Commoners Crown

Performer: Steeleye Span
Artist: Peter Sellers
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Steeleye Span includes: Maddy Prior (vocals); Rick Kemp (bass); Nigel Pegrum (drums). Additional personnel includes: Peter Sellers (ukulele). From the opening bars of "Little Sir Hugh" -- an extraordinarily brisk and upbeat sounding treatment of an incredibly grim song -- the band playing on Commoner's Crown scarcely sounds like the same group on Now We Are Six or Parcel of Rogues. Now a full-fledged rock group, competing with the likes of Jethro Tull and pumping out higher amperage than Fairport Convention, Steeleye engages in heavy riffing, savage attacks on their instruments, and generally kicks out the jams on this album. But they're also fairly clever, interweaving Bach with traditional Irish music -- actually, Bach-meets-the-Mooncoin-Jig from their previous record -- on "Bach Goes to Limerick." There's not a bad song here, and even if it is more rock than folk, it's all very substantial and vibrant music-making, and maybe the classic Steeleye Span's most engaging album. ~ Bruce Eder

Q (11/96, p.158) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...COMMONERS CROWN...has [Maddy] Prior in breathtaking form...while Rick Kemp (bass) and Nigel Pegrum (drums) propel in a manner than helped turn Steeleye into darlings with the rock set..."

On a par with Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span was one of the premier British folk-rock bands in the 1960s and '70s. Like Fairport, it combined traditional U.K. folk songs with a rock-influenced, occasionally electric edge. Though the group has seen numerous personnel changes throughout its long career (which continues into the 21st century), its roster has included some of the biggest names in British folk, including Martin Carthy and longtime linchpin Maddy Prior.

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