Steeleye Span: Now We Are Six (50th Anniversary Edition)

Reaching the grand old age of 50 in 2024, Now We Are Six from Steeleye Span finds itself getting an anniversary release. So called for the band expanding their number to six with the introduction of drummer Nigel Pegrum and, you would guess, because it was their sixth album - clever eh? - Now We Are Six can now be experienced in expanded form on CD, with 5 bonus tracks, or on clear vinyl, featuring the original 10 track running order. Both are also remastered from the original master tape transfers by Phil Kinrade at AIR Mastering.

The rest of the band for this release was made up of Maddy Prior (vocals), Tim Hart (vocals, electric dulcimer, acoustic guitar and banjo), Bob Johnson (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars and synth), Peter Knight (violin, mandolin, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar and piano) and Rick Kemp (bass and acoustic guitar) and as they expanded their number so they also expanded their horizons, the suggestion that they’d taken a big step from their folk origins into a more progressive world made by many when the album was first released. That in itself was a controversial move, some, as you’d expect, loving those turn of events, others not quite so keen, but it was the inclusion of a couple of less expected tracks at the album’s close that really turned heads, and usually for all the wrong reasons.

Continuing their trademark approach of reworking traditional music into a more contemporary folk setting, albeit with a more obvious rock edge in places here, the inclusion of what still feels like a novelty-oddity in the shape of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star� and then a rock n roll standard in the form of “To Know Him Is To Love Him� as the album’s closing pair did and to me, still does, stick out like a pair of soar thumbs. The former is actually credited to the fictional St, Eleye Primary School Junior Choir and features most of the band singing along to the children’s lullaby in fake kiddie-like voices. It was an odd idea and one that adds less than nothing to an album that didn’t really feel like it was setting everyone up for a comedy ending. That it is followed by “To Know Him…� compounds events, with what is a pretty straight, multi-voiced, if slow take on a well know track, unintentionally tainted by the novelty air of what precedes it. Even 50 years later I find both pretty much unlistenable, even if the closing cut does feature a certain David Bowie on saxophone. Which is a real shame because in the shape of the elegantly forceful “Thomas The Rhymer�, marvellously arranged (both musically and vocally) “Drink Down The Moon� and the almost prog meets Jefferson Airplane of album opener “Seven Hundred Elves�, there really is some gold to be found here. What lands between also has much to recommend, “Edwin� confidently donning prog-rock-folk garb, while “Two Magician’s� possesses some seriously fine fiddle work. And let’s not forget that the whole shebang was produced by sir Jethro of Tull himself, Ian Anderson, although if you didn’t know that fact you wouldn’t particularly suspect it.

Coming with an essay featuring contributions from Prior, Knight, Kemp, Pegrum and Anderson, the CD also adds the UK single edit of “Thomas The Rhymer� alongside an excellent run through of “Two Magicians� from the Bob Harris Show and a further three (“Edwin�, “Long-A-Growing� and “Thomas The Rhymer�) from Sounds Of The Seventies, which were all recorded the same year this album was initially released. In all honesty, for my money, it’s the bonus material that really stands out here, with the live renditions adding a slew of interesting new aspects to some long loved songs, however, there’s still no denying that Now We Are Six was, and still is, a hugely engaging release, even if its flaws remain obvious for all to hear.

Track Listing
1. Seven Hundred Elves
2. Drink Down The Moon
3. Now We Are Six
4. Thomas The Rhymer
5. The Mooncoin Jig
6. Edwin
7. Long-A-Growing
8. Two Magicians
9. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
10. To Know Him Is To Love Him
Bonus Tracks
11. Thomas The Rhymer (UK Single Edit)
12. Two Magicians (Live on Bob Harris, 20th February, 1974)
13. Edwin (Live on Sounds Of The Seventies, 20th February, 1974) 
14. Long-A-Growing (Live on Sounds Of The Seventies, 20th February, 1974) 
15. Thomas The Rhymer (Live on Sounds Of The Seventies, 20th February, 1974)

Added: July 11th 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Now We Are Six @ Chrysalis
Hits: 355
Language: english

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