''The King of Elfland's Daughter'' is a 1977

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

by former

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, ...

members Bob Johnson and Peter Knight. It was based on the 1924

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel of the same name by

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957), commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. He published more than 90 books during his lifetime, and his output consist ...

. The cover illustration is by

Jimmy Cauty James Francis Cauty (born 19 December 1956), also known as Rockman Rock, is an English artist and musician, best known as one-half of the duo the KLF, co-founder of the Orb and as the man who K Foundation Burn a Million Quid, burnt £1 million ...

Track listing

Side 1 #"The Request" (3.23) vocals - Chris Farlowe #"Lirazel" (4.11) vocals - Mary Hopkin #"Witch" (3.35) vocals - P.P. Arnold #"Alveric's Journey Through Elfland" (4.57) vocals - Frankie Miller Side 2 #"The Rune of the Elf King" (3.59) vocals - Christopher Lee #"The Coming of the Troll" (1.53) vocals - Alexis Korner #"Just Another Day of Searching" (5.09) vocals - Frankie Miller #"Too Much Magic" (3.58) vocals - Derek Brimstone #"Beyond the Fields We Know" (4.29) vocals - Mary Hopkin

Personnel

Musicians

*Bob Johnson: acoustic and electric guitars; bass guitar (#1, 3) *Peter Knight: autoharp, synthesiser, electric piano, glockenspiel, piano, violins, mandolins *

Herbie Flowers Brian Keith "Herbie" Flowers (19 May 1938 – 5 September 2024) was an English musician specialising in bass guitar, double bass and tuba. He was a member of groups including Blue Mink, T. Rex and Sky and was also a prolific session musician. ...

: bass guitar (#2–9) *

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, percussion (#1–6) *

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

: percussion (#2, 4) *

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English guitarist and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of th ...

: acoustic guitars (#9) *Kenny Clarc: drums (#7, 9) * Tony Newman: drums (#8) *Mike Bait: clarinet (#6) *The Maggins String Quartet: strings quartet (#7)

Cast

Aside from the musicians on the album, also featured was a cast of actors and musicians who played the parts of the characters in the book: *The King of Elfland and the narrator:

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

*Lirazel:

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single " Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists to be sign ...

*Alveric: Frankie Miller *The Troll:

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major i ...

*The Witch: P.P. Arnold *A villager of Erl:

Chris Farlowe Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock music, rock, blues and blue-eyed soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time (Rolling Stones song), Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Ric ...

*A Villager of Erl: Derek Brimstone *Children of Erl: Gayhurst Junior School Choir *The English Chorale : Choir * Barry St. John *Liza Strike *Vicki Brown *Bob Johnson *Lavinia Rodgers *Denise Garcia *Eleanor Keenan The cast provided all the vocals for the album. Bob Johnson is one of four backing vocalists on "Alveric's Journey Through Elfland". Peter Knight did not contribute any vocals. Orchestrated and conducted by Peter Knight, except for "The Rune of the Elf King" which was orchestrated by Paul Lewis.

References

1977 albums 1970s concept albums Music based on novels Chrysalis Records albums Adaptations of works by Lord Dunsany {{1970s-folk-album-stub