Tim Hart Heydays CD

This anthology includes three complete albums from Tim Hart and Maddy Prior.

British folk icons Tim Hart and Maddy Prior recorded two albums of traditional music together before joining the seminal folk-rock band Steeleye Span. In 1967 the duo released Folk Songs of Olde England, Vol. 1 on the small but influential Tepee Records label. Recorded in mono, the album featured minimal arrangements of obscure songs from the yet to be plundered Cecil Sharp and English Folk Dance & Song Society libraries -- the source of many of the burgeoning scene's most famous recordings -- and showcased the pair's impeccable vocal skills. Folk Songs of Olde England, Vol.2 followed in 1969 -- this time in stereo -- and introduced the first rendering of John Connolly's "Fiddler's Green" as well as "Copshawholme Fair," which appeared on Steeleye Span's debut, Hark! The Village Wait. During the recording of the group's second record, Please to See the King, Prior and Hart finished their third and finest LP, Summer Solstice. Featuring 13 songs and boasting arrangements by Robert Kirby, the record is considered by many to be one of the most important folk releases of the decade. Castle's Heydays anthology collects all three of these landmark albums -- the first two have been long out of print -- on a two-disc set with extensive liner notes and interviews with the artists. This is a must for any fan of British folk music. ~ James Christopher Monger

2003 anthology of duo material by Steeleye Span founding members includes all three pre-Steeleye albums, 'Folk Songs Of Olde England Vol. 1' (1968), 'Folk Songs Of Olde England Vol. 2' (1968), & 'Summer Solstice' (1971). Castle.

Personnel: Tim Hart (vocals, guitar, banjo, dulcimer, psaltery, fiddle, harmonium, tabor); Maddy Prior (vocals); Andy Irvine (mandolin); Pat Donaldson (electric bass); Gerry Conway (percussion, bells).

Liner Note Author: Geoff Wall.

Arrangers: Collins; Maddy Prior; The Copper Family; Tim Hart.