British folk-rock group. It was created by the bass player Ashley Hutchings after his departure from Steeleye Span in 1971, when he put together a group of musicians to back Shirley Collins (to whom he was then married) on her album No Roses (Pegasus, 1971). It proved so successful that several of them, including guitarist Richard Thompson and accordion player John Kirkpatrick, joined Hutchings in recording a selection of amplified morris dance tunes, Morris On (1972). Hutchings fused English traditional music with rock sounds in subsequent versions of the band, whose repertories included contemporary songs (some by Hutchings) and traditional material. The group has featured some of the finest British folk musicians, including Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, John Kirkpatrick, Simon Nicol, John Tams and Richard Thompson. Different line-ups have played both amplified and acoustic material and have been documented in albums such as Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival. By 1998 the group consisted of Hutchings, Neil Marshall (drums), Gillie Nicholls and Ken Nicol (guitars), and Joe Broughton (fiddle), and had recorded the album Happy Accident.
ROBIN DENSELOW