Steeleye Span

A good Christmas compilation should contain the following things: a selection of old classics to warm your cockles by the fireside, some of the classic pop titles that people always seem to find themselves singing along to in the pub on Christmas Eve, some carols and a handful of oddities to keep everyone on their toes. The Best Christmas Album in the World Ever manages to fulfil all these criterias.

The two legendary 1970s albums "Mandalaband" and "The Eye of Wendor" have been completely re-mixed and digitally re-mastered by David Rohl - the mastermind behind Mandalaband and composer-producer-engineer extraordinaire.
Mandalaband began life in the early 1970s when David Rohl recruited the first band line-up of Dave Durant (lead vocals), Vic Emerson (keyboards), Ashley Mulford (guitars), John Stimpson (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Tony Cresswell (drums). David played keyboards and contributed to the backing vocals - and engineered, produced and composed the music…

This is the debut album from UK band Mostly Autumn. They are playing rock mixed with reminiscences to Celtic music, Fairport Convention, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd and Steeleye Span. This is a very strong debut album with a lot of power, great melodies and good musicianship from this band. They are using various untraditional instruments such as Djembe, flute, tambourine, violin and whistles together with traditional rock instruments. The highlights are the opening progressive track "Nowhere To Hide", the two beautiful Celtic folk rock tracks "Folklore" and "Shenanigans", the Irish influenced "Out Of The Inn" and the closing 10-minute "The Night Sky".

The Morrigan's music is a lively mixture of traditional Celtic folk with prog rock, sometimes leaning heavily in either direction. Their sound is distinctly original and full of magic vocals, their music made up of warm melodies wrapped up in rich arrangements (sometimes of their own composition, sometimes re-arranged traditional folk songs). Imagine a heavier sounding Steeleye Span and then move them up a notch on the prog scale.

An Evolving Ritual in an Acoustic Brew… prepared by Don Falcone, with Hawkwind family members Alan Davey, Paul Hayles, Michael Moorcock, Mick Slattery, & Bridget Wishart, Steeleye Span family members Jessie May Smart & Peter Knight, Van Der Graaf Generator family members David Jackson & Graham Smith, Albert Bouchard (Blue Öyster Cult), David Cross (King Crimson), Andy Dalby (Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come), Monty Oxymoron (The Damned), Ursula Pank (Third Ear Band), Robert Rich, Jonathan Segel (Camper Van Beethoven), Theo Travis (Soft Machine), Cyrille Verdeaux (Clearlight), Darryl Way (Curved Air), Harry Williamson, Hoshiko Yamane (Tangerine Dream), Steve York (Dr. John), & more.

The Albion Christmas Band evolved from special seasonal shows by the last incarnation of The Albion Band. On a suggestion from Simon Care, a previous Albion band member himself, the band's original founder Ashley 'The Guv'nor' Hutchings brought together two other previous Albion Band members to create an autonomous band to present a guided tour through the Christmas customs of Britain. These popular concerts feature a mixture of seasonal carols, spoken word, humorous readings and dance. But they add a modern twist with some newly written songs. The combined talents of Simon Nicol (Fairport Convention), Kellie While (Albion Band), Simon Care (Edward 11), and 'The Guv'nor' himself, Ashley Hutchings, founder of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band.

'' 1000 Original Hits '' is the title of a compilation series published by EMI Plus (Europe). This release contains portions of this series, released in 2001, containing works performed from 1970 to 1979.