14 Jul 2013
Steeleye Span - Hard Times of Old England
Steeleye Span is a band that has been around since 1969. Throughout that time they have demonstrated their talent for breathing new life into traditional ballads. They are doing precisely that here at a gig in 2009. This is a veritable Hall of Fame of English folk revivalists of the past 50+ years. Giving Hard Times of Old England an upbeat rhythm and blues, Jazzy, swinging jug band treatment ... it is Steeleye Span doing what Steeleye Span does best, reinterpreting the songs of the past in novel ways that reaffirms their timelessness..so with no further ado.....Steeleye Span again.
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Ah, yes, you have to enjoy an update like this, AA. I think you posted an older "folkie" version of "Hard Times in Old Amer...uh, I mean England" and this is such a rousing anthem I wish I was there lifting a pint and singing or stamping my feet or whistling or coughing up a lung from too many a year down the mines or falling off my barstool or whatever would show appreciation to the band members! May we all live to see better times, AA! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI agree Doug but this places us in a peculiar position because we also like to conserve old songs so that is the authentic and time honoured ballads and dances, while at the same time enjoying jazzed up versions like this. Can you be a progressive traditionalist I really don't know Doug? I suppose I like folk music of our own epoch, which is something that the crowds howled Bob Dylan down for in 1966 and incidentally I defended him then, so I can claim some consistency here I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI am a folk purist myself in that I love traditional music performed in traditional ways, but I think that is different to liking the continuity of the people's music as it has evolved and was captured and packaged for sale in little bundles by global corporate entities feeding willing punters like me.