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The Etchingham Steam Band

The Etchingham Steam Band

The Etchingham Steam Band
The Etchingham Steam Band

Fledg'ling Records FLED 3002 (CD, UK, April 18, 1995)

“During 1974 and 1975 Shirley Collins and Ashley Hutchings led a remarkable acoustic ensemble playing the traditional music of southern England, around the folk clubs and festivals of Britain. Twenty years later, this important historical collection draws upon a number of private live recordings”

Musicians

Shirley Collins, vocals, hobby horse;
Ashley Hutchings, acoustic bass guitar, vocals, tambourine;
Ian Holder, accordion;
Terry Potter, mouth organ [5, 7-8, 14];
Vic Gammon, banjo, concertina, vocals, melodeon [1-4, 6, 8-13]

with
Mel Dean, concertina [9, 11-12];
Will Duke, concertina [9];
Dave Mattacks, snare drum [11-12]

Tracks

  1. Hard Times of Old England (4.25)
  2. Leapfrog / Young Collins / Shooting (3.10)
  3. The New Rigged Ship / Atholl Highlanders (2.21)
  4. Gaol Song (Roud 1077) (3.53)
  5. Horn Fair (3.32)
  6. Some Tyrant Has Stolen My True Love Away (3.19)
  7. Come All You Little Streamers (2.54)
  8. Sheep-Shearing / Buttered Peas (2.20)
  9. The Sussex Carol (Roud 597) (3.39)
  10. Adderbury Wassail Song (1.32)
  11. Grandmother's Dance / Grandfather's Dance (2.29)
  12. Bonny Kate (4.06)
  13. The Little Gypsy Girl (2.53)
  14. Black Joker (1.21)

All tracks trad. arr. Etchingham Steam Band
Tracks 5, 7, 14 recorded May or June 22-23, 1974, Norwich Folk Festival
Track 8 recorded October 1974, London
Tracks 6, 10 recorded December 23, 1974, “Nova Scotia”, Bristol
Track 9 recorded December 16, 1974, Cecil Sharp House London
Tracks 1-4 recorded June 21-22, 1975, Lenzburg Folk Festival, Switzerland
Tracks 11-12 recorded July 12, 1975, Lewes Folk Festival, afternoon session
Track 13 recorded July 12, 1975, Lewes Folk Festival, evening session

Comments

Named after the village in Sussex where he and Shirley Collins were living, the Etchingham Steam Band was an all-acoustic project of Ashley Hutchings, put together in early 1974 and featuring Shirley Collins as vocalist (who had earlier contributed similar material to both No Roses and Morris On). Initially formed around the nucleus of Shirley, Ashley, Ian Holder and Terry Potter (with occasional contributions from Simon Nicol), it transmuted into a larger, more flexible operation around mid 1974 with, at various times, contributions from Will Duke, Mel Dean, Vic Gammon, Dave Mattacks, and even Peter Knight (according to Pete Frame's Rock Family Trees), plus Eddie Upton as dance caller. Eventually, a subset of the Etchinghams became the more “electric” Albion Dance Band in 1975, which included Dave Mattacks as more of a permanent drummer (shared with Fairport Convention duties), and brought Graeme Taylor (ex Gryphon) and John Tams (ex Muckram Wakes) into the Hutchings fold for the first time.

This CD covers an otherwise almost-lost period of Ashley's output. Only three other tracks have been published: one on Shirley Collins' album A Favourite Garland and on The Guv'nor Vol. 4, and two live tracks from the 4. Folk-Festival auf der Lenzburg on the festival album and on Shirley Collins' 4CD anthology Within Sound. So now we have this list of recordings:

Norwich Folk Festival, May or June 22-23, 1974

  1. Horn Fair
    The Guv'nor Vol. 1, The Etchingham Steam Band, Within Sound
  2. Come All You Little Streamers
    The Etchingham Steam Band
  3. Black Joker
    The Etchingham Steam Band

London, October 1974

  1. Sheep-Shearing / Buttered Peas
    The Etchingham Steam Band

Cecil Sharp House, London, December 16, 1974

  1. The Sussex Carol
    The Etchingham Steam Band

“Nova Scotia”, Bristol, December 23, 1974

  1. Some Tyrant Has Stolen My True Love Away
    The Etchingham Steam Band
  2. Adderbury Wassail Song
    The Etchingham Steam Band

Sound Techniques Studios, 1974

  1. Mistress's Health / Lumps of Plum Pudding / Sherborne Jig / Spaniards Cry
    A Favourite Garland, The Guv'nor Vol. 4

4. Lenzburg Folk Festival, Switzerland, June 21-22, 1975

  1. The Little Gypsy Girl
    4. Folk-Festival auf der Lenzburg, Within Sound
  2. Leapfrog / Young Collins / Shooting
    4. Folk-Festival auf der Lenzburg, The Etchingham Steam Band
  3. Hard Times of Old England
    The Etchingham Steam Band, The Acoustic Folk Box
  4. The New Rigged Ship / Atholl Highlanders
    The Etchingham Steam Band
  5. Gaol Song
    The Etchingham Steam Band
  6. Come All You Little Streamers
    Within Sound

Lewes Folk Festival, July 12, 1975, afternoon session

  1. Grandmother's Dance / Grandfather's Dance
    The Etchingham Steam Band
  2. Bonny Kate
    The Etchingham Steam Band

Lewes Folk Festival, July 12, 1975, evening session

  1. The Little Gypsy Girl
    The Etchingham Steam Band

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Tony Rees and Alistair Banfield for the data.