Dark Fields is the sixth studio album by English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands, released in 1997 on their own label Hands on Music. The album follows the duo's 1996 performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, a performance which raised their profile. A live album of the performance was released as Live at the Royal Albert Hall in August, becoming the band's best selling album. The duo followed the success with Dark Fields.
Recorded in St Merryn, Dark Fields features Knightley's characteristic West Country-focused lyrics and a "live" sound carried over from their previous studio release Lie of the Land (1995). The album was released in May 1997, received positive reviews from critics. The band also released a single from the album, "Crazy Boy", which was the band's first single.
Background
With their 1995 album Lie of the Land, Devon-based folk duo Show of Hands, consisting of Steve Knightley and Phil Beer, found the most success in their career so far. Whilst that album's predecessor, Beat about the Bush (1994), aimed for radio play by incorporating a full band set up, it did not receive the air play wanted. The duo received more attention and, by early 1996, they had by now built up a considerable fanbase through their mailing list. Knightley, Beer and manager O’Farrell, who had produced Lie of the Land, took the gamble of hiring London's Royal Albert Hall for a performance on the evening of 24 March 1996, in attempt to gather all of the duo's fans, and to raise the duo's profile.
Whilst a certainly ambitious idea, the duo hired the hall "to the amusement of the media and the cynicism of sceptics" and was considered a huge gamble. One biography said that the success "proved that for this enigmatic, indy duo anything was possible." He also noted that "quite a lot of people now know Show Of Hands as 'Those guys who did the Albert Hall'. So it's opened a lot of doors. In India there was a tremendous cachet - we were checked out by people who came to see us just because of having played the Royal Albert Hall. In America as well. So it exceeded all our expectations in that sense." and the duo began work on their sixth album, Dark Fields in 1997.
Music and lyrics
thumb|left|A map of locations in [[Wessex. Wessex is the subject matter of the album's "Wessex Medley".]]
The duo co-produced Dark Fields with manager Steve O'Farrell who produced Lie of the Land and Live at the Royal Albert Hall, and recorded it at Joe Partridge's Airfield studios in St Merryn, Cornwall, with the studio commencing recording here due to Knightley's pleasant experience when working on a Mike Silver album at the studio several years prior. Knightley noted in 2007 that the album's production was generally based on the duo's live sound, despite being "more rounded", The fourth track is a "Wessex Medley". The twelfth track, "High Germany/Molly Oxford", was recorded live at Norwich in spring 1997. It is the first time the duo included a live performance on a studio album. Over half of the tracks on the album are Steve Knightley compositions, the others traditional pieces arranged by the duo, other than a cover version of Bob Dylan's "Farewell Angelina" and Nic Jones' arrangement of "Warlike Lads of Russia", a track described by one reviewer as "just the kind of blatant altruism which Zimmerman of Hibbing notably omitted to display a few years back." For the "Wessex Medley", a medley that first consists of Beer's composition "Carrick Roads", then "Plum Pudding", a traditional piece arranged by Knightley and Beer, and finally Beer's "The Rocky Road to Chudleigh", melodeon was provided by Simon Care. The seventh song, "Flora", features percussion by Joe Partridge and backing vocals from Lucy Watkins, Richard Hammond and Paul Banham who also sing backing vocals on "The Shout". The live track, "High Germany"/"Molly Oxford", features vocals from Kate Rusby, fiddle from Chris Wood and melodeon from Andy Cutting.
Of the duo, Steve Knightley sings all lead vocals, as well as playing guitar, cuatro, mandocello, concertina, acoustic bass guitar and mandolin on the album. Meanwhile, Phil Beer sings other vocals and plays guitars, mandolin, fiddle, cuatro, viola and mandocello. In a 1997 interview, Steve Knightley said "for now we're putting out the present single 'Crazy Boy' to see if we can get an Indie Chart placing or whatever - radio, TV. Maybe that will be the next story, the guys who sold 8,000 singles, or the guys who got to number 50. Whatever. That's the idea for this Autumn."
Dark Fields was released to positive reviews; Alan Rose of The Living Tradition published a positive review for the album, praising the record and highlighting "The Warlike Lads of Russia" as "rightly honoured" and calling the tune set of the album "terrifyingly competent.".
The duo toured in promotion of the album, and footage from the tour featured on the duo's 1998 documentary/concert film Stairway to Devon, released on VHS by Hands on Music. The film is self-described as "world music from the West Country".
Track listing
Tracks written by Steve Knightley, except where noted.
- "Cousin Jack" – 5:09
- "Longdog" – 2:45
- "The Shout" – 4:00
- "Wessex Medley": "Carrick Roads" (Phil Beer) / "Plum Pudding" (Trad arr. Knightley/Beer) / "The Rocky Road to Chudleigh" (Beer) – 3:40
- "Dark Fields" – 3:50
- "The Train" – 3:30
- "Flora" (Trad arr. Knightley/Beer) – 4:22
- "Crazy Boy" – 5:40
- "The Warlike Lads of Russia" (Trad arr. Nic Jones) – 2:21
- "Farewell Angelina" (Bob Dylan) – 5:02
- "The Bristol Slaver" – 3:55
- "High Germany" (trad arr Knightley) / "Molly Oxford" (Trad arr. Chris Wood/Andy Cutting) (Live recording) – 6:24
"The Train (reprise)" - 9:27 (hidden track, follows "High Germany" / "Molly Oxford")
Personnel
- Steve Knightley - vocals, guitar, cuatro, mandocello, concertina, acoustic bass guitar, mandolin
- Phil Beer - vocals, guitars, mandolin, fiddle, cuatro, viola, mandocello
- Matt Clifford - keyboards (tracks 1, 3, 5 and 7)
- Chris While - vocals (track 5)
- Simon Care - melodeon (track 4)
- Joe (he's around somewhere) Partridge - percussion (track 7)
- Lucy Watkins, Richard Hammond, and Paul Banham - vocals (tracks 3 and 7)
- Kate Rusby - vocals (track 12)
- Chris Wood - fiddle (track 12)
- Andy Cutting - melodeon (track 12)