Fairport Convention album by album thread

Yes. An essential part of Fp history, in spite of primitive (off air?) sound. Sits nicely alongside the debut album.

 

IT ALL COMES 'ROUND AGAIN (VHS Video) December 1987



A documentary history of the Band's first 20 years using concert footage from Cropredy 1987 as well as some archive footage.
Also features interviews with Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Dave Swarbrick, Richard Thompson,
Dave Mattacks, Ric Sanders, Maartin Allcock, Joe Boyd and Patrick Humphries.

Issues:

UK - Island Visual Arts IVA 002 (December 1987) / Later issues by Island Visual Arts No. 0832443
USA - Fairport Associates Ltd. Partnership (No Number) (December 1987)
(Approximately 300 copies were produced in the first issue sleeve with blue printing on a background consisting of a montage of band photos.
After this the cover was re-designed and became the more familiar second issue).
AUSTRALIA - Island Visual Arts 83076 (1988)

Track Listing:

01. The Lark In The Morning Medley (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) 4'21"
02. Cat On The Mixer / Three Left Feet (Maartin Allcock) 3'41"
03. Time Will Show The Wiser (Emitt L. Rhodes) 2'58"
04. A Sailor's Life (Trad. Arr. A.L. Lloyd) 10'24"
05. Come All Ye [Excerpt] (Audio Only) (Sandy Denny / Ashley Hutchings) 1'25"
06. The Hen's March Through The Midden / The Four Poster Bed (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) 2'08"
07. Now Be Thankful (Richard Thompson / Dave Swarbrick) 2'18"
08. Hand Of Kindness (Richard Thompson) 6'25"
09. Angel Delight [Excerpt] (Dave Swarbrick / Dave Pegg / Simon Nicol / Dave Mattacks) 0'10"
10. Rosie (Dave Swarbrick) 5'01"
11. Polly On The Shore (Music: Dave Pegg, Lyrics: Trad. Arr. Trevor Lucas / Dave Swarbrick) 3'43"
12. Solo (Sandy Denny) 3'37"
13. Adieu Adieu [Excerpt] (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) 0'30"
14. Fiddlestix (Pipe Major W. Ross / Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) 3'55"
15. The Hiring Fair (Ralph McTell / Dave Mattacks) 6'25"
16. Matty Groves (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) / The Rutland Reel (Ric Sanders) / Sack The Juggler (Ric Sanders) 9'01"
17. Meet On The Ledge (Richard Thompson) 2'49"
18. Portmerion [Excerpt] (Ric Sanders) 2'39"


Track Sources:

Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16 were filmed live at Cropredy on 15 August 1987
Track 3 is from the French TV show " Bouton Rouge" broadcast live on 27 April 1968
Track 5 (Audio Only Excerpt) is from " Liege & Lief" (Island Records ILPS 9115)
Track 7 is from the film " Fairport Convention At Maidstone" filmed on 5 July 1970 at " Maidstone Fiesta" later issued on video in 1991 as " Live At Maidstone 1970" (Musikfolk Limited MF 01)
Track 9 (Audio Only Excerpt) is from " Angel Delight" (Island Records ILPS 9162)
Track 11 is taken from an Island Records Promotional Film
Track 12 was filmed on 22 June 1974 at Birmingham University by Guild TV (Birmingham University Film Club)
Track 13 was filmed on 5 May 1978 at Birmingham University by Guild TV (Birmingham University Film Club)
Track 17 is taken from " What We Did On Our Holidays" (Island Records ILPS 9092)
Track 18 is taken from " Expletive Delighted" (Woodworm Records WR 009)

Musicians:

Simon Nicol - Electric Guitar (Tracks 1-5, 7-9, 13, 16, 17), Acoustic Guitar (Tracks 6, 10, 15, 18), Vocals (Tracks 15, 16), Backing Vocals (Tracks 5, 7, 10)
Ric Sanders - Violin (Tracks 1, 2, 4, 14-16, 18)
Dave Pegg - Bass Guitar (Tracks 1, 2, 6-16, 18), Backing Vocals (Track 7)
Dave Mattacks - Drums (Tracks 1, 2, 4-12, 14, 16), Keyboards (Track 15)
Maartin Allcock - Electric Guitar (Tracks 1, 2, 16), Bass Guitar (Track 4), Keyboards (Tracks 8, 10, 14), Acoustic Guitar (Track 15)
Richard Thompson - Electric Guitar (Tracks 3, 4, 7, 8, 17), Vocals (Track 8), Backing Vocals (Track 7)
Dave Swarbrick - Violin (Tracks 5-7, 9-14), Vocals (Tracks 7, 9, 10), Backing Vocals (Track 5)
Jerry Donahue - Electric Guitar (Tracks 6, 10-12, 14)
Sandy Denny - Vocals (Tracks 5, 12, 17), Piano (Track 12)
Judy Dyble - Vocals (Track 3)
Iain Matthews - Vocals (Tracks 3, 17)
Ashley Hutchings - Bass Guitar (Tracks 3, 5, 17), Backing Vocals (Track 5)
Martin Lamble - Drums (Tracks 3, 17)
Trevor Lucas - Acoustic Guitar (Track 11, 12), Vocals (Track 11)
Bruce Rowland - Drums (Track 13)
with
June Tabor - Vocals (Track 4)

Small cover scans of the various issues can be found in the link below. The copy I have is USA - 2nd Cover.
AFAIK this video documentary has never been officially released on any format other than VHS.

http://www.musikfolk.co.uk/expletive-delighted/video-itallcomes.htm

 

Red & Gold (December 1988)



Red & Gold is a 1988 album by folk rock band Fairport Convention.

The album was released on the Rough Trade label, leading David Fricke, Rolling Stone's reviewer to comment:
"Britain's oldest surviving folk-rock band allied to the archetypal indie punk record label!
Even for Fairport Convention, which has defied time, tide and trauma in its pursuit of the electric folk dream, that's pushing it."

The title track was written by Ralph McTell, and tells the story of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, which occurred in 1644 during the English Civil War.
The location has strong links with Fairport Convention, being the venue of their annual music festival;
the story is told from the perspective of a farm worker, Will Timms, who describes "red and gold" as "royal colours",
while the red itself represents the spilled blood of combatants and the gold the wheat fields in which the battle took place.

The album entered the UK album chart on 28 January 1989, spending one week at No. 74.

Track listing:

"Set Me Up" (Dave Whetstone) - 4:23
"The Noise Club" (Maartin Allcock) - 3:12
"Red and Gold" (Ralph McTell) - 6:44
"The Beggar's Song" (Trad. arr. Allcock) - 3:33
"The Battle" (Ric Sanders) - 1:09
"Dark Eyed Molly" (Archie Fisher) - 4:34
"The Rose Hip" (Sanders) - 4:24
"London River" (Rod Shearman) - 2:59
"Summer Before the War" (Huw Williams) - 4:33
"Open the Door Richard" (Bob Dylan) - 4:57

Bonus track on 1995 reissue:

"Close to the Wind" (live) (Marson) - 6:09

Release history:

1988, December : New Routes RUE 002 UK LP[5]
1989, January : New Routes RUE CD 002 UK CD
1989 : Rough Trade ROUGH US 63 US LP & CD
1989 : Accord 104481 France LP & cassette/104482 CD
1989 : Possum VPL 1-6812 Australia LP & Cassette
1991, December : Woodworm Records WRC 018 UK Cassette & CD
1995, November : HTD Records HTD CD 47 UK CD
1996 : Scana STAR 2002-2 Sweden, CD
2000, January : Transatlantic TRACD 333 UK CD (Export Only)
2001, June : Talking Elephant TECD 014
2002, July : Castle Music America 06076 81177-2 US CD

Personnel:

Maartin Allcock: guitars, bouzouki, mandolin, accordion, keyboards, vocals[6]
Ric Sanders: violin
Dave Pegg: acoustic & bass guitars, vocals
Dave Mattacks: drums, percussion, keyboards, harpsichord
Simon Nicol: guitars, vocals, dobro

Tim Matyear: engineer
Rob Braviner & Mark Tucker: engineering
John Dent: mastering
Mike Dolan: mixing
David Gleeson & Spencer Richards: artwork
Malcolm Holmes: booklet design
Dawn Robertson & John Woodward: cover photography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_&_Gold

 

This is by far my favorite album by this Fairport lineup. Not a bad track on it.

 

From the Live Legends DVD, FC performing the Ralph McTell ballad Red and Gold at Birmingham Town Hall, February 12, 1990.

 

Thought I'd give the thread a bump.

I really like the first side of this album a lot. Catchy opening track, catchy instrumental, nice historical ballad, cheesily irresistable trad song (with the boys taking turns at the mic) and a brief but fine instrumental.

Side two is perfectly pleasant -- there's not a song I dislike -- but it's all too EZ-listening/new agey, a problem that (IMO) would afflict the next album even more. The Dylan cover is fine but isn't a revelatory reworking like "Si Tu Dois Partir" or "Million Dollar Bash." Still, one of the better post-reunion albums.

 

I have to concur with the prior opinions, definitely one of the better latter albums from Fairport.

 

Interestingly, very few of the songs from this album have retained any kind of popularity in the live set for some considerable time now.

Best Wishes
David

 

Anyone else hear the rumor that Fairport and Richard Thompson are touring together this fall ? A usually reliable source mentioned this to me over the weekend.

 

Thnaks! for this thread. It has been a great read, so far.

 

I've not seen anything on the Fairport website about this - unless of course I've missed it? They're usually quite prompt about advertising forthcoming tours.

Best Wishes
David

 

Haven't heard anything about them touring together. Maybe it was this:

http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=1494

 

I know about this, I will be there actually. This is supposedly a seperate tour. Yeah, none of the band/RT sites mention anything so who knows if it`s true.

 

Anyone a fan of the box set?

 

Which box set are you referring to? There are many.

Best Wishes
David

 

...And the rest of their career to date, though there have been many, many bright spots over the years. I think that SImon Nicol's natural tendency is a bit musically conservative and his preference is to be a balladeer. I enjoy modern Fairport the most when they leave the comfort zone, but this doesn't always happen.

 

love Red and Gold, favorites include London river and Open the Door Richard. The title track is sublime.

 

As far as later albums,"Jewel in the Crown" is the last album that I consider truly great by them, musically and production wise. I am also a big fan of "Expletive Delighted" which does not seem to get a lot of mentions, very muscular musicianship, some of it even "Prog." oriented.

 

"Over the Next Hill" is my favorite of the latter day batch. Far more diverse and less ballad-heavy (though you have to like Chris Leslie who's become a really strong presence).

 

Fairport Unconventional box?

 

Hmmm ... I'm not a big fan of either the Fairport Unconventional or the Cropredy Capers box sets. The documentation is superb in both, and they pull together a lot of rarities, but they are almost the definition of fan service and - thanks to some "variable quality" source recordings - they make for a bad way to hear the band.

On the other hand, I do like The Cropredy Box, which is a lot more modest in its ambitions but puts together a really nice overview of Fairport.

 

Glad you like "The Cropredy Box", I did some of the primary photography for that album !

 

and you'll be again in just a few months... wish i could be there with you.

 

For me it's not a bad way to hear FC- because I'v eheard the albums so many times. I find the different versions provide something new. Agreed, it wouldn't be a good intro toFC for a newcomer.

 

This is probably my fav Fariport album , it is a real under rated classic 5/5 from me