''Bloody Men'' is the 20th 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 ...
.
This album represents a continuation of the band's recent surge of activity. In 2002, the band was in a state of near collapse, since three members of its line-up at the time,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
Bob Johnson, had all departed, leaving long-time member
Peter Knight and recently returned member
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 ...
as the only remaining members. That same year, Knight persuaded former members
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 ...
and
Liam Genockey
Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Biography
Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi- ...
to return and coaxed Johnson out of retirement to record the album ''
Present--The Very Best of Steeleye Span''.
Ken Nicol came on board to replace Johnson, and the band has been relatively active since then, releasing two albums, ''
They Called Her Babylon
''They Called Her Babylon'' is an album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The title track deals with the Siege of Lathom House in 1644, during the English Civil War, during which Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby, held out for four m ...
'' and ''Winter'', in 2004, and ''Bloody Men'' late in 2006, as well as touring extensively.
During its heyday in the 1970s, Steeleye almost exclusively recorded their arrangements of traditional songs, with occasional forays into versions of 20th century songs by other artists such as Buddy Holly and Bertolt Brecht. But starting in the early 1980s, the band's albums have increasingly focused on a mixture of traditional songs and their own compositions, and 'Bloody Men' continues that trend, albeit with a new twist. The album consists of 2 CDs, the first a mixture of traditional and original pieces. The second CD is the 5-song "Ned Ludd" cycle, written mostly by Kemp, about the 19th century
Luddite
The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver s ...
movement. The band has never attempted a multi-song cycle like this before.
The album opens with the bawdy "Bonny Black Hare", on which Prior sings in a gravelly voice and Knight plays his violin rather like an electric guitar, a successful experiment that goes unrepeated on the album. Other highlights include a hard-rock cover of "Cold Haily Windy Night", which the band first offered on
Please to See the King
''Please to See the King'' is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A major personnel change following their previous effort, '' Hark! The Village Wait'', brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lac ...
, the brisk "The 3 Sisters" and the cheerful "Lord Elgin".
The notes for "Lord Elgin" say that "this song is not what it seems on the face of it," indicating that it is a riddle-song. A probable solution is at the bottom of the page. The song "Whummil Bore" is about a servant looking through a whummil bore (a hole bored with a gimlet-like tool) and watching a lady getting dressed. The instrumental "First House in Connaught" is a cover of a track from
Tempted and Tried
''Tempted and Tried'' is the 13th studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus after the release of ''Back in Line''. After releasing ten albums in fairly rapid succession during the ...
, the first time the band has ever covered one of its own instrumental pieces.
The Ned Ludd cycle begins with a song about the
enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
movement in Early Modern England, effectively a pastoral ode to pre-industrial England, and then moves on to the plight of the workers who have been displaced by industrialization. The third song is an appeal to the mythical Ned Ludd to destroy the machines and lead the workers in a rebellion. The fourth and fifth songs deal with the
Peterloo Massacre
The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...
of 1819, in which the British cavalry charged into a peaceful crowd of protesters supporting a repeal of the
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...
. Neither the Enclosure Movement nor the Corn Laws were directly related to the Luddite Movement, but in the cycle these serve to explore the wider problems of common workers.
Personnel
;Steeleye Span
*
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 ...
- vocals
*
Peter Knight - violin, vocals
*
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 ...
- bass, vocals
*
Ken Nicol - guitar, vocals
*
Liam Genockey
Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span.
Biography
Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi- ...
- drums, percussion
Track listing
Disc 1
# "Bonny Black Hare" - 4:40
# "The Story of the Scullion King" - 4:43
# "The Dreamer & the Widow" - 4:49
# "Lord Elgin" - 4:06
# "The 3 Sisters" - 4:16
# "The 1st House in Connaught" - 3:39
# "Cold Haily Windy Night" - 4:40
# "Whummil Bore" (Child ballad 27) - 4:13
# "Demon of the Well" - 5:58
# "
Lord Gregory" (Child ballad 76) - 5:41
Disc 2
# "Ned Ludd Part 1 (Inclosure)" - 2:48
# "Ned Ludd Part 2 (Rural Retreat)" - 4:11
# "Ned Ludd Part 3 (Ned Ludd)" - 3:20
# "Ned Ludd Part 4 (Prelude to Peterloo)" - 2:56
# "Ned Ludd Part 5 (Peterloo the Day)" - 2:52
{{Authority control
2006 albums
Steeleye Span albums