Spriguns Of Tolgus - Jack With A Feather (Reissue) (1975/1992)

Formed: Cambridge, UK 1972
Status as of December 2017: Disbanded 1978

The Spriguns (of Tolgus) were a duo formed by husband and wife Mike (bass guitar, vocals) and Mandy Morton (vocals, guitar, dulcimer), playing traditional folk music not dissimilar to early STEELEYE SPAN. The "Spriguns" part of the name is for a malignant Cornish pixie, while Tolgus was the name of a tin mine in Cornwall.

Mandy and Mike opened The Anchor Folk Club in Cambridge, gradually enlisting more musicians. Their first release was a poorly recorded cassette-only set of songs called "Rowdy Dowdy Day". Luckily they soon came to the attention of Steeleye Span's Tim Hart who produced their first album proper,"Jack With Feather", in 1973. Six months later, they dropped the "Of Tolgus" suffix and signed with Decca Records. The band recorded "Revel Weird and Wild" in 1975,again produced by Tim Hart. The sound was becoming rockier but they hadn't forgotten their traditional roots. This album featured famed pedal steel player BJ Cole.

In 1977, during the height of Punk, Spriguns recorded their final album,"Time Will Pass". This time production duties fell to the respected Sandy Roberton. The orchestration on the album was conducted by Robert Kirby, famous for his work with NICK DRAKE and STRAWBS amongst many others. Their sound was now much more rock oriented and lush, similar to TREES or MELLOW CANDLE in style, with some excellent long guitar solos. Not long after the albums release, Mike and Mandy left Decca for shrouded reasons and gathered a mostly new set of musicians. As MANDY MORTON AND SPRIGUNS, they released one album in 1978 on their own Banshee Records. The style paid homage to SANDY DENNY who passed away during recording, prompting an album name change to "Magic Lady". Among guesting musicians was Graeme Taylor, formerly of GRYPHON.

Splitting with Mike, Mandy released two well received albums through Polydor Scandinavia in the early 1980s and then opted for a career in radio. Mike passed away in his 40s, but little further information is available on his post-Spriguns life and death.

While they were clearly second tier from a popularity perspective in 1970s British folk rock, SPRIGUNS were a talented collection of musicians revolving around the duo, and, more specifically, Mandy Morton, and have attained something of a cult status in the intervening years.