- Audio CD (Jan 1 1991)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Shanachie
- ASIN: B000000E75
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Audio Cassette | LP Record
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #50,900 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. Spotted Cow |
| 2. Rosebud In June |
| 3. Jig: The Bride's Favorite/Tansey's Fancy |
| 4. Sheep-Crook And Black Dog |
| 5. Royal Forester |
| 6. King Henry |
| 7. Gaudete |
| 8. John Barleycorn |
| 9. Saucy Sailor |
Product Description
From Amazon.co.uk
Like Fleetwood Mac would five years later, Steeleye Span had lost its most celebrated members, Fairport Convention alumnus Ashley Hutchings and guitarist Martin Carthy, when they reconvened in a comparatively anonymous line-up that proved to be their most successful. This 1972 album found vocalist Maddy Prior and guitarist Tim Hart (who'd worked as a duo prior to joining Steeleye) taking the reins, with violinist Peter Knight providing an instrumental foil for the then-drummerless quintet's electric and acoustic guitars. Prior's regal alto and a carefully chosen program of traditional songs (including a medieval Christmas hymn, "Gaudete", that's among the few rock songs extant boasting a Latin lyric) sustain the album's decidedly pre-industrial mood. Below the Salt stands as a British folk-rock classic. --Sam Sutherland
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
awesome
Mar 26 2010
Format:Audio CD
love this album,,played it when it came out and my children used to dance to the tunes growing up...saucy sailor is a very good tune.
One of the best Steeleye CDs
July 19 2004
Format:Audio CD
I enjoy this CD.
Has all the classic sound and songs you expect from the band.
Worth the money.
Has all the classic sound and songs you expect from the band.
Worth the money.
Unclassifiable proto-gothic masterpiece - needs remastering
Jan 21 2004
Format:Audio CD
After the disappointing, over sparse "Ten Man Mop", Steeleye Span recorded perhaps their definitive statement with "Below The Salt" a year later. Taking their cues from the challenging, modernist rearrangements of traditional material that was began on their second album "Please To See The King", Steeleye developed a sound that was fiery and melodic, yet scarcely relied on the conventions of rock instrumentation in any serious manner.
Instead of a drummer, there were heavy, dark rhytmic pulse from the guitar and bass at long intervals that scarcely fitted in with the tempos of the songs. Nonetheless, they served clearly to show that Steeleye did not wish to conform with the ideal of simplicity treasured both in traditional folk and in rock.
The opener "Spotted Cow" is classic Steeleye folk and one of the most accessible songs here, whilst the band's clear nod to tradition is seen in the satirically rendered "John Barleycorn" and the instrumental medley "The Bride's Favourite"/"Tansey's Fancy". The closer "Saucy Sailor" harks back to the elemental, almost mysterious beauty of "Hark! The Village Wait" with telling effect.
However, the real uniquness of this record comes with the other tracks - the middle triad of "Sheep Crook And Black Dog", "The Royal Forester" and "King Henry" where the sparse beats and haunting, medieval fiddle melodies turn songs rendered in a modern manner right into the Middle Ages in feel. The effect really is amazing: even if little on these songs strikes one by itself, the parts blend together in such a unique manner. The Latin carol "Gaudete" has an effect even more striking because the voices are mixed so far back, yet the song jumps in and out of the background in a manner that is never seen in more contemporary music. Even the other a capella piece "Rosebud In June" is extraordinary in its ability to transport the listener to another world - another time even.
This record's influence can be heard in many sources in the modern world, both in rock and in international music (compare Margo Timmins' voice with Maddy Prior's, for instance - or see how "Bitter Sweet" and "Triptych" on Roxy Music's 1974 masterpiece "Country Life" owe a lot to "Gaudete" and "King Henry".
The only real quibble is the poor sound quality of the Shanachie CD: I have been thinking forever about how amazing a good-sounding CD would be.
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