It’s very good to see this relatively obscure part of Steeleye Span-related history easily available again, even if the main impetus for its reissue was decidedly unfortunate. Back in the early 80s, Steeleye founder Tim Hart released 2 LPs of traditional nursery rhymes with contemporary folk rock arrangements, aided by many of his fellow band members and other friends.
A few decades later, a lifetime of smoking sadly caught up with him and it was decided to re-release both albums in one package to assist with the ongoing costs of his medical care. Hart lived long enough to write interesting cover notes for this new version but sadly passed away before its release. However, the positive aspect of the situation is that some great music is available again, and it stands as a testament to his talent as much as any of the better known work with Steeleye.
Personally, I remember the first album very well from its original issue in 1981 on the Music For Pleasure label. I even remember seeing an ad for it on TV, just the once! My Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record (the name of the first LP and the overall title of this new package) may sound like a fairly innocuous title but it’s quite likely to be an accurate one as well.
Where to begin? Well, it’s all good fun for one thing, as one may expect, but not in a twee or ironic kind of way – the music and arrangements are clearly put together by a group of people who are thoroughly enjoying themselves. One thing Hart does mention in the notes is that he would only allow people who did have young children at the time to appear on the record. Luckily, there must have been a spate of it then, as guests include such names as Maddy Prior, Peter Knight and Bob Johnson from Steeleye, BJ Cole, John Kirkpatrick, Melanie Harrold and so on.
The songs are generally well known, though as with any good examples of the folk process, there may be slight lyrical differences or in some cases, whole other verses one may not be familiar with. For example, “Little Bo Peep” tells more of a story than I first remembered and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” extols the virtues of said star to a greater degree than expected. Conversely, some songs such as “The Grand Old Duke Of York” (with its military style drumming and synth brass) merely repeat the same verse once or twice, and the medley of “Hey Diddle Diddle / Little Jack Horner / Little Miss Muffet” has the same tune for each song.
But bearing in mind the demographic the music is aimed at, it seems pointless to get too heavily into matters of musical arrangement, other than to say the more “discerning” listener will appreciate Hart’s conscious decision to make it a collection of tracks that adults can get plenty from on their own level as well.
Being recorded in the early 80s, the music can be a little heavy on the synthesiser in places, though it’s more noticeable than distracting and it’s still fun to hear it emulate the tuba on “Humpty Dumpty” for example – that song is sung by Bob Johnson and rocks along quite nicely too. Inevitably, the album therefore sounds “of its time” to a degree but that is bearing in mind that the songs are much older again and have proven capable of withstanding all kinds of treatment down through the years.
Equally pointless is listing personal favourites because they all are, really – the album has lived up to its title for me since 1981! However, of possible general interest is the treatment of “There Was An Old Woman Tossed Up In A Basket” – I’ve heard it performed as a Morris tune with slightly different words but here it is a charming ballad, with the melody a slowed down version of the tune “Lili Bulero”. Peter Knight’s violin playing is predictably superb, as it is on the closing track “Oh Dear What Can The Matter Be?”
Again, that song is a lovely ballad with fine vocal work by Maddy Prior along with Tim Hart, but as with many nursery rhymes, it can be a little unsettling if one thinks about it. Why is Johnny not coming home from the fair – has he met with foul play, or simply with another girl? Who knows? But it is still a tasteful and charming way to finish the first set.
The second CD was originally the separate album Drunken Sailor And Other Kids’ Songs, released in 1983. That has proven even harder to find over the years, and my hopes were high that it would meet the expectations set by the first volume. It does feature many of the same performers but with a few additions including Davy Spillane on uillean pipes on some tracks. Luckily, it only took a listen or two for the album to ingratiate itself as much as its predecessor.
Spillane features on the opening track “Over The Hills And Far Away”, which incidentally features the same military drumming style as the opener on Very Favourite Nursery Rhyme Record. Hart’s voice was certainly a distinctive, perhaps even defining, part of English folk and folk rock for a long time and it is certainly heard to good effect here.
The other new guest is one Brian Golbey who sings in a broad American accent and therefore seemed a little out of place, despite his performance being entirely fine otherwise! A little research reveals he is in fact English and played in the band Cajun Moon among others, but also sang British country music in a US accent. I’ve never quite understood that practice myself, but his baritone does give a different edge to both “Widdicombe Fair” and “Clementine”.
The latter is another example of a nursery rhyme with decidedly odd lyrics:
“In my dreams she still does haunt me,
Robed in garlands and soaked in brine,
Though in life I used to hug her,
Now she’s dead, I draw the line”.
That’s good, then!
Fun is still the order of the day on well-known songs such as “Froggy’s Courting”, “Michael Finnigan” and “A Fox Jumped Up”. The near title track “What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor” is a bit of an exception in that it has a very distinct early 80s electro / disco kind of arrangement which does date it more than most other tracks, but is still perfectly enjoyable in its own way. Surprisingly, there is even a video for this track on YouTube now.
Obviously, it is pleasing to see this 2CD set available, not just in memory of its maker but also because it would be a huge shame for listeners of any age to be unable to enjoy it. The sound has been nicely remastered with extra nuances to be discerned, and the booklet contains all the lyrics though oddly, the picture of Tim Hart has been removed from the front cover. In fact, there is no photo of him or any other contributor to be found. I really can’t imagine why.
But I can say from experience that the music itself easily withstands many repeated plays, and that no one should be too young or too old to enjoy what it has to offer. Now, how exactly did that baby get up in the tree top?
Available from Park Records
The video for “What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor” may be found here.
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