Steeleye Span

Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band formed in 1969. Still 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". They had three Top 40 albums; they achieved a certified gold record with sales of "All Around My Hat".

Throughout their history, Steeleye Span have seen many personnel changes but have maintained a strong continuity of tradition. Their typical album is a collection of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of jigs and/or reels added; the traditional songs often include some of the Child ballads. In their later albums there has been an increased tendency to include music written by the band members, but they have never got completely away from traditional music, which draws upon pan-British traditions. (Read more at Wikipedia)

Links to Peel
Before the formation of Steeleye Span, some members of the band had already done sessions for Peel's shows. Ashley Hutchings had appeared on all of the Fairport Convention sessions up to his decision to leave the band in late 1969, while Tim Hart and Maddy Prior recorded a Night Ride session, which was broadcast on the show of New Year's Day 1969.

Steeleye Span did ten sessions and a number of concerts between 1970 and 1974. Peel clearly liked the first three line-ups of the band, and got to know them well enough to (together with his producer John Walters) play a pub darts match against them - he related that he and Walters were "comprehensively beaten" [ref]. Yet as Steeleye's commercial success grew, he paid less attention to them. This may have been because he shared the generally more critical view of their later albums, or it might have been due to the fact that their manager Jo Lustig, who had also managed Peel favourites Pentangle and The Chieftains, was highly effective in bringing them to the attention of a wider audience through frequent TV and radio appearances. Peel was more enthusiastic about the LP "Silly Sisters", on which Maddy Prior duetted with June Tabor, who was to become another of Peel's folk favourites; they did a single Peel session in 1975.

After their commercial peak in the 1970s, Steeleye Span faded from public view and from Peel's playlists, but in 1996 they supported Status Quo on tour; Quo had issued a single of Steeleye's hit "All Around My Hat" and Maddy Prior joined them onstage when they performed it live as an encore.

Sessions

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1. Recorded: YYYY-MM-DD. First broadcast: DD Month YYYY. Repeated: DD Month YYY 2. Recorded: YYYY-MM-DD. First broadcast: DD Month YYYY. Repeated: DD Month YYY etc
 * Song title / Song Title / Song Title / Song Title
 * Song title / Song Title / Song Title / Song Title

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Other Shows Played
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 * DD Month YYYY: Song (single/album) Label