Tim Hart (9 January 1948 – 24 December 2009) was an English

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of

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 ...

Early years

Tim Hart was born in

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, urban area of Lincoln, ...

, but moved to

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

at a relatively young age: his father, the Rev. Canon Dennis Hart, was successively

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...

then

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of St Saviour's church in Sandpit Lane, St Albans from 1955 to 1992. Hart began his life as a musician performing with the Rattfinks, St Albans School's second band, the first being

The Zombies The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...

. In 1966, he began performing with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

-born folk singer

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 ...

, touring English folk clubs. In 1968 and 1969 the duo recorded two albums: ''Folk Songs of Olde England'', Volumes One and Two.

Steeleye Span

From 1970 to 1982, Hart and

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

were the backbone of

. Hart's contribution to the band demonstrated his musical abilities on a wide range of instruments, some electric, including: acoustic guitars, dulcimer, organ, five string banjo, mandolin, bells, tabor and spoons as well as vocals. In 1971, as well as recording two albums as part of

, they recorded ''

Summer Solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...

'' – a much more professional recording than their first two albums, including a string arrangement by

Robert Kirby Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He was best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, ''Five Leaves Left'' and '' Bryter Layter'', but also worked ...

, better known for his work with

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

. Almost every song that Hart sang was traditional.

's commercial success peaked in 1975. They toured in the United States and Australia and used electric instruments more frequently. However, further hits eluded them. They announced that their 1978 tour of the United Kingdom would be their farewell, although they reformed and continue recording and performing live to this day.

Fragmentation

Hart took this opportunity to release a solo album, ''Tim Hart'', in 1979. Steeleye Span members Maddy Prior,

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 ...

, and

Nigel Pegrum Nigel John Pegrum (born 22 January 1949) is a music producer and former drummer, most known for playing on many albums by Steeleye Span. Biography Nigel Pegrum played drums with an early line-up of the Small Faces, then with Lee Grant And The ...

contributed vocals, bass, drums, and percussion. Bob Johnson and Peter Knight recorded a narrative project in 1977, ''

The King of Elfland's Daughter ''The King of Elfland's Daughter'' is a 1924 fantasy novel by Anglo-Irish writer Lord Dunsany. It is widely recognized as one of the most influential and acclaimed works in all of fantasy literature.; pp 1124 Although the novel faded into rela ...

''. Prior produced two solo albums in 1978, ''Woman in the Wings'' and ''Changing Winds'', that included her own compositions. Hart appeared on one more Steeleye Span record, ''

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 ...

'', before resigning in 1982. His last gig was at the

Theatre Royal, Norwich The Theatre Royal is an art-deco theatre in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It is one of the country's oldest established theatres. It hosts a large range of touring productions. The theatre had a £10m refurbishment in 2007, designed by Tim Foster ...

. In 1981, Hart released two albums of

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

s originally written for his own children on the Music for Pleasure label. He used most of Steeleye Span, and other musicians who had small children and could take the project seriously. In a bold move, he became a record producer for a

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

The Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist. History Original band: 1978–1985 The Monoc ...

. Their album ''Eligible Bachelors'' was a whimsical cynical view of relations between the sexes. Hart's health seriously declined, and in 1988 he emigrated to

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

, a small island in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Abandoning music altogether, he became a full-time writer and photographer, married again, built himself a house on the side of a mountain, and restored his health. As there was no guidebook to La Gomera available in English, Hart wrote, and took most of the photographs for, ''La Gomera: A Guide to the Unspoiled Canary Island'' (2004).

''The Journey''

In 1995, Hart was persuaded to return to the United Kingdom for a five-hour marathon performance. It was a concert in aid of the charity War Child, and featured almost every member of Steeleye Span. A recording of the concert, ''The Journey'' did not appear until 1999. Hart also appeared occasionally as a support act on Steeleye Span tours, opening the show with a solo set and typically joining the band on stage for the encore. For many years he did not perform outside of La Gomera. However, Hart performed with Maddy Prior as part of the BBC Electric Proms on 23 October 2008.

Illness and death

In December 2008, Hart was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, and returned to England with his wife Conny to seek continuing medical treatment. It was announced during Steeleye Span's 2009 winter tour that

Park Records Park Records is an independent British record label based in Oxford that specializes in British folk music, traditional music, and acoustic music. The company began in 1989, with singles and albums by Maddy Prior but has grown to include many ...

would be reissuing Hart's recordings of nursery rhymes to support him through his illness. He and his wife returned to their home in La Gomera in early December 2009, where he died peacefully in the early morning of 24 December 2009, aged 61. He was cremated at a private ceremony with half of his ashes being scattered over La Gomera, and the other half being returned to his family plot in

Discography

Tim Hart and Maddy Prior *''Folk Songs of Olde England Vol. 1'' (1968) *''Folk Songs of Olde England Vol. 2'' (1968) *''

'' (1971) The above three albums were reissued in 2003 as "Heydays" a double CD Tim Hart *''Tim Hart'' (1979) Chrysalis CHR 1218 Tim Hart and Friends *'' My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record'' (1981) *''The Drunken Sailor and other Kids Songs'' (1983) The above two albums were reissued twice: *As ''Favourite Childrens Songs'' – two vinyl discs held in a single sleeve EMI/MFP serial no. DL 41 1076 3 *in 2010 as ''My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record'' a double CD

Books

*''Throbs'' (1978) *''La Gomera: A Guide to the Unspoiled Canary Island'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Tim 1948 births 2009 deaths * Appalachian dulcimer players British mandolinists British expatriates in Spain Deaths from lung cancer in Spain English folk singers English folk guitarists English male guitarists English male singers People from Lincoln, England Steeleye Span members People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire British folk rock musicians 20th-century English singers 20th-century British guitarists 20th-century British male singers