Tuesday 18 February 2020

Summer Solstice - TIM HART & MADDY PRIOR***

False Knight On The Road/Bring Us In Good Ale/Of All The Birds/I Live Not Where I Love/The Ploughboy & The Cockney/Westron Wynde/Sorry The Day I Was Married/Dancing At Whitsun/Fly Up My Cock/Cannily Cannily/ Adam Catches Eve/Three Drunken Maidens/Serving Girls Holiday

Summer Solstice was a further collection of mostly traditional English folk songs performed by Steeleye Span leading lights Maddy Prior & Tim Hart. In contrast to the electric sound of much of the group material this is acoustic.

“An enchanting, hypnotising, very pretty folk album based around either the acoustic guitar or a dulcimer, with the odd bit of percussion, fiddle or string session. With the odd unaccompanied vocal, the album sounds like an acoustic Steeleye Span.”

“Highlights have to be the gorgeous False Knight On The Road (totally different to Steeleye's version), the downright spooky Bring Us In Good Ale and the gorgeous I Live Not Where I Love.”

“The songs are possibly a little samey, but as it is only about thirty minutes longs it never really gets the chance to become monotonous.”

“A terrific ‘solo’ album by Hart and Prior who were with Steeleye Span at the time. They had done this sort of thing before, with the two volumes of Folk Songs, but this is a lovely album.”

Summer Solstice is delightful. All acoustic, with two engaging voices and lively traditional rhythm, and an alternate version of one of my favourite Steeleye songs, False Knight On The Road - here a gorgeous full-throated Maddy Prior solo. Most of the songs are traditional, and the one or two that are modern fit in well with the others. I'd recommend this album to anyone who likes traditional acoustic music.”

“Maddy does nearly all the singing although Tim gets some and joins Maddy on other songs. He is mainly preoccupied playing guitars, dulcimer, harmonium, psaltery and tabor. Other musicians play mandolin, string bass, percussion, bells and electric bass. Quite rightly, the dominant instrument here is Maddy's superb voice, one of the finest that has ever graced the world of folk music.”

“Unlike the rock elements (drums and electric guitars) introduced into Steeleye Span recordings, this is an unplugged affair with Hart on guitars and dulcimer. Vocal chores are split between Hart and Prior, occasionally singing duet.”

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