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Fairport ConventionAlbums ReviewedFairport Convention (1968)What We Did On Our Holidays (1969) Unhalfbricking (1969) Liege & Lief (1969) Full House (1970) The Best of Sandy Denny (2002) Fairport Convention(1968)Although they're known as a folk-rock band, Fairport Convention started life as a more rock-oriented unit, almost the British equivalent of Jefferson Airplane. Guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, drummer Martin Lamble and bassist Ashley "Tyger" Hutchings would all stay with the group through their transition into folk, but singers Ian Macdonald and Judy Dyble were both gone from the group by the time their next album was released. While both do a good job here, especially Macdonald's sensitive voice, they're no match for the incomparable Sandy Denny who took the band to a new level when she joined for the next record. It's the group's other major force, 18 year old guitarist Richard Thompson, who takes a lot of the spotlight here, already showing an uncanny ability to deliver effective guitar work in a range of styles. As this implies, Fairport Convention isn't a focused debut, with a slightly confused mix of styles and sources, with covers of Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Emmitt Rhodes songs, along with a somewhat incongruous mixture of originals. The group deserve major kudos for their ability to deliver convincing performances in a variety of genres, but the overall product is patchy. Highlights include the opening pair of covers - Emmitt Rhodes' 'Time Will Show The Wiser' and Mitchell's 'I Don't Know Where I Stand' - both delivered with enthusiasm. The covers are well selected - the only one that's really a standard is Mitchell's 'Chelsea Morning', and this version is both superior and recorded two years prior to Mitchell's own interpretation. Thompson's 'Decameron' is the best of Fairport's compositions, a gentle and pretty folk piece. Each side of the original vinyl ends with a whimper; Dyble's piano spotlight 'Portfolio' is obvious filler, while 'M1 Breakdown' is the British equivalent of the throwaway car song you'd expect on an early Beach Boys record. There's obviously a ton of potential here, and some great moments, but it's unfocused and inconsistent enough that it's more interesting as a plot of the group's rapid development than as a strong record in its own right. 
What We Did On Our Holidays(1969)There's a significant transition here from a talented but unfocused young band, to a group who largely know what they're doing, and doing it superbly. There are still a couple of aimless pieces; the blues of Hutchings' 'Mr Lacey' is well executed but doesn't quite fit, while 'The Lord Is In This Place, How Dreadful Is This Place?' is an almost avant-garde mix of wordless vocals and guitar licks. Theses lapses aside, it's almost shocking how confident the rest of this album is. Fairport's song writing has improved immeasurably, with Thompson and Denny both contributing classic tracks, while two of the four covers are of traditional songs, a clear indication of the band's shift to a focus on a folk-oriented sound. Most significant of all, Sandy Denny is on board and is simply sublime - she upstages Ian Matthews (formerly McDonald) who appears here but who left before the album was released, and her sole writing credit 'Fotheringay' opens the album on a confident note. As good as 'Fotheringay' is, the most notable of the originals is Thompson's 'Meet On The Ledge', with a surprisingly dark atmosphere and intense guitar solos. Thompson also contributes two more overlooked winners, the driving and almost psychedelic 'Tale In Hard Time' and the accordion-centred 'No Man's Land', overall an impressive portfolio for a songwriter still in his teens. The covers of Dylan and Mitchell are both spectacular; Mitchell's never released 'Eastern Rain', and melodically it sounds of a piece to her debut with a fey folkie feel, but coupled with an intense arrangement it becomes something special. Dylan's 'I'll Keep It With Mine' is another highlight, and while the covers of the folk material aren't as revolutionary, along with 'Fotheringay' they point the direction forward for the group. What We Did On Our Holidays is still unfocused in places, but there's tons of brilliant stuff here, and it's a startling and timeless achievement for what, at this point, was still essentially a bunch of London teenagers.
 Unhalfbricking(1969)This one's often acknowledged as Fairport's peak but, to my ears at least, it seems a little disjointed and unfocused. The song-writing has been limited to four sources; Dylan, Denny, Thompson, and Traditional, but despite this it's actually less united in feel than its predecessor. While the originals are mostly terrific, the covers are less effective, and the contrasts between them are often distracting, from the throwaway single 'Si Tu Dois Partir', a French cover of Dylan's 'If You Gotta Go, Go Now', to the eleven minute epic 'A Sailor's Life', which is almost a case of experimentation for experimentation's sake. Uncharacteristically for Fairport, there are no line-up changes, although future member Dave Swarbrick guests on fiddle for half the tracks, Ian Matthews is back to sing harmonies on Dylan's 'Percy's Song' and another future member (and Denny's future husband) Trevor Lucas plays triangle on 'Si Tu Dois Partir'. The obvious classic here is Denny's 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes?', a subtle yet universal torch song that's almost something of a standard. Denny's other song, 'Autopsy', hasn't received as much attention, but it's retentively chilling and sombre. Thompson's opener 'Genesis Hall' is another highlight, a hyper-melodic folk piece that sounds like it was dug up from some fifteenth century, rather than written by a nineteen year old Londoner, which means that out of the group's originals, Thompson's genre exercise 'Cajun Woman' is the only throwaway. Enjoyment of Unhalfbricking, however, really hinges on whether you can handle the eleven minute experimentation of 'A Sailor's Life; I like it, but also think that the group did better with their more emotional readings of 'Matty Groves' and 'Tam Lin' from the following album. Of the Dylan covers, 'Percy's Song' is a wonderful choice, but also too repetitive and overlong at almost seven minutes, and a couple of verses could have been cut, while the bonus track 'Dear Landlord' is stronger than the other two Dylan songs on the record itself. You've got to admire Fairport's ambition and range on Unhalfbricking, and the best stuff here is pretty unique and impressive. It doesn't hang together as well as the more modest What We Did On Our Holidays, though.
Liege & Lief(1969)On the way home from a gig in Birmingham in April 1969, the group's van crashed, killing 19 year old Lamble as well as Thompson's fiancee. After briefly contemplating breaking up, Fairport recruited new drummer Dave Mattacks, while Swarbrick was also bought on board as an official member, leading the group into a more folk-focused sound. Delving deeper into the traditional vein that bought 'A Sailor's Life' on the previous record, Hutchings ransacked archives of obscure folk songs to unearth suitable material for the group to use. While 'A Sailor's Life' felt like primarily an experiment, these covers are much more faithful, with Denny infusing plenty of drama into the epics 'Matty Groves' and 'Tam Lin' and Swarbrick leading a run through the Celtic hoe down 'Toss The Feathers'. In fact 'Matty Groves' is among my ten favourite songs ever, an adulterous tale that feels suprisingly modern in its effortless decadence ("But bury my lady at the top/For she was of noble kin"), before opening out into a prime Thompson and Swarbrick jam. The atmospheric 'Reynardine' is another winner, while of the three Fairport-written tracks, opener 'Come All Ye' is slightly awkward and the weakest track here, but the two low-key Thompson songs dovetail nicely into the record and feel like they could have been dug up from sometime in the 14th century as well. Fairport Convention had been steadily building up to this peak since they began, and perhaps realising they would never top it, underwent their most significant lineup changes yet, with Denny and Hutchings leaving to form Fotheringay and Steeleye Span respectively. Still, this is one heck of a peak, and if you have any interest in British folk rock you need to hear Liege & Lief immediately.
Full House(1970)When Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention, the group justifiably decided that they'd never be able to find another vocalist who measured up to her, so they continued with Swarbrick and Thompson on lead vocals. Hutchings was replaced by Dave Pegg, who's a far more capable bass player, leaving the group with an absolute surfeit of instrumental talent. This is demonstrated in the break of 'Dirty Linen', where Swarbrick's violin is joined in turn by all the other instruments, building to a fast crescendo and showcasing the virtuosity of each member. Coupled with Thompson's growing song-writing, this project has a lot of potential, but doesn't quite reach it, with monotonous material in places. The major problem is its lack of diversity - while the sole folk focus worked for the Denny fronted Liege & Lief, Full House is left wanting some of the diverse influences like blues, Cajun and psychedelia that informed past records. This determinedly medieval feel is reinforced by Thompson's bizarre liner notes where the song characters and other luminaries take part in a series of blood thirsty and archaic sports. The above criticisms aside, Full House is a fine album and it's worth picking up just for its central track, the low key and lengthy 'Sloth', which on initial plays is unremarkable before revealing itself as one of Thompson's best and most unique compositions. The other major highlight is the rollicking 'Sir Patrick Spens', which opens side two of the LP version, a melodic traditional sea shanty. Thompson requested that his 'Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman' be removed from the LP version, but restored to the tracklist on the new CD version it's one of the better songs here and the album would feel thin and incomplete without it. Some of the remaining songs are somewhat inessential - the opening track is another rousing opener that doesn't quite work, a la 'Come All Ye' from Liege & Lief, based on the traditional air 'Bonaparte's Retreat', while the second instrumental medley 'Flatback Caper' is somewhat superfluous. The bonus tracks are noticeably substantial, with two versions of the non album single 'Now Be Thankful' and the epic 'Bonny Bunch of Roses'. Fairport's debut was released in mid 1968 and Full House was released in mid 1970, which means that within two years, Fairport Convention had released five often excellent studio albums, lost six members (Thompson quit for a solo career shortly after this album's release, leaving Nicol as the only original member) and invented electric British folk rock, as well as spawning Steeleye Span, The Albion Band and Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny's solo careers. The band is still active, but with the possible exception of Denny's comeback album, 1975's Rising For The Moon, I'm more interested in the above spinoff projects rather than the band itself after 1970.
Sandy DennyThe Best Of Sandy Denny(2002)It's obvious from Sandy Denny's contributions to early Fairport Convention that she was a brilliant singer, with a pure and soulful voice, and that she had at least one great song in her, 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes', which she wrote when she was only 20. Still, even those impressive facts fail to serve as adequate preparation for exactly how impressive this ten track solo collection is; while she's not a household name by any stretch of the imagination, based on this record she's up alongside luminaries like Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro as the best female singer-songwriter of the pre-punk era. Emerging in the sixties folk movement, when no women wrote their own songs, Denny's writing is eclectic and emotive, while her fluent piano and guitar playing anchor each track. Adding to this, she enlists outstanding backing musicians, with the lead guitar work from Fairport alumni Richard Thompson and Jerry Donahue adding another dimension to each track, and folk rock veteran Pat Donaldson adding melodic bass lines underneath. To give an idea of how strong Denny's songs on this collection are, her composition 'Fotheringay' opened What We Did On Our Holidays and it's an excellent song, yet it's not missed here at all. The story begins with the standard 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes?', from Fairport's Unhalfbricking, before moving into 'Nothing More' from her post-Fairport band Fotheringay. The bulk of the album comes from her first three solo records; the impressionistic 'Late November' from The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, three tracks from 1972's Sandy and 'Like An Old Fashioned Waltz' and the soaring 'Solo' from 1973's Old Fashioned Waltz. The icing comes in the form of the emotional eight minute epic of 'One More Chance' from 1975, where Denny had rejoined Fairport Convention alongside husband Trevor Lucas, taking the band to a moment of greatness to match their late sixties peaks. The closing 'I'm A Dreamer' is taken from her final album, 1977's Rendezvous, a surprisingly optimistic note from Denny's often dark writing. In April 1978 Denny fell down a flight of stairs in her house, providing the title for Richard and Linda Thompson's 'Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed?' and tragically ending the career of one of the most talented female musicians. The only reason any rock or folk fan wouldn't want this album is because they'd prefer to take the long route and check out all her albums individually, or perhaps pick up her two disc No More Sad Refrains. Denny is only known among dedicated music fans, but her angelic voice, impressive song writing and strong musicianship deserve wider attention as she's arguably the most neglected musician of her era.
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
