The King of Elfland's Daughter is a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 by former 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"....

 members 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. It was based on the 1924 fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 novel of the same name

The King of Elfland's Daughter

The King of Elfland's Daughter is a 1924 fantasy novel written by Lord Dunsany. Written before the genre was named, it is considered to be among the pioneering works of modern fantasy. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the second volume of the...

 by Lord Dunsany and recorded and released in 1977. The cover illustration is by Jimmy Cauty

Jimmy Cauty

James Francis Cauty is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool, England, in 1956...

.

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. This cast included:

• Christopher Lee
  Christopher Lee
  Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
  
   as The King of Elfland and the narrator;
• Mary Hopkin
  Mary Hopkin
  Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....
  
   as Lirazel;
• Frankie Miller
  Frankie Miller
  Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...
  
   as Alveric;
• Alexis Korner
  Alexis Korner
  Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
  
   as A Troll;
• P.P. Arnold as The Witch;
• Derek Brimstone and Chris Farlowe
  Chris Farlowe
  Chris Farlowe is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time", which rose to #1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, and his association with Colosseum and the Thunderbirds.Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.-Career:Inspired by Lonnie...
  
  as Villagers of Erl.

The cast provided all the vocals for the album; neither Johnson nor Knight contributed any vocals.