Please to See the King

Steeleye Span | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000000E7Z
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,644 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #88 in Music > Indie Music > Folk > Folk Rock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steeleye Span's Enduring Brilliance, March 9, 2002

By 

Gavin B. (St. Louis MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please to See the King (Audio CD)

Steeleye Span was not the highest profile of the late 60s bands attempting to create a British Isles version of folk rock, but could certainly hold their own with the star power of Fairport Convention or Pentangle. Steeleye Span lacked a bonafide guitar prodigy like Fairport's Richard Thompson, or Pentangle's dueling virtuosos John Renbourne and Burt Jansch, but Steeleye's Martin Carthy was the central figure in the 60s British folk revival. Carthy, a musicologist, made heroic efforts to maintain the integrity of the orginal source material and it paid off with "Please To See The King". Released in 1971, it put Steeleye Span as the vangaurd band in the British Isles folk revival. By that time, Fairport had gutted it's original line-up, and Renbourn and Jansch's solo projects impacted the quality of Pentangle's studio recordings.

"Please To See The King" was one of albums I played incessantly in the early 70s and like so many of my vinyl albums, got lost, misplaced, worn out or stolen. In the 90s when I began rebuilding my collection of music in the compact disc format, I was reluctant to purchase this album. Some of Fairport's music I repurchased on CD had horrible production values, and Burt Jansch and John Renbourn's rambling jazzy riff tradeoffs sounded...well.. so inanely "sixties." I am happy to report that "Please To See The King" does not disappoint. The glorious choral arrangements which Carthy often painstakingly transcribed from field recordings dating back to the 1920s are a revelation. The tight four-part harmonies could stand alone as acapella pieces. Maddy Prior's earthy and autumnal mezzo-soprano has lost none of it's allure, upon hearing it again. Carthy's use of electronic technology never became an end unto itself, he'd make the guitar sound like a bagpipe when a bagpipe was indeed appropriate to the song. "The Blacksmith" which opens the album is just one example of Steeleye's collective genius at arranging traditional music. The exquisite vocal harmonies date back to ancient British Isle pageant signing. The guitar is electric but played with just enough reverb to make it like a lute. Maddy Prior's vocal is full bodied, yet mournfully plaintive. The electric fiddle of Peter Knight looms in the background and steps forward for a short but tasty solo. On "Please To See The King" each band member is a well oiled part, and the whole is so much more than the sum of the parts. Steeleye outlasted their peers and made quality music well into the 80s because this band never became a star-vehicle, but simply made brilliant music together.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars simply....one of their (many) best!, October 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Please to See the King (Audio CD)

The change of personnel after the first album, "Hark! The Village Wait", produced one of the first examples of the "cohesive unit" approach to folk rock..."Please To See The King". The track "Bedlam Boys" is almost a symphony...the way the instruments complement each other and Carthy's vocals is close to genius. Yes, the lead vocalist on each (vocal) track attracts the most attention, but the rest of the band supports the entire mood of each song beautifully. This is a one-of-a-kind session and, probably, my favorite Steeleye Span album....certainly the best before Bob Johnson joined. There is no question that this album is essential Span! Despite the widespread praise "Hark!" receives (deservedly), I have always considered "King" to be the first bonafide Steeleye album. "Hark!" was a beautifully successful experiment. But the truly identifying characteristics of Steeleye began and evolved from "Please To See The King"! My opinion. This is a must-own album!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the folk-rock greats, October 17, 2001

By 

BENJAMIN MILER (Veneta, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Please to See the King (Audio CD)

I'm not the biggest fan of British folk rock or even Steeleye Span for that matter, but I really feel that this, their second release is a masterpiece. What I admire most of this band was the fact they took 500 year old folk songs and ballads, updated them on to a whole generation of young people who could have cared less of these songs otherwise. I really love the medieval vibe I get with Please to See the King, especially on songs like "The Blacksmith", "Cold, Haily, Windy Night", "Boys of Bedlam", "Female Drummer" and "Lovely on the Water". Steeleye Span does frequently get compared to Fairport Convention, and in fact Fairport's Ashley Hutchings was on Steeleye's first three albums, including this one. But Steeleye Span's music (at least until drummer Nigel Pegrum stepped in beginning with Now We Are Six) tended to be more traditional sounding and less accessible than Fairport's best material, but that's not a bad thing, really, as these songs give me a feeling how English country life might have been like 500 years ago. Please, To See The King marked the first lineup change for the band. Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, and Ashley Hutchings are all here, while Gay and Terry Woods left replaced by Peter Knight, and Martin Carthy (who wasn't exactly new to the folk scene as he released several albums under his own name as far back as 1965). As far as I'm concerned, I feel Please, To See the King, and Fairport Convention's Liege & Lief are two of the greatest English folk rock albums ever, and I even recommend these to those not big on this genre, like me.