''Rocket Cottage'' is the ninth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

British folk rock British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...

band

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

. It was released in 1976 by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

. Produced by Mike Batt, it was hoped that the album would cement the band's popular and commercial success, building on their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album '' All Around My Hat'' and its title track, which reached #5 on the UK singles chart. By the time it was released, the sudden explosion of the British

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

scene saw audience tastes in the UK rapidly shift away from formerly popular genres like

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, and groups that previously been critical favourites, like Steeleye Span and

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

, soon found themselves being derided as "dinosaurs". ''Rocket Cottage'' did not reach the Top 40, and it was the last album recorded by the mid-seventies lineup of the group, with Peter Knight and Bob Johnson both subsequently leaving the group. The album is perhaps the band's most rock-influenced album, with very prominent guitars and a strong rhythm section. Some fans consider this one of the band's best efforts, pointing to strong tracks like "London", "Fighting for Strangers", "Sir James the Rose", and "Orfeo/Nathan's Reel", the first three of which became classics of the band and fan favorites. Others, however, find the album erratic, complaining that the band's rhythm section tends to overwhelm the vocals, particularly on "Orfeo", "The Twelve Witches", and (to a lesser extent) "The Brown Girl". Oddly for an instrumental piece, "Nathan's Reel" simply fades out. The most peculiar decision was the inclusion of an unrehearsed version of "

Camptown Races "De Camptown Races" or "Gwine to Run All Night" (nowadays popularly known as "Camptown Races") is a folk song by American Romantic composer Stephen Foster. It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen and was introduced to the American mai ...

"; years later

Maddy Prior Madeleine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the p ...

remarked, "I can't think what we were thinking of with that." Peter Knight has said that the band was being pressured to write and adapt music for the commercial market, which led to considerable dissatisfaction among the band members. Both he and Bob Johnson were seriously considering leaving the band, particularly because they wanted to work on a musical version of '' The King of Elfland's Daughter'',

agreed to allow them to record that album if they agreed to record 'Rocket'. Lacking any interest in the album that Knight and Johnson produced, Chrysalis made little effort to promote the album, and Knight and Johnson chose to depart the band after 'Rocket' was released.

Personnel

;Steeleye Span *

– vocals * Tim Hart – vocals, guitar * Bob Johnson – vocals, guitar * Rick Kemp – bass guitar, vocals * Peter Knight – violin,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

* Nigel Pegrum – drums

Track listing

#"London" ('' Hart,

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

, Kemp,

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

, Pegrum,

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

'') – 4:14 #"The Bosnian Hornpipes" (''Traditional'') – 0:57 #" Orfeo/Nathan's Reel" (''Hart, Johnson, Kemp, Knight, Pegrum, Prior'') – 6:00 #"The Twelve Witches" (''Traditional'') – 4:32 #" The Brown Girl" (''Hart, Johnson, Kemp, Knight, Pegrum, Prior'') – 5:05 #" Fighting for Strangers" (''Traditional'') – 4:25 #"Sligo Maid" (''Traditional'') – 3:44 #" Sir James the Rose" (''Traditional'') – 6:15 #"The Drunkard" (''Traditional, prefaced by Camptown Racetrack'') – 7:55

References

{{Authority control 1976 albums Chrysalis Records albums Steeleye Span albums Albums produced by Mike Batt