Storm Force Ten
Encyclopedia
Storm Force Ten is an album by the electric folk
band Steeleye Span
, the band's 10th effort, released in 1977.
The album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After Rocket Cottage
, Bob Johnson
and Peter Knight left the band. As there was still a contractual obligation, they invited Martin Carthy
back again. Back in 1971 when Martin Carthy had joined he had recommended John Kirkpatrick but they decided on fiddler Peter Knight instead. This time they accepted his recommendation and Kirkpatrick's fiery accordion playing replaced Knight's fiddle.
John Tobler
writes on the 1996 reissue of Storm Force Ten:
In 1974, Ian Anderson
of Jethro Tull
had been the producer of Steeleye Span's Now We Are Six
. In February 1977, Tull had released Songs from the Wood
, their most folky album to date. Just as Tull were starting to record a cappella sections in songs ("Ring Out, Solstice Bells"), Steeleye were recordings spiky guitar riffs (Sligo Maid), bringing the two bands closer than ever. Storm Force Ten reversed that trend.
The title may refer to the fact that Storm Force Ten is their tenth album or it may be a reference to tensions the band was experiencing after producing 10 albums in just 7 years and performing almost continuously during that period. Mike Batt
pressured the band to record Rocket Cottage in only one week. The band nominally broke up after the album was released. Shortly after the album was released vocalist Maddy Prior
released her first solo album.
The band had occasionally sang quite long songs - "Long Lankin" on "Commoner's Crown", "The Victory" here, and "Montrose" (over 15 minutes) on their next (live) album. Arguably "The Victory" is the best of their long tracks because of the masterful variations in tempo, instrumentation and choice of voices. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of two Brecht
songs. Martin Carthy had sung "Wife of the Soldier" on Byker Hill
, using Brecht's words, but the music of Johnny Scott instead of the original music by Kurt Weill
. The same arrangement is used here. PJ Harvey
later recorded it, as did the Oysterband
and Marianne Faithfull
. "Pirate Jenny
" (The Black Freighter) had been recorded by Judy Collins
in the 60's and it was later to be sung by Barbara Dickson
. Maddy gives these two Brecht songs an appropriate flavour of cynicism. According to Hugh Fielder in the pop paper Sounds in 1977, there is an uncredited musician here - Mike Batt playing synthesizer.
The album is unusual in that it is the only Steeleye album that does not use a fiddle
at all. Instead John Kirkpatrick plays accordion
, giving the whole album a very distinct sound from the rest of the band's output. No other Steeleye studio album features an accordion, although Hark! The Village Wait
features a concertina
on several songs.
The album cover is by the English commercial artist, Adrian Chesterman who was also responsible for creating album art for, amongst others, Motörhead for their 1979 'Bomber
' album and Chris Rea
for his 1989 'Road To Hell' album.
(May 2007, p. 135): "It was Steeleye Span who carried the British folk rock banner into the '70s, with Martin Carthy's guitar (plus honking accordions and the clear, high voice of Maddy Prior, the band's one constant through endless line-up changes) ringing out on this overlooked album. A shame they should make their most daring music just as punk torched the landscape."
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
band Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
, the band's 10th effort, released in 1977.
The album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After Rocket Cottage
Rocket Cottage
Rocket Cottage is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.This was the band's 9th album, and the 2nd produced by Mike Batt. The album was poised to cement the band's success, building off their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album, All Around My Hat . Unfortunately,...
, Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson (musician)
Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
and Peter Knight left the band. As there was still a contractual obligation, they invited Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
back again. Back in 1971 when Martin Carthy had joined he had recommended John Kirkpatrick but they decided on fiddler Peter Knight instead. This time they accepted his recommendation and Kirkpatrick's fiery accordion playing replaced Knight's fiddle.
John Tobler
John Tobler
John Hugen Tobler is a British rock music journalist, writer, occasional broadcaster, and record company executive.With Pete Frame, he was one of the founders of ZigZag magazine in April 1969...
writes on the 1996 reissue of Storm Force Ten:
- Steeleye's ninth original LP, Rocket Cottage was released in late 1976, and appeared only weeks before 'Anarchy in the UK', the debut single by The Sex Pistols, which may have contributed to the less than spectacular chart showing of the Steeleye LP. It was again produced by Mike Batt, but when the follow up to a Top 10 album fails to reach the Top 40, something is amiss.
In 1974, Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson (musician)
Ian Scott Anderson, MBE is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the leader and flautist of British rock band Jethro Tull.-Early life:...
of Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
had been the producer of Steeleye Span's Now We Are Six
Now We Are Six (album)
Now We Are Six is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. Its title refers to both its sequence among their albums, and the band's size, in light of the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum...
. In February 1977, Tull had released Songs from the Wood
Songs from the Wood
Songs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by Jethro Tull and is considered to be the first of a trio of folk rock albums despite the fact that folk music elements are present in the work of Jethro Tull both before and after this trilogy...
, their most folky album to date. Just as Tull were starting to record a cappella sections in songs ("Ring Out, Solstice Bells"), Steeleye were recordings spiky guitar riffs (Sligo Maid), bringing the two bands closer than ever. Storm Force Ten reversed that trend.
The title may refer to the fact that Storm Force Ten is their tenth album or it may be a reference to tensions the band was experiencing after producing 10 albums in just 7 years and performing almost continuously during that period. Mike Batt
Mike Batt
Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
pressured the band to record Rocket Cottage in only one week. The band nominally broke up after the album was released. Shortly after the album was released vocalist Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
released her first solo album.
The band had occasionally sang quite long songs - "Long Lankin" on "Commoner's Crown", "The Victory" here, and "Montrose" (over 15 minutes) on their next (live) album. Arguably "The Victory" is the best of their long tracks because of the masterful variations in tempo, instrumentation and choice of voices. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of two Brecht
Brecht
Brecht is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Brecht proper, Sint-Job-in't-Goor and Sint-Lenaarts. On January 1, 2006 Brecht had a total population of 26,464...
songs. Martin Carthy had sung "Wife of the Soldier" on Byker Hill
Byker Hill
Byker Hill is a traditional English folk song about coal miners that has been performed by many contemporary acts. There are at least two different tunes to which the song is sung....
, using Brecht's words, but the music of Johnny Scott instead of the original music by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
. The same arrangement is used here. PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
later recorded it, as did the Oysterband
Oysterband
Oysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.-Early history:...
and Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
. "Pirate Jenny
Pirate Jenny
"Pirate Jenny" is a well-known song from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. The English lyrics are by Marc Blitzstein...
" (The Black Freighter) had been recorded by Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
in the 60's and it was later to be sung by Barbara Dickson
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" and "January February"...
. Maddy gives these two Brecht songs an appropriate flavour of cynicism. According to Hugh Fielder in the pop paper Sounds in 1977, there is an uncredited musician here - Mike Batt playing synthesizer.
The album is unusual in that it is the only Steeleye album that does not use a fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
at all. Instead John Kirkpatrick plays accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, giving the whole album a very distinct sound from the rest of the band's output. No other Steeleye studio album features an accordion, although Hark! The Village Wait
Hark! The Village Wait
Hark! The Village Wait was the 1970 debut album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span. The album is the only one to feature the original lineup of the band, as they broke up and reformed with a slightly altered membership immediately after its release, without having ever performed live...
features a concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
on several songs.
The album cover is by the English commercial artist, Adrian Chesterman who was also responsible for creating album art for, amongst others, Motörhead for their 1979 'Bomber
Bomber (album)
Bomber is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Motörhead. It was recorded in 1979, the same year as Overkill. The album reached number 12 on the UK charts and brought some of Motörhead's most popular songs, like "Bomber", "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Stone Dead...
' album and Chris Rea
Chris Rea
Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
for his 1989 'Road To Hell' album.
Reception
QQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
(May 2007, p. 135): "It was Steeleye Span who carried the British folk rock banner into the '70s, with Martin Carthy's guitar (plus honking accordions and the clear, high voice of Maddy Prior, the band's one constant through endless line-up changes) ringing out on this overlooked album. A shame they should make their most daring music just as punk torched the landscape."
Personnel
- Maddy PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
(vocals) - Tim HartTim HartTim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
(vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Martin CarthyMartin CarthyMartin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
(vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) - Rick KempRick KempRick Kemp is an English bass player, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the pioneering electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Projects:...
(bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals) - John Kirkpatrick (vocals, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
) - Nigel PegrumNigel PegrumNigel Pegrum was a drummer with The Small Faces and Steeleye Span before becoming a producer.- Biography :Nigel Pegrum played drums with an early line-up of The Small Faces, then played drums with Lee Grant And The Capitols before joining Spice, who subsequently changed their name to Uriah Heep...
(drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s)
Track listing
- Awake, Awake (Traditional]) – 5:07
- A love song derived from the Song of SolomonSong of SolomonThe Song of Songs of Solomon, commonly referred to as Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible—one of the megillot —found in the last section of the Tanakh, known as the Ketuvim...
.
- A love song derived from the Song of Solomon
- Sweep, Chimney Sweep (Traditional) – 4:44
- This is from the Copper familyCopper FamilyThe Copper Family are a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied English folk song. Originally from Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England, the nucleus of the family now live in the neighbouring village of Peacehaven.-History:...
, here sung a capella.
- This is from the Copper family
- The Wife of The Soldier (BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, Scott) – 2:40- An anti-war song, a sentiment also on "Fighting For Strangers" on the previous album.
- The Victory (Traditional) – 8:37
- First published by John Ashton ("Modern Street Ballads") in 1888. According to Roy Palmer this is a re-writing of a ballad about General WolfeJames WolfeMajor General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...
.
- First published by John Ashton ("Modern Street Ballads") in 1888. According to Roy Palmer this is a re-writing of a ballad about General Wolfe
- The Black Freighter (BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
) – 5:59- A barmaid in "The Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
" has a fantasy about cutting rich men down to size.
- A barmaid in "The Threepenny Opera
- Some Rival (Traditional) – 3:23
- This beautiful love song is possibly as old as 1656. Maddy sings it with a gentle acoustic guitar accompaniment. It is also known as "Some Tyrant" and "A Rival Heart" (Roud 587).
- Treadmill Song (Traditional) – 6:11
- Treadmills were used in English prisons from 1779 to 1902. This was first written down in 1906 in Somerset. also known at "The Gaol Song" or "Durham Gaol" (Roud 1077)
- Seventeen Come SundaySeventeen Come Sunday"Seventeen Come Sunday" is an English folk song which was used in the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite and a choral version by Percy Grainger . The words were first published between 1838 and 1845 .-Lyrics:...
(Traditional) – 5:09- An early version of this song is by Robert BurnsRobert BurnsRobert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
(1792). A tale of very young love. (Roud 277)
- An early version of this song is by Robert Burns