The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the most important groupings in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
The one constant in the band’s history has been the band leader Ashley Hutchings, founding member of arguably the two other pre-eminent English folk rock groupings Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span.
Initially Hutchings formed the band in April 1971 to accompany his then wife the singer Shirley Collins on her 'No Roses' album.
(Read more at Wikipedia.)
Links to Peel[]
'Gallant Poacher' - Albion Country Band -Audio-
Amid constantly shifting names and lineups, the group received substantial airplay and sessions from Peel during the 70's, although he rarely played any material from them in later decades. JP's favourite track by them was "The Gallant Poacher", featuring Martin Carthy on lead vocal, which he suggested should be issued as a single - although Island Records ignored him.
In a 1976 retrospective show on Fairport Convention and related artists, the DJ commented:
“Much credit is due to bassist Ashley Hutchings for his dedicated work on behalf of English traditional dance music, and it's to him and Royston Wood that we must be thankful for the lamentably short-lived Albion Country Band, a band which included another Fairport stalwarts in its numbers, Simon Nicol and also Martin Carthy.”[1]
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
THE ALBION COUNTRY BAND John Peel 11th April 1978
Five sessions in total, under three names. Sessions #1, #2 credited to Albion Country Band, #3, #4 to Albion Dance Band, #5 to Albion Band. Sessions #3, #4, #5 released on The BBC Sessions (Strange Fruit, CD, 1996).
1. Recorded: 1972-06-19. First broadcast: 04 July 1972. Repeated: 05 September 1972.
- New St. George/St. Anne's Reel / Rambling Sailor / Morris Dance Tune Medley: Morris On, Jockey To The Fair, Room For The Cuckoo, Princess Royal, Morris Off
2. Recorded: 1973-02-19. First broadcast: 01 March 1973. Repeated: 05 April 1973.
- I Was A Young Man / The Gallant Poacher / Medley: Mouresque, London Pride, Maid Of The Hill, So Selfish Runs The Hare, Sherrif's Ride
3. Recorded: 1976-07-22. First broadcast: 06 September 1976.
- An Estampie / Hopping Down In Kent / The Horses' Brawl / Old Sir Simon The King
4. Recorded: 1977-05-31. First broadcast: 08 June 1977, repeated 06 July 1977.
- Holm's Fancy/Cuckolds All Awry / Poor Old Horse / Postman's Knock / Bourøe
5. Recorded: 1978-04-11. First broadcast: 20 April 1978. Repeated: 09 May 1978, 30 June 1978.
- Time To Ring Some Changes / Rainbow Over The Hill / Down The Road // Albion Sunrise/Uncle Bernard's/Bacup Tune/Jenny Lind
Other Shows Played[]
Albion Country Band
- 24 November 1971 (& Shirley Collins): Claudy Banks (LP – No Roses) Pegasus
- 16 June 1972: Willow Tree / Bean Setting / Shooting (LP – Morris On) Island
- 16 December 1975: Albion Sunriese (v/a album - Electric Muse: The Story Of Folk Into Rock) Transatlantic / Island FOLK 1001
- 29 December 1975: New St. George / La Rotta (v/a album - Electric Muse: The Story Of Folk Into Rock) Transatlantic / Island FOLK 1001 (As JP mentions, a version of a Richard Thompson song from Thompson's debut solo album Henry The Human Fly. Lead singer on this version is, as Peel puts it, "the excellent Martin Carthy".)
- 20 May 1976: Morris Medley (LP - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 11 June 1976: Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island "I was great on that"
- 15 June 1976: Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 12 August 1976: Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island
- PM001 (possibly 09 May 1979): Gallant Poacher (LP - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 09 May 1979: The Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 31 August 1981: The Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 24 July 1982: The Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island (Peel's Pleasures show)
- 01 March 1983: New St. George / La Rotta (album - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 01 March 1983: The Gallant Poacher (album - Battle Of The Field) Island
- 03 September 1976: Hopping Down In Kent (7" - Hopping Down In Kent / Merry Sherwood Rangers) Harvest
Albion Dance Band
- 27 June 1977: The Postman's Knock (7") Harvest HAR 5128
Albion Band
- PM001: Poor Old Horse
- 06 March 1978: Afro Blue (LP - Rise Up Like The Sun) Harvest
- 06 March 1978: Danse Royale (LP - Rise Up Like The Sun) Harvest
- 09 March 1978: Poor Old Horse (LP - Rise Up Like The Sun) Harvest
- 30 June 1978 (Round Table): (Peel mentions he'll be in Wales tomorrow night at a rock festival and that he's got the Rezillos and the Albion Band tonight as session guests on his show.)
- 14 July 1978: Poor Old Horse (single) Harvest (Simon Bates’s forthcoming single of the week)
- 15 January 1979: Pain Or Paradise (7”) Harvest