The Test of Time

by Steve Ashley

Overview

Compiled and annotated by Steve Ashley himself, The Test of Time compiles 17 tracks from throughout Ashley's career -- infuriatingly sporadic though it has been. Three songs apiece from the albums Stroll On (1974), Speedy Return (1975), The Family Album (1982), and Mysterious Ways (1990, but incorporating material originally scheduled for release in 1978) are joined by three more only ever available on a couple of only-briefly available Demo Tapes cassettes, and two songs taped in 1998. What's remarkable is, neither the passing of time nor the cloak of obscurity have diminished Ashley's powers in the slightest. The listener comes out of the closing "Over There in Paradise" as breathlessly as he or she entered the opening "Fire and Wine," with its haunting monk song introduction, and a flaming rock band aching to escape. Some remarkable collaborations are unearthed. Ashley's links with Fairport Convention, Ashley Hutchings, and Robert Kirkby were all illustrated by his debut album, and these links continue throughout the collection. But there is also a rare appearance from Linda Thompson, duetting with Ashley on 1983's "Easy Come." Indeed, each of the early-'80s Demo Tapes tracks are remarkable, all the more so since the original cassettes have long lain unheard. Both "Easy Come" and the chiming "Before the Fireballs Fall" ache with the embittered defiance of the anti-nukes movement that led to the resurrection of Britain's long-fallow CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), while "I Depend on Jesus" is Ashley's attempt to reaffirm his religious beliefs, at a time when Christianity itself seemed in real danger of being hijacked by the warmongers of the extreme political right. Of course, even the best conceived compilation is no substitute for full reissues of each of Ashley's albums, and the restoration of his name to the highest annals of British folk history. For anybody uncertain where to begin approaching this canon, however, Test of Time solves all dilemmas. ~ Dave Thompson

Product Details

Release Date:	12/21/2007
Label:	Market Square
UPC:	5019148620082
Rank:	253834

Tracks

1. Fire and Wine
2. Silly Summer Games
3. Candlemas Carol
4. Well, Well, Well
5. Good Enemies
6. Duke of Cambridge
7. Family Love
8. The Rough With the Smooth
9. Once in a While
10. Before the Fireballs Fall
11. Easy Come
12. I Depend on Jesus
13. Back on the Road Again
14. The Last of the Diamonds
15. Mysterious Ways
16. Down by the Old Embankment
17. Over There in Paradise

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Steve Ashley   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Bouzouki,Harmonica,Jew's-Harp,Whistle (Instrument)
Simon Nicol   Guest Artist,Guitar
Linda Thompson   Guest Artist
Simon Phillips   Guest Artist,Drums
Dave Pegg   Guest Artist,Bass,Mandolin,Fretless Bass
Steve Harper   Trumpet
Lea Nicholson   Concertina
Barry Dransfield   Fiddle
Maddy Prior   Spoons
Nick Magnus   Keyboards
Mark Powell   Keyboards
Martin Brinsford   Melodeon,Mouth Organ
Dik Cadbury   Bass,Keyboards,Percussion
Mike Dolan   Guitar
Daryl Runswick   Double Bass
Dave Mattacks   Drums,Tambourine
Chris Leslie   Fiddle
Bruce Rowland   Drums
Al Fenn   Guitar
Trevor Foster   Drums
Lyle Harper   Bass
Richard Byers   Guitar,Vocals,Mandolin
Rainer Schuelein   Recorder
Chris Karan   Tabla
Christopher Taylor   Recorder
Jim Sallis   Flugelhorn
Lawrence Wright   Melodeon
Royston Mitchell   Piano,Marimba,Keyboards

Technical Credits

Steve Ashley   Composer,Producer,Liner Notes
Robert Kirby   Arranger,Producer
Dik Cadbury   Producer,Drum Programming
Dave Pegg   Producer
Bruce Rowland   Producer
Austin John Marshall   Producer
Karl Dallas   Liner Notes