Drake and the String Band were an acquired taste that I never quite acquired but all involved were great musicians.
That would be Dave Mattacks. Poor Martin, but his misfortune left an opening for another great drummer.
I haven't had as much interest in recent years but Thompson remains one of my favorite songwriters. I caught his trio back in November 2018 and it was a revelation to hear him play live. So much more powerful than the records. Richard is in great physical condition and his humorous banter is always enjoyable.
We saw him last night in Keene, NH and it was an excellent show! It's always amazing to watch him play guitar and try to figure out how he gets such sounds out of the instrument. His banter is always entertaining. Last night he mentioned a story he wrote in his memoir about walking 10 miles to his home after a Who show at the Marquee because the tube didn't run that late back in the day. He still remembers the show to this day and opened his shirt to reveal that he was wearing an old-style Who t-shirt underneath. He said it was a replica as he probably couldn't fit into the original. He's going into the studio soon to start work on a new record too.
He actually did a couple of Pete Townshend style leaps in the air at the show back in 2018. I'm not sure if he still does this at age 73?
Saw him back in 2015. He did the Townsend jumps and I would be surprised if he couldn't do them now. A bit of a miracle man, that Richard.
Full House. Released July 1970 Island Records. Side one No. Title Length 1. "Walk Awhile" 3:57 2. "Doctor of Physick" 3:37 3. "Dirty Linen" 4:17 4. "Sloth" 9:19 Side two No. Title Length 5. "Sir Patrick Spens" 3:30 6. "Flatback Caper" 6:24 7. "Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman" 5:31 8. "Flowers of the Forest" The original vinyl issue of this album without Poor Will And The Jolly Hangman was good but not great to me. The CD re-issue a few years back that restored that track and included Now That Thankful and the group's excellent demo(?) of the Bonny Bunch Of Roses is, to me, Fairport meets the Doors as it's musically structured like The End. It's now a complete masterpiece. It's my favorite early album along with Heyday. The players are again: Thompson, Swarbrick, Nicol, Peggy and Mattacks. This album contains some of Richard's darkest and macabre lyrics. I wish he brought them along to the "Henry The Human Fly Album", but that's a ways off into the future.
Good album. Sandy is gone so we get some charmingly awkward vocals from the guys, and some blazing instrumental work.
Yes, I declined to mention that Sandy and Ashley departed after L&L, but you Fairport fans hopefully knew that.
The three Fairport albums that feature Sandy Denny are all excellent. Each has its own unique character and each features some top-notch early RT composition. Sandy's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" from Unhalfbricking is widely recognized now as a folk-rock classic. Richard still speaks admiringly of Denny and regularly includes the song in his live sets (predictably he does the song justice). I've heard him say more than once how proud he is to have played on the original recording.
I think that the vocals get short shrift on this album. The harmonizing on songs like Sloth and Sir Patrick Spens is excellent.
I saw him Nov 2018 in Boston (Allston?) Great show! Incredible vitality. First time I'd ever heard him play Tale In Hard Time.
The first time I saw RT live was in 1994, he was backed by Danny Thompson on upright bass and Dave Mattacks on drums, both regular collaborators. But he had a guest spot for Iain Matthews, the highlight being Reno, Nevada, a regular early Fairport live piece. RT does like to workout on that song. That was a really great show. This is from a radio session the early line up recorded.
