Showing posts with label Steeleye Span. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steeleye Span. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Have A Folky Christmas 2023

It won't be long before Christmas is upon us once again, so here is a fine selection of folk-inspired Christmas tunes, without a folkified carol in sight. 



Track listing

01 The Bells Of Dublin/Christmas Eve (The Chieftans 1991)
02 On A Quiet Christmas Morn (Mary Chapin Carpenter 2008)
03 Christmas For Cowboys (John Denver 1975)
04 The Coventry Carol (The Young Tradition with Shirley & Dolly Collins 1969)
05 Christmas Passing Through (The Roches 1990)
06 Gaudete (Steeleye Span 1973)
07 Song For A Winter's Night (Gordon Lightfoot 1967)
08 Upon A Winter's Night (Cara Dillon 2016) 
09 Christ Is Born On Christmas Day (John Fahey 1991)
10 River (Joni Mitchell 1971)
11 Silent Night All Day Long (John Prine 1993)
12 In Dulci Jubilo (Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band 2005)
13 Goodbye England (Covered In Snow) (Laura Marling 2009)
14 Sing We Noel (The Kingston Trio 1960)
15 Candlemas Eve (Kate Rusby 2008)
16 I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day (Burl Ives 1965)
17 Coventry Carol (Joan Baez 1966)
18 On Christmas Night All Christians Sing (The Christmas Albion Band 2003)
19 The Seven Rejoices Of Mary (Loreena McKennitt 2008)
20 Christmas Carolling (The Irish Rovers 1999)

Search 'christmas aiwe' for all my Christmas albums.

Saturday, July 15, 2023

UPDATES 2

When I went on holiday I took a number of my old posts with me, and listening to them by the pool on headphones, I noticed a few things which I'd missed when listening through my speakers. I've therefore corrected the various imperfections, and as there was only one track per album that needed to be fixed I've put them all in one folder on Mega, and Soulseekers can just take the upgraded tracks that you need from the updated folders. The full albums have also been corrected, if you want to try them for the first time. The tracks that have been upgraded are:

UB40 - The Earth Dies Screaming (1982)
The transition from the vocal part of 'My Way Of Thinking' to the dub part was not a smooth as it could have been, so that's now been fixed.

Kossoff - Tuesday Evening (1973)
Listening to this again made me realise that a couple of the edits were very noticeable, and so I've re-done the whole thing to try to make them a bit more seamless. I think one works much better, and although the other is better then it was, it's still not perfect, but is probably the best that I can do. 

Steeleye Span - Bonny Moorhen (1984)
The sound on 'Stookey' sounded a bit thin compared to the other tracks, so I've boosted the bass to bring it more in line with the rest of the album. 

Hot Chocolate - I Want To Be Free (1973)
The first track 'Love Is Life' was not the best quality, so I've sourced a new, better version.

Bryan Ferry - Alphaville (1995)
There was a brief gap around 1'41 of 'Love War', which I hadn't noticed before, so I've sourced a complete version of the song. 

George Michael - Trojan Souls (1993)
The original recording of 'You Slipped Away From Me' only had one verse and then a very long instrumental passage. I felt that the instrumental part was way too long, and there was not enough vocal, so I've repeated the verse and faded down the ending to make a more concise version which now sounds more like a finished song. 

And finally, massive thanks to Barry Ryan and Sparks fan Helmut, who has provided me with a completely remastered version of Barry Ryan's 'Give Me A Sign' album, with upgraded versions of the songs that I could only find in poor quality. Not only that, but he has also let me have a new recording of the Sparks album that they made in 1968 as Halfnelson, which is now finally available at the correct speed.  

Both of these albums have been replaced in full on Soulseek and Mega, so help yourself to the upgraded version of these two, and marvel at the difference in them. 



pj 

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Steeleye Span - Bonny Moorhen (1984)

Steeleye Span are undoubtedly one of the best folk-rock bands that the UK has ever produced, and they are still going strong nearly 50 years after their first album came out. Over that time they've recorded the odd song that hasn't made the cut for one of their albums, although not as many as you'd think considering their longevity. There were a couple of exclusive b-sides that are quite hard to find, and a few out-takes from their early albums, but as they progressed it tended to be live tracks that were tucked away for future use. This collection gathers up all of those rare songs onto one album, including their theme tune to a long-forgotten children's TV series from the late 80's, plus the b-side of their 1972 Christmas single 'Gaudete', where they delivered a lovely take on 'The Holly And The Ivy', after regaling us with some truly cringe-making Christmas greetings which I just had to remove. We also have an extended take of the classic 'Thomas The Rhymer' which only ever appeared on the vinyl edition of 'Original Masters', and a rare three verse 'Rave On' from 1972.  



Track listing

01 General Taylor (out-take from 'Ten Man Mop' sessions 1971)
02 Bonny Moorhen (out-take from the 'Parcel Of Rogues' sessions 1973)
03 Thomas The Rhymer (long version 1974)
04 The Holly & The Ivy (b-side of 'Gaudete' 1972)
05 Rave On (long version 1972)
06 Stookey (theme to late 80's children's TV show series)
07 Lanercost (b-side of 'Somewhere In London' 1985)
08 The Boar's Head Carol (single 1977)
09 I Live Not Where I Love (previously unreleased live 1982)
10 Autumn To Spring Medley (previously unreleased live 1984)
11 Rag Doll (Four Seasons cover 1972)