''Back in Line'' is the twelfth 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. The album was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It is their first album without founding member

Tim Hart Tim Hart (9 January 1948 – 24 December 2009) was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Early years Tim Hart was born in Lincoln, England, but moved to St ...

, who quit the music business entirely. It is also the last album they recorded with

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 ...

's husband,

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 promi ...

, until ''

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 ...

''; Kemp suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to stop playing for a long time. Like the previous album, ''

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 ...

'', this album was not well received by fans, and reviews tend to see the album as being slickly packaged but erratic in quality. Jon Herman of the ''Boston Phoenix'' wrote that both the album and the band's 20 June 1987 performance at the Berklee Performance Center "confirmed their status as a has-been quintet still stabbing at artiness." A single was released from this album - "Somewhere in London/ Lanercost". This suggests that "Somewhere in London" was recorded on the same sessions as the album. When Park Records re-released the album in 1991, this lost track appeared at the end, together with two live tracks - "Spotted Cow" (the first track on '’ Below the Salt'’) and "One Misty Moisty Morning" (the first track on '' Parcel of Rogues)''. The album's highlights include the energetic funk version of "Blackleg Miner", a similarly funky "White Man", which features as complicated a vocal arrangement as Steeleye has ever offered, and "Isabel", a strong piece sung by Prior, about the Countess of Buchan who helped crown

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

. In general, the pieces have a strong rock feel.

Song Highlights

Like ''Sails of Silver'', ''Back in Line'' contains many songs written by the band. All of the songs on the album are placed in an historical context. "Isabel", "Lanercost" and "Take My Heart" all deal with the Scottish Wars of Independence and Robert the Bruce. "White Man" is a critique of European colonialism, and "Peace on the Border" concern the 18th century rebellions and deportations. "Scarecrow" was about the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, a Royalist victory during the English Civil War.

Isabel

The band claims "Isabel" is about Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, whom they allege was a paramour of

. She did crown him King of Scotland in 1306. After he was defeated at the Battle of Methven in June 1306, she was captured by the English and imprisoned in an outdoor cage at

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...

for four years. The song is a fictionalized first person perspective of her time on public display.

Lady Diamond

" Lady Diamond" is a version of a Child ballad 269, a version of which also appeared on

The Tannahill Weavers The Tannahill Weavers are a band which performs traditional Scottish music. Releasing their first album in 1976, they became notable for being one of the first popular bands to incorporate the sound of the Great Highland Bagpipe in an ensemble ...

' album ''Passage'' (1984). Nigel Pegrum and Rick Kemp helped produce several of the Tannahill's albums.

A Canon by Telemann

This selection enables Peter Knight to show off his classical training by performing both violin parts. A

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

is essentially a melody played by two or more instruments in a

follow-the-leader In a marching band A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, ...

or looping technique.

Blackleg Miner

Blackleg Miner "Blackleg Miner" is a 19th-century English folk song, originally from Northumberland (as can be deduced from the dialect in the song and the references in it to the villages of Seghill and Seaton Delaval). Its Roud number is 3193. The song is o ...

" is a Northumbrian song from the 1844 miners' strike, which the band first recorded for ''

Hark! The Village Wait ''Hark! The Village Wait'' is the debut album by the British folk rock band Steeleye Span, first released in 1970. It is the only album to feature the original lineup of the band as they broke up and reformed with an altered membership immediat ...

'' (1970). This version is re-orchestrated with a much funkier feel than their first recording, and also puts greater stress on the line that threatens death against blacklegs. Their 1970 version had become an anthem for the striking miners during the strike of 1984-5, but it has also been controversial for inciting violence against strikebreakers. It was recorded directly to audio cassette at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in November 1985, with the strike having ended in March of that year.

Lanercost

Lanercost refers to a north

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

n village and

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

of the same name from which

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

attempted to subdue the Scotts. Each of the four verses begins by describing the actions of the canons (priests) at the priory - fishing; praying; working in the

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

and finally carrying the King's coffin. The rest of each verse then discusses Edward and his actions - lying in bed "cursing fate" (as he is too ill to fight); delighting at his capture and execution of the Bruce's brothers; leaving to ride north and then dying before his work can be finished. The chorus is centered around a repetition of 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 f ...

, presumably suggesting that this would have been sung by the canons themselves.

Take My Heart

The band asserts, "Before Robert the Bruce died, he asked his close friend and comrade

Sir James Douglas James Douglas may refer to: Scottish noblemen Lords of Angus * James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus (1426–1446), Scottish nobleman * James Douglas, Earl of Angus (1671–1692), son of the 2nd Marquess of Douglas Lords of Douglas * James Douglas, ...

to take his heart to be buried next to the Sepulchre in the Holy Land."

Track listing

Personnel

;Steeleye Span * Bob Johnson – vocals, guitar *

– vocals, bass guitar * Peter Knight – vocals,

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 regu ...

, piano *

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 ...

– drums *

– vocals Guest musician *Vince Cross – DX7

References

{{Authority control Steeleye Span albums 1986 albums Shanachie Records albums