26-579: The Etchingham Steam Band were a folk group formed by Ashley Hutchings and Shirley Collins in England in 1974 after the Albion Country Band had disbanded in late 1973. They were named after the village of Etchingham in Sussex where Hutchings and Shirley Collins, his then wife, were living. The band's name was a reference to their acoustic nature, formed during a time of power cuts in
52-657: A child. As a teenager he became involved in the skiffle and blues movements and formed several groups, including 'Dr K's Blues Band' in 1964. He met guitarist Simon Nicol in 1966 when they both played in the 'Ethnic Shuffle Orchestra'. They rehearsed on the floor above Nicol's father's medical practice in a house called "Fairport" that lent its name to the group they formed together as Fairport Convention in 1967 with Richard Thompson , and which soon included Martin Lamble , Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews . Hutchings played on
78-550: A portrait of Sandy Denny. In the US, the album was released by A&M Records (SP-4185) with an identical track listing but featuring new cover art, and was re-titled Fairport Convention . The album was also released in Australia and New Zealand by Festival Records with the 'blackboard' front cover and an entirely different back cover to both the US and UK releases. The Discogs website gives no fewer than 54 different versions of
104-596: A replacement singer, and Sandy Denny became the obvious choice. Simon Nicol has said "it was a one horse race really... she stood out like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes". According to author Richie Unterberger Denny's "haunting, ethereal vocals gave Fairport a big boost". The album has been described by Unterberger as "a near-ideal balance between imaginative reworkings of traditional folk songs ... quality covers of contemporary folk-rock singer-songwriters, some quite obscure ... and original folk-rock material by various members". In 2008 Simon Nicol described
130-571: A result, in 1969 he left to focus on more traditional projects. Hutchings' new band Steeleye Span was formed by putting together two established folk duos Tim Hart and Maddy Prior with Terry and Gay Woods . The Woodses departed the band shortly after the release of their debut album, Hark! The Village Wait (1970) and were replaced by singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and fiddler Peter Knight . The resulting line-up toured small concert venues, and released two highly regarded albums Please to See
156-510: Is an English bassist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of three noteworthy English folk-rock bands: Fairport Convention , Steeleye Span and The Albion Band . Hutchings has overseen numerous other projects, including records and live theatre, and has collaborated on film and television projects. Hutchings was born in Southgate , London , England, but moved to Muswell Hill while still
182-578: The Albion Dance Band . Two medleys including dance tunes and harvest-home toasts , Sheep-Shearing/Buttered Peas and Mistress's Health/Lumps Of Plum Pudding/Sherborne Jig/Spaniard's Cry , were recorded in 1974 in Sound Techniques Studios, London. The studio recording of Mistress's Health/Lumps Of Plum Pudding/Sherborne Jig/Spaniard's Cry was released on Shirley Collins' 1974 compilation LP A Favourite Garland . However,
208-980: The Etchingham Steam Band from 1974 to 1976. When this dissolved without releasing a record he returned to the Albion Band in 1976, which, with many bewildering line-up changes, continued to record and tour regularly until 2002. Outside the Albion Band, Hutchings has been a frequent guest on the albums of a wide variety of folk artists. He has also continued to pursue a diversity of projects, some alone and some with groupings of more or less stability and continuity. The Morris On project has spawned several sequels across his career: Son of Morris On (1976), Grandson of Morris On (2002) and Great Grandson of Morris On (2004). There have also been several other dance projects including, with John Kirkpatrick and other artists, The Compleat Dancing Master (1974), Rattlebone & Ploughjack (1976) and Kickin' Up
234-416: The 2008 re-issue of the album Pitchfork.com said: "The album mixes new interpretations of traditional ballads like ' Nottamun Town ,' here rendered almost as a raga , with much newer songs, such as their soulful take on Dylan's 'I'll Keep It With Mine' and their ponderous version of Mitchell's 'Eastern Rain.' The best material on Holidays , though, may be their own—the stomping blues-rock of 'Mr. Lacey,'
260-660: The Ashley Hutchings Big Beat Combo, which resulted in the album Twangin' and a Traddin' (1994). He also returned to his interest in dance, in addition to continuing the Morris on project, he formed the Ashley Hutchings Dance Band to produce A Batter Pudding for John Keats (1996). Other projects include with Malcolm Rowe, the truly eclectic Folk Your Way to Fitness (1997), Street Cries (2001), and Human Nature (2003). After
286-606: The British folksinger Shirley Collins in 1971 but divorced around 1978, after he ruined her singing voice through incessant infidelity. He and Judy Dunlop have a son, Blair Dunlop , born on 11 February 1992. What We Did on Our Holidays What We Did on Our Holidays (released as Fairport Convention in the United States) is the second studio album by the English folk rock band Fairport Convention , and
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#1732780186285312-640: The Christmas season with the Albion Christmas Band and is plans future projects with ex-Albion Band member Ken Nicol . His career has been celebrated with the release of archive series, The Guv'nor and Burning Bright (2005) a boxed set of four CDs, which contain many rare and previously unreleased recordings. In 2006 Hutchings received the prestigious Good Tradition trophy at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in recognition of his contributions to
338-520: The King (March 1971) and Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again (December 1971), both featuring traditional folk songs and dance tunes with innovative electric arrangements. The bringing in of manager Jo Lustig who pushed for a more commercial sound was probably what prompted the more traditionally minded Carthy and Hutchings to leave the band, which continued with changes of line-up and achieved considerable mainstream success. By this point
364-756: The Sawdust (1977). In 1984, Hutchings wrote and toured with a one-man show about folk song collector Cecil Sharp , which resulted in the album An Hour with Cecil Sharp and Ashley Hutchings , (1986). From this point he often combined writing and narration with his music, as in By Gloucester Docks I Sat Down and Wept: A Love Story (1987), which was produced as a live show and album in 1990. He produced an album of spoken-word material as A Word in Your Ear (1991) another themed album combining music and narration with Judy Dunlop, as Sway with Me (1991). In
390-531: The album as his favourite, and it was voted number 281 in Colin Larkin 's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). The cover features a sketch of the band performing, drawn on a blackboard by Martin Lamble and Sandy Denny in a classroom at the University of Essex and the reverse of the original sleeve shows a photograph of the band performing. The Island Masters 1990 re-release IMCD 97 also features
416-507: The album. In a contemporary review for The Village Voice , American critic Robert Christgau deemed Fairport Convention the "most interesting unknown group" he had listened to in some time, highlighting their take on " Pentangle -style ballads" and Bob Dylan 's " I'll Keep It with Mine ". Neal Casal , of Ryan Adams & the Cardinals , later listed What We Did on Our Holidays as one of his favourite albums of all time. Reviewing
442-540: The band never released a complete album during its existence. Various recordings, mostly audience recording of live concerts, were compiled and released on CD in 1995 by Fledg'ling Records ; this CD also includes the studio recording of Sheep-Shearing/Buttered Peas . This article on a United Kingdom band or other musical ensemble is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings (born 26 January 1945), MBE , sometimes known in early years as "Tyger" Hutchings,
468-425: The band's first four albums. The first three, Fairport Convention (1968), What We Did on Our Holidays (1969) and Unhalfbricking (1969), largely consisted of American singer/songwriter material and original songs in a similar style. Hutchings' restrained but powerful bass style is one of the characteristics of the band in this period. The focus of the band changed with the introduction of Dave Swarbrick into
494-456: The ever active Hutchings already had other projects underway. He had gathered together the first incarnation of what has been the major outlet for his work, the Albion Country Band , to provide backing for his then wife Shirley Collins on her solo collection, No Roses (1971). Some of these personnel co-operated with him for the album Morris On (1972), an affectionate electric tribute to Morris Dancing and others joined him in his next project
520-475: The first of three released in 1969. It was their first album to feature singer-songwriter Sandy Denny . The album also showed a move towards the folk rock for which the band became noted, including tracks later to become perennial favourites such as "Fotheringay" and the song traditionally used to close live concerts, " Meet on the Ledge ". Following the departure of Judy Dyble , the band conducted auditions for
546-655: The genre and in 2007 he shared the special award for 'Most influential Folk Album of all time' for Liege and Lief . On 12 December 2013 Hutchings was presented with the Gold Badge Award of the English Folk Dance and Song Society at an Albion Christmas Band concert held at Kings Place , London . He was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2015, for services to folk music. Hutchings married
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#1732780186285572-758: The instrumental dance tune Portsmouth on this album. The complete five-piece lineup of the Etchingham Steam Band toured Europe in 1974 and 1975, including gigs at Lewes Folk Festival, Norwich Folk Festival, the Swiss Lenzburg Folk Festival and in the Netherlands . Guest performers were former Fairport Convention musicians Dave Mattacks and Simon Nicol , then Steeleye Span member Peter Knight , dance caller Eddie Upton and concertina players Will Duke and Mel Dean. The band dissolved in late 1975 when Hutchings formed
598-765: The late 1980s he toured with the Ashley Hutchings All Stars, leading to a live album, As You Like It (1988). With Phil Beer and Chris While he provided the sound track for the TV series The Ridge Riders which resulted in an album "Ridgeriders: Songs of the Southern English Landscape" (HTD, 1995), a short tour and another live album Ridgeriders in Concert (Talking Elephant, 1996). In the 1990s he returned to his own musical roots of skiffle and rock and roll, touring and recording with
624-536: The line up, who brought a virtuosity on the fiddle and a wealth of traditional tunes. This prompted Hutchings to carry out research in the English Folk Dance & Song Society Library at Cecil Sharp House which resulted in the pioneering classic Liege and Lief (1969), seen by many as the foundation of British folk rock . Hutchings was, however, increasingly unhappy with the direction of the band, as most members wanted to return to their older format. As
650-418: The mid-1970s that caused problems for any band using electrical instruments or amplification. In 1973 Ashley Hutchings produced Shirley Collins' Adieu To Old England album. On this album, several musicians appeared who became members of the Etchingham Steam Band the next year. Mouth organist Terry Potter accompanied Collins on The Chiner's Song ; both Terry Potter and accordionist Ian Holder also performed
676-461: The suspension of the Albion Band as a full time group in 2002 Hutchings put together another small group of up and coming folk musicians under the title Rainbow Chasers resulting in three albums, Some Colours Fly (2005), A Brilliant Light (2005) and Fortune Never Sleeps (2006). In 2008 he formed The Lark Rise Band to perform and record music from his most successful show, resulting in the album, Lark Rise Revisited (2008). He continues to tour in
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