FAIRPORT CONVENTION

Fairport Convention are often credited with being the first British folk-rock band. Fairport rapidly developed from playing cover versions of American 'west coast' style music to an individual style which melded rock music with traditional English tunes and songs. Throughout it’s first decade the band went through  numerous personnel changes only Richard Thompson would stand the test of time. Fairport Convention was temporarily disbanded in 1979 but played annual reunion concerts until it reformed in 1985. Since then, they have enjoyed stability and continue to tour and record regularly.

The band was formed in 1967, in the underground clubs of London, by a group of folk musicians, Richard Thompson (guitarist), Ian Matthews (singer) and Ashley Hutchings (bassist). Their first album was Fairport Convention (Polydor, 1968), a mixture of original songs and covers from American folksingers. Following the suggestions of their producer, Joe Boyd, the band recruited singer Sandy Denny who had formerly played in the Strawbs, they set about abandoning all Byrds’ clichés and gave preference to the writing of original songs.

Fairport Convention didn't reach their peak until Dyble was replaced after the first album in 1968 by Sandy Denny, who had previously recorded both as a solo act and with the Strawbs. Denny's penetrating, resonant style qualified her as the best British folk-rock singer of all time, and provided Fairport with the best vocalist they would ever have. What We Did on Our Holidays (1969) and Unhalfbricking (1969) are their best albums, mixing strong originals, excellent covers of contemporary folk-rock songs by the likes of Mitchell and Dylan, and imaginative revivals of traditional folk songs that mixed electric and acoustic instruments with a beguiling ease.

Matthews had left the band in early 1969, and Lamble (still in his teens) died in an accident involving the group's equipment van in mid-1969. That forced Fairport to regroup, replacing Lamble with Dave Mattacks, and adding Dave Swarbrick on fiddle. Their repertoire, too, became much more traditional in focus, and electrified traditional folk numbers would dominate their next album, Liege and Lief (1969). Here critical thought diverges; some insist that this is unequivocally their peak, marking a final escape from their '60s folk-rock influences into a much more original style. This school of thought severely underestimates their song writing talents, and others feel that they were at their best when mixing original and outside material, and contemporary and traditional styles, in fact becoming more predictable and derivative when they opted to concentrate on British folk chestnuts.

The Liege and Lief line-up didn't last long; by the end of the '60s, Ashley Hutchings had left to join Steeleye Span, replaced by Dave Pegg. More crucially, Denny was also gone, helping to form Fotheringay. Thompson was still on board for Full House (1970), but by the beginning of 1971 he too had departed, leaving Nicol as the only original member.

Fairport have kept going, on and off (mostly on), touring and performing frequently. It may be too harsh to dismiss all of their post-Thompson records out of hand; Angel Delight (1971), the first recorded without the guitarist on board, was actually their highest-charting LP in the U.K., reaching the Top Ten. Nicol's exit in late 1971 erased all vestiges of connections to their salad days. Fairport was now not so much a continuous entity as a concept, carried on by musicians dedicated to the electrified British folk style that had been mapped out on Liege and Lief.

So it continues to this day, supported by a devoted fan base Dirty Linen, the top American roots music magazine, originally began as a Fairport Convention fanzine. Denny would actually return to the group for about a year and a half in the 1970s, prior to her death in 1978; Nicol rejoined in 1976. Keeping track of Fairport's multitudinous line-up changes is a daunting task, and the group has coexisted on an erratic basis with the various other projects of the most frequent members Nicol, Mattacks, and Pegg. They played annual reunion concerts during the 1980s and '90s, events that turned into some of the most popular folk festivals in Europe. The year 2000 was marked by the very successful 'Y2K' tour and a new studio album, The Wood And The Wire. In 2002, Fairport Convention celebrated 35 years as a band and released a new album, the appropriately titled XXXV. They also commissioned Fairport-branded 'Anniversary Ale', a bottled beer from Wadworth Brewery. The band undertook a gruelling schedule, touring the UK Europe, Australasia, Europe, the USA and Canada Fairport Convention won the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their seminal album Liege And Lief was voted' Best Folk Album Ever' by Radio 2 listeners

The most distinguished graduates of Fairport, however, have continued to shape the British folk and folk-rock scene with notable solo and group projects. Richard Thompson is one of the most critically acclaimed singer/songwriters in the world; Ian Matthews made some interesting recordings as a solo act and with Plainsong and Matthews Southern Comfort; Denny sang with Fotheringay and released several solo albums before her death; and Hutchings carried on the most traditional face of British folk-rock with Steeleye Span, the Albion Band, and the Etchingham Steam Band.

Gallagher is the man who, without question, spearheaded and influenced the entire Irish rock movement.  

  DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUMS

Fairport Convention June 1968 What We Did on Our Holidays January 1969 Unhalfbricking July 1969 Liege & Lief December 1969 Full House July 1970 Angel Delight June 1971 Babbacombe Lee November 1971 The Manor Album 1972 History of Fairport Convention 1972 Rosie March 1973 Nine October 1973 Fairport Live Convention July 1974 Rising for the Moon June 1975 Tour Sampler (UK Only issue) 1975 Gottle O'Geer May 1976 Fairport Chronicles July 1976 Live at the L.A. Troubadour January 1977 The Bonny Bunch of Roses February 1977 Tipplers Tales May 1978 *Farewell Farewell(aka Encore Encore) 1979 Moat On The Ledge - Live At Broughton Castle 1982 Gladys' Leap 1985 Expletive Delighted 1986 House Full June 1986 In Real Time (live at Cropredy) 1987 Heyday 1987 Red and Gold 1989 The Five Seasons December 1990 The Woodworm Years 1991 25th Anniversary Concert October 1994 Jewel in the Crown June 1995 Old New Borrowed Blue July 1996 Who Knows Where the Time Goes 1997 The Cropredy Box 1998 Meet On the Ledge: The Classic Years 1967-1975 1999 Cropredy 98 1999 The Wood and the Wire July 2000 XXXV February 2002 Rhythm Of The Times (1985 - 1990) February 2003 Over the Next Hill September 2004 The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood 2004 Journeyman's Grace 2005 Off The Desk 2006 Sense of Occasion February 2007 Live at the BBC 2007

SINGLES

"If (Stomp)"/"If I Had a Ribbon Bow" February 1968, (Track Records) "Meet on the Ledge"/"Throwaway Street Puzzle" December 1968 (Island) "I'll Keep It With Mine"/"Fotheringay" - 1969 "Si Tu Dois Partir"/"Genesis Hall" - July 1969 Chart: #21 [1] "If (Stomp)"/"Chelsea Morning" - April 1970 (Polydor Records) "Now Be Thankfull"/"Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament..." - September 1970 (Island) "Walk Awhile"/"Sir Patrick Spens" - Late 1970 "Sickness & Diseases"/"Wizard Of Wordly Game" - 1971 "John Lee"/"The Time Is Near" - February 1972 (Island) "The World Has Surely Lost Its Head"/"The Journeyman's Grace" - February 1972 "Rosie"/"Knights of the Road" - February 1973, Island "Rosie"/"Fiddlestix" - May 1973 "The Devil In The Kitchen"/"Possibly Parsons Green" - January 1974 "White Dress"/"Tears" - 1975, Island "Si Tu Dois Partir"/"White Dress" - August 1975 "Jams O'Donnell's Jig"/"The Last Waltz" - June 1978 "Rubber Band"/"The Bonny Black Hare" - March 1980 "Quazi-Be-Goode"/"Where Would You Rather Be Tonight?" - August 1986 "Meet On The Ledge"/"Sigh Beg Sigh Mor"

  RELATED T O

LINDISFARNE

FAMILY

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