband Terry Woods. Her elder brothers shared Woods' love of ...
- vocals,
bodhrán
The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...
*
Bob Johnson - vocals, electric guitar,
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
*
Peter Knight - vocals, keyboards,
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
*
Tim Harries
Tim Harries (born 1959) is a British bass player, who has played with various folk rock and jazz bands in his career.
Biography
Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study double bass with Tom ...
- bass guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, vocals
; Unofficial member
*
Dave Mattacks
David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he i ...
- drums, percussion
{{Authority control
Steeleye Span albums
2000 albums