1. Flogging Molly Albums

Steeleye Span is/was one of the main British Folk Rock bands. This bootleg from 1973 features mainly the songs from their 4th and 5th albums.(Taken from Wikipedia)' Below the Salt is a 1972 album by Steeleye Span, and considered by many fans to be one of their best. The album has a slightly medieval theme, most notably in the artwork and title.

Flogging Molly Albums

The album cover shows the band in period costume at a feast, while the title refers to practice in the Middle Ages of having salt (something of a rarity) placed in the center of the table separating the family from the servants, who were situated 'below the salt'. Some of the music on the album has a medieval motif, but only a few of the songs arguably date back quite so far. The ballad ' King Henry' (Child Ballad 32), and the a cappella ' Gaudete' are certainly very old, and the lyrics to ' Royal Forester' date from 1293.

However, while ' Gaudete' is performed in an authentic style, electric guitars abound in the performance of ' King Henry'.Gaudete became the band's first hit, reaching number 14 on the UK charts. To give the impression of the choristers approaching and moving away, as if on a pilgrimage, the song was given a long fade in and out (the single did not fade in/fade out).By this point, Ashley Hutchings had left the band, leaving Maddy Prior and Tim Hart as the only remaining founding members. The album reached number 43 in the UK album charts.All songs on the album are traditional, adapted by Steeleye Span.The lineup of the band for this album was:Maddy Prior - vocalsTim Hart - vocals, appalachian dulcimer, guitarPeter Knight - violin, viola, mandolin, banjo, piano, vocalsRick Kemp - bass, drum, vocalsBob Johnson - guitar, vocalsParcel of Rogues is a 1973 album by the Electric folk band Steeleye Span. It was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30.The album grew out of a theatrical project the band undertook, a version of Robert Louis Stephenson's Kidnapped, staged in Edinburgh.

The book and play were set against the backdrop of the Scottish Jacobite movement, and in the course of developing the play, the band came across a considerable amount of 18th century Scottish poetry that they mined for the album.If the album has a theme, it is change and the tension between old and new. ' The Weaver and the Factory Maid' is about the tension of early industrialization, with a young man celebrating the factory because there are a lot of women for him to pursue, while an old man denounces the factory because of its economic effects. The song illustrates this tension nicely by contrasting a more traditional fiddle with a more rock-style guitar.

There is a very sharp contrast between the sweet acoustically-driven ' The Ups and Downs' followed immediately by the funky distorted loud guitar in ' Robbery with Violins'. ' Cam Ye O'er Frae France' explores this tension in a different way, both in its lyric denouncement of political changes and the contrast between the poem's traditional Scots dialect and its sharp electronic guitars. And ' Alison Gross' is about a literal change, as an evil witch transforms a man who rejects her into a worm.' Robbery with Violins' is better known as ' The Bank of Ireland' (in O'Neill's book).

A version of this tune was played in the film Titanic. ' The Ups and Downs' is also known as ' The Maid of Tottenham'. The satirical ' Cam Ye O'er Frae France' has suffered the same fate as Shakespeare's work: the biting references to King George and his mistresses ('riding on a Goosie') that everyone understood at the time can now sound nonsensical to anyone who doesn't know the history. Maddy sings the rolled 'r's for all they are worth. Two of the songs on this album originate in Hogg's Jacobite Reliques, while ' Rogues in a Nation' is a Robert Burns poem denouncing the Act of Union in 1707 that united England and Scotland. The title of the album derives from a line in the song ' Rogues in a Nation', here sung a cappella.

The sleeve shows a milkmaid on decorated tiles. This might be related to the fact that it was recorded in 'Sound Techniques' studio, a former dairy, which still has a statue of a cow on the wall.The album uses more overdubbing than any previous album by Steeleye Span. On ' Hares on the Mountain' there are two channels for Peter Knight's mandolins, two for recorders and one for him playing harmonium.

On ' The Weaver and the Factory Maid' Maddy Prior is heard on three channels, counterpointing herself at the top of her voice.The album saw the band re-introduce the use of drums, driven in part by R ick Kemp's background in rock. After the album was released, the band undertook a US tour, opening for Jethro Tull. Because of this, the band decided to add a full-time drummer in the person of Nigel Pegrum.

The drums took the band further in the direction of rock, as demonstrated by 'T he Wee Wee Man' and ' Cam Ye O'er Frae France'.PersonnelMaddy Prior - vocalsTim Hart - vocals, guitar, appalachian dulcimerBob Johnson - vocals, guitarRick Kemp - bass guitar, drumsPeter Knight - violin, viola, mandolin, piano, recorder, harmoniumProduced by Steeleye Span and Jerry Boys.' More info about the band:DOWNLOAD:Part IPart II.