The Spriguns (of Tolgus) were formed as a duo in 1972 by husband and wife,Mike and Mandy Morton playing traditional folk music not dis-similar to early Steeleye Span .They opened The Anchor Folk Club in Cambridge,gradually enlisting more musicians.Their first recording was a badly recorded cassette only set of sons called 'Rowdy Dowdy Day'. All the while,they were attracting a large and following.
They came to the attention of Steeleye Span's Tim Hart who produced their first album proper,'Jack With Feather' in 1973.
Six months after the release of 'Jack With Feather', Mandy formed the new 'Spriguns' ,dropping the 'Of Tolgus' suffix and signing with Decca Records.The band recorded 'Revel Weird and Wild' in1975,again produced by Tim Hart.
The sound was becoming rockier but they hadn't forgotten their traditional roots just yet.
In 1977 ,during the height of Punk,Spriguns recorded their final album,'Time Will Pass'.This time production duties fell to the respected Sandy Roberton.The orchestration on the album was conducted by Robert Kirby,famous for his work with Nick Drake and The Strawbs amongst many others.The sound this time was rockier.Similar to The Trees or Mellow Candle in style,with some excellent long guitar solos.Not long after the albums release,Mandy Morton left to persue a solo career.She released the 'Magic Lady' album in 1978,which is very similar to Sandy Denny's solo material.
This is a folk album for sure, but it isn’t progressive by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, these are all traditional folk tunes of some variation of British origin (mostly English I think). Some were also on Spriguns first album (“Let No Man Steal Your Thyme” and “Keys Of Canterbury”), although from what I understand that record is nearly impossible to find..
The band would drop “of Tolgus” from their name after this release, and guitarists/mandoliners Rick Thomas and Chris Russon would disappear before the next release. Somewhere along the line Mandy and Mike Morton split up as well, and Spriguns became something of a B-list band with a revolving lineup of journeyman players backing Ms. Morton’s own compositions in the studio and on spotty local tours.
Highly Recommended !
Tracks :
1. Lambton Worm (4:10)
2. Let No Man Steal Your Thymet (2:57)
3. Derby Ram (2:45)
4. Jigs: a)Rakes Of Malo b)St. Patricks Day c)Ten Penny Bit (3:52)
5. Flodden Field (6:41)
6. Troopers Nag (3:39)
7. Curragh Of Kildare (4:48)
8. Keys Of Canterbury (3:34)
9. Twa Magicians (4:02)
10. Seamus The Showman (2:48)
11. Barren Banks Of Aden (1:13)
Ripped by : evermoreblues
Artwork included
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thanks very much !!
ReplyDeletethank you so much
ReplyDeleteDamn! The only link to this album in the whole web is now dead!
ReplyDeleteCould you re-up this someday?
Thank you very much anyway!
Cheers.