July 22, 2025

Love That Album Podcast Episode 187 - Steeleye Span "Commoners Crown"

2 hours 3 minutes

It’s well known that the 1960s had seen a revival of interest in the US

and the UK in folk music – most particularly in its crossover to

more contemporary styles. In the UK, traditional folk music

preservation, academia and performance had long been part of the

culture, but by the 1960s it seems there was conflict between those

who wanted to play the music “authentically” (thus ignoring that

folk songs had always evolved over the centuries), those who wanted

to play those songs in a more contemporary fashion, and (shock

horror) those who wanted to compose NEW songs in an accepted folk

style.

Welcome to episode 187 of Love That Album podcast.

While there were many groups in the UK who were a part of the folk-rock

scene starting in the 1960s, the three most famous were Fairport

Convention, Pentangle and Steeleye Span. It seems that group

memberships had something of a revolving door policy with many

leaving one to join another when musical ideologies weren’t being

met. Ashley Hutchings had become dissatisfied with the direction that

Fairport was headed, and formed Steeleye Span. Span themselves went

through several lineup and sound changes before arriving at its

accepted classic lineup for their sixth LP, Now We Are Six.

The focus of this LTA is album number 7, released in 1975, Commoner’s

Crown. I am joined once again by the co-host of the superb Only Three

Lads podcast, Brett Vargo. He is a man of many musical passions, and

one of them is the English folk scene of that 60s / 70s period. I

discovered you can’t have a proper discussion on Span (or maybe

other folk groups as well) without talking about the Child Ballads. I

need to give credit to Nate Wilcox of the wonderful Let It Roll

podcast who drew my attention to the existence of the Child Ballads

through his show. It’s a shame our recording schedules couldn’t

align for him to join us, but hopefully somewhere down the track Nate

will be back on LTA.

Brett and I discuss some Steeleye Span history, Frances Child’s

contribution to the folk and rock repertoire, murder, infidelity,

drugs and theft – all folk subject staples. The folk repertoire is

so much about story-telling, so we delve into the origins of some of

these songs, how the stories changed over the centuries to the point

of Steeleye Span recording, and the musicianship and vocal

arrangements on Commoner’s Crown…..oh and we discuss about

how Hercules Grytpype-Thynne dropped by to play some

ukelele.

My huge gratitude goes to Brett for providing his insight to this music

and time to the show. Only Three Lads is an essential podcast listen.

Every week, Brett and Uncle Gregg bring in incredible musician guests

from the golden age of alternative music to discuss not only their

own work, but to help count down a top 5 of whatever the given

subject may be. Search for Only Three Lads at your favourite podcast

app.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a

favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show

exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune

in. We don't care who listens.....

Love That Album is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at

http://pantheonpodcasts.com

You can send me feedback at [email protected] (written or mp3

voicemail) or join the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/lovethatalbum

You can download the show by searching for Love That Album on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).

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By Maurice Bursztynski

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