Crooked Oak -

Crooked Oak was an English folk-rock band that released the 1976 album From Little Acorns Grow on Folkland Records, followed in 1979 by The Foot O’wor Stairs on Eron Enterprises.

Members: Steve Evans (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Paul Rogley (whistle, mandolin, cittern), Barry Walker (fiddle), Keith Davidson (Northumbrian smallpipes, Uilleann pipes, whistle), Alan Green (whistle, cittern, fiddle, banjo, vocals)

Background

Crooked Oak formed in 1972 in South Shields when singer-guitarist Steve Evans teamed with whistle, mandolin, and cittern player Paul Bagley at the South Tyne Folk & Blues Club. Acoustic bassist Jim Fraser joined in 1973 and expanded the partnership to a trio. By 1974, Fraser cleared out for Andy Dutfield, a singer-guitarist and second cittern player. Dutfield studied at Bede College in Durham, where he wrote and performed “The Ballad of Will Jobling” in the early 1970s.

Crooked Oak subsequently took the lineup to London, where the group came to the attention of Theo Johnson, owner of Jazzland Records and the Folkland subsidiary. Johnson signed Crooked Oak to Folkland for an album. Dutfield left before the recording, and fiddler Barry Walker joined Evans and Bagley for the sessions that produced From Little Acorns Grow.

From Little Acorns Grow

Crooked Oak released their debut album, From Little Acorns Grow, in 1976 on Folkland Records.

The album contains contemporary folk songs alongside traditional British and Irish repertory. Crooked Oak covers Pat Sky (“Jimmy Clay”), Allan Taylor (“The Morning Lies Heavy on Me,” “Cold Hard Town”), and Bernard Parry (“The Village Fool”). Evans contributes “Hold the Lantern High.” Instrumental sets pair Turlough O’Carolan with Irish-derived reels and airs.

“Hold the Lantern High” carries a Northumberland fishing-village narrative through clear, unadorned lead singing. Whistle and fiddle solos punctuate warm acoustic backing, while harmonies broaden selected passages.

A1. “Hold the Lantern High” (2:03) – Evans
A2. “Jimmy Clay” (5:37) – Sky
A3. “Lord Inchyquinn. Fairmoyne Lasses, Sporting Paddy” (3:34) – O’Carolan / Traditional
A4. “The Morning Lies Heavy on Me” (3:41) – Taylor
A5. “Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore” (5:55) – Traditional
A6. “The Morning Dew and the Oak Tree” (2:24) – Traditional

B1. “Cold Hard Town” (2:16) – Taylor
B2. “The Village Fool” (2:52) – Parry
B3. “Kilfonora Jig” (3:24) – Traditional
B4. “Green Mountain Home” (4:32) – uncredited songwriter
B5. “Air; Song of the Lonesome Boatman” (2:54) – Furey

Sessions took place at Riverside Studios with producer Theo Johnson, the folk-club intermediary who brought John Martyn to Island and produced London Conversation. Johnson also produced the contemporary Dave Keir album at TW Music and Riverside Recording through the Jazzland/Folkland operation. David Levine Smith engineered the Crooked Oak sessions. Frank Cassidy served as production assistant.

John Sanderson designed and laid out the laminated sleeve, where a brown-and-cream oak illustration carries the group name across the canopy above an acorn border. Rae Curry photographed the rear portrait beside a tree. Sanderson also handled layout and production assistance on the contemporary Dave Keir album from the same Johnson operation.

Crooked Oak secured the Folkland deal after a London appearance for label operator Theo Johnson. Barry Walker joined Evans and Bagley for the album after guitarist–citternist Andy Dutfield left the group.

The Foot O’wor Stairs

Crooked Oak released their second album, The Foot O’wor Stairs, in 1979 on Eron Enterprises.

The album draws on Northumbrian, Irish, and Scottish song and dance material. Crooked Oak credits all material as traditional arrangements except “Will Jobling,” an Andy Dutfield–Evans composition. Piper Keith Davidson and singer–multi-instrumentalist Alan Green replace Bagley and Walker in the final trio.

“The Piper’s Chair / The Legacy Jig” threads two Irish jigs into a compact paired set. “The Band o’ Shearers / Small Coals and Little Money / Felix the Wrestler” turns from a Scots border song to a Northumbrian pipe tune, then an Irish tune. “The Lowlands of Holland” darkens a Scots text within Crooked Oak’s mournful pipe-and-whistle sonority. “A U (Me) Hinny Burd? / Mr. Kennedy North” pairs a Tyneside song with Tom Clough’s manuscript-preserved tune.

“The Humours of Tulla / Cois an Ghiorria / Marquis of Tullibardine” links two Irish tunes to a Scots third section. “Will Jobling / I’ll Never Gan Tae Dark Cellar Nee Mer” joins a mining narrative to an archival tune from John Bell manuscripts. “Sir John Fenwick / Salmon Tails Up the Water” couples two Northumbrian tunes, with first drawn from a Jacobite gathering air. “The McGregors” settles on Rob Roy’s sons to “Haughs of Cromdale.”

A1. “Bonny Woodhall” (4:18) – Traditional
A2. “The Piper’s Chair / The Legacy Jig” (2:12) – Traditional
A3. “The Band O’ Shearers / Small Coals and Little Money / Felix the Wrestler” (5:38) – Traditional
A4. “The Lowlands of Holland” (4:35) – Traditional
A5. “A’ U (Me) Hinny Burd? / Mr. Kennedy North” (5:36) – Traditional

B1. “Lucy Grey of Allendale” (4:14) – Traditional
B2. “The Humours of Tulla / Cois an Ghiorria / Marquis of Tullibardine” (3:04) – Traditional
B3. “Will Jobling / I’ll Never Gan Tae the Dark Cellar Nee Mer” (4:01) – Dutfield–Evans / Traditional
B4. “Sir John Fenwick (The Flower Among Them All) / Salmon Tails Up the Water” (3:50) – Traditional
B5. “The McGregors” (4:00) – Traditional

Crooked Oak reached the album after an unreleased second Folkland project, Back to the Roots. Those sessions introduced Northumbrian piper Keith Davison as the intended replacement for Paul Bagley, who moved overseas. George Welsh and Paul Dickman subsequently left, and singer–multi-instrumentalist Alan Green completed the three-piece heard on The Foot O’wor Stairs.

Sessions took place at Soundlink Studios in Shieldfield, Newcastle upon Tyne, with producer Stu Lucky and engineer Ian Craig. Ray Staff mastered the disc at Trident Recording Studios in London, where the chief mastering engineer worked amid contemporary credits on David Bowie (Lodger) and Brand X (Product).

Rae Curry conceived and designed the sleeve from original photography. The front combines a stairway portrait of the trio with superimposed trees and foliage across the image. Scottish folk singer Ray Fisher contributed the sleeve note.

Postlude

Steve Evans eventually left Britain for Africa. In July 2011, he identified Port Harcourt, Nigeria, as his home and workplace while discussing Crooked Oak composition “Will Jobling.” Evans died after subsequent years in Africa.

Seelie Court returned From Little Acorns Grow to vinyl in 2021 with permission from Evans’ widow. The label reissued The Foot O’Wor Stairs on CD in November 2022. Good Time issued another CD edition of The Foot O’Wor Stairs in May 2026.

Discography: