Steve Ashley — Steve Ashley’s Family Album Revisited
Steve Ashley has enjoyed a long and fruitful career in music, playing with some of the biggest names in the UK folk scene, from Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks in The Albion Country Band, to recording under his own name, backed by many ex-members of Fairport Convention and The Albion Band including the aforementioned Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks, as well as Dave Pegg, Danny Thompson, Chris Leslie and Bruce Rowland to name just a few. Originally released in 1983, on Woodworm records as Steve Ashley’s Family Album, this collection adds two extra tracks, "Somewhere in a Song" and "For Bruce", Ashley’s tribute to his friend and collaborator, Bruce Rowland who passed over in 2015 after a battle with cancer.
Opener "Family Love" is a cheerful, jaunty and affectionate tribute to the mundanity of family life and centres on a family day trip to the seaside by car. "Born To Rule" takes things down a notch, featuring a stripped-back sound, whilst Ashley sings as if he were experiencing life as a baby. "Pancake Day" is an acappella track with a self-explanatory title and featuring some lovely vocal harmonies. "Lost and Found" is up next, this one is about the life of a dog and filled with humour, the vocals are comical and you really get to hear Ashley’s sense of humour in this one. "Once in A While" on the other hand is a much more serious sounding song about the life and experiences of a Grandmother, a lovely reflective piece with some beautiful instrumentation. "Feeling Lazy" is the father’s song and is one that really resonates with me. As a 50-year-old, there is a part of me that doesn’t want the responsibility that comes with being a father and husband, and would rather just kick back and relax, but to juxtapose this, there is also a part of me that has so many different jobs I want and need to complete. This attitude is completely encapsulated in the lyrics to this song. "I’m A Radio" is another jaunty song, this time about the life of a radio and how it is a key part of family life, the music, plays, soap operas, news and more. "Days Like Today" and "Love is All We Live For" are more reflective pieces, the latter in particular is one of my favourites on the album and features some lovely bass playing from Dave Pegg. "Little Bit of Love" is a bouncy up-tempo number that takes a more serious look at the struggles of family life and how that “little bit of love” is all any of us need. "Somewhere in a Song" is a beautiful song, fragile and thought inducing, while "The Rough with the Smooth" is the story of a grandfather, and his experiences of ageing, this is another acoustic number filled with poignancy and a delicate touch of humour. The album closes with "For Bruce", Ashley’s tribute to drummer Bruce Rowland, the track features only Ashley’s voice and is a fitting and personal way to bring this expanded edition of the album to a close.
Overall, Steve Ashley’s Family Album strikes me as a deeply personal record that deals with the trials and tribulations of family life, the good times, the bad times and everything in between. This newly remastered edition sounds fantastic, Martin Mitchell has done an excellent job of breathing new life into this most underrated folk-rock album. The new packaging is great too, featuring a lovely booklet with a great essay on the album’s history and lyrics for all of the songs (except Days Like Today). In these strange times when we have either been spending a lot more time with our families or a lot less depending on our situations, it seems a most appropriate choice of albums to listen to.