Angel Delight is a great one. Rosie is the only one of the first nine Fairport albums I don't love. Nine is fantastic. Because there was so much Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson music to get (I need a lot more of his) I haven't got any Fairport albums after Nine. I will pick more up in time. So much music, so little money!
I think there's a tendency among the Hipperati to disregard any Fairport album that doesn't feature Richard Thompson and/or Sandy Denny. They're both brilliant, for sure, but it does mean that there's some wonderful stuff that gets overlooked. Agree with you on Angel Delight. Phenomenal from start to finish.
There's a lot of great stuff on Rosie, I reckon. The Trevor Lucas songs, The Hen's March, Matthew Mark Luke & John etc. Unlike many fans, I even like the two Peggy contributions. What makes it sound slightly uneven for me, are Swarb's songs (the gospel writers aside). They are all lovely but they are such a different style to the rest of the material, it gives the album a slightly schizophrenic feel. They would have been a much better fit on Rising For The Moon. Having said that, it's still an album I spin quite regularly so I've obviously got used to its Janus like approach over the years. Agreed on Nine. It's terrific. Babbacombe Lee is the one I struggle with, for some reason. I must try harder with it. Hope Chemically Altered doesn't mind us discussing these albums out of order!
Hopefully not! I haven't played Rosie much or for a very long time. It's the only one I don't own as I got given a promo CD-R when it was remastered. I tend to forget I have it. I wasn't impressed with it then, but it was a long time ago. I'll revisit Rosie soon. Probably when this thread gets to it. I like Babbacombe Lee, but it's the kind of album I have to be in the mood for. It's not a mood I'm often in!
The LP of this was one of my first Fairport albums. Sublime stuff. The version of I Don't Know Where I Stand is my highlight. I bought the expanded remaster then the Fairport and Sandy four disc BBC sets afterwards. There's something special about Fairport at the BBC.
Criminally underrated. Jack O Diamonds, Time Will Show the Wiser, I Don't Know Where I Stand, Chelsea Morning, The Lobster...if that lineup had held together they'd all be Fairport classics now.
The Dave Swarbrick and Martin Carthy sets also from Free Reed are worth every penny. Two of my favourite box sets. The Uncoventional box set has suffered from much of the earlier material being subsequently released in other packages as well - but its a great addition and has some fabulous info within the book.
If you buy from Free Reed now they've run out of the booklets and sometimes the actual box so you just get the CDs which is a bummer.
I managed to find this and Unhalfbricking on vinyl at a car boot sale for a pound each bach in the nineties. The version of Suzanne is stunning.
Think they are just selling of scraps of whats left. The haven't produced any new releases for a while.....Check out Discogs and ebay though...the Swarbrick one was on ebay for £35 the other day.
Yes it is. Sandy Denny's entrance on the song with the line: "When Jesus was a sailor..." is one of the most spine-tingling moments in all of rock's history. Thompson is superb on there too with his chop-chop guitar.
There was an issue of Prog magazine with a nice multi-page feature on Judy (and some vintage photos printed large) and included a short CD with a couple of rarities from her 'missing years' (one song A Better Side Of Me mentions St. Albans and was written and recorded by another woman whose name escapes me, but I liked the Judy cover equally to her own) and then some previews from then forthcoming new recordings. I think the same Prog also had a feature on John Renbourn if I remember correctly, an unusual issue of the mag.
