Fairport Convention
Cropredy Festival 2007 [no label, 1CD]
Live at the Cropredy Festival, Oxfordshire, UK, August 10, 2007.
Fairport Convention's fourth album, Liege & Lief ("loyal and ready" in Middle English), needs no introduction. The 1969 album has been regarded by many as the definitive British folk-rock album, and generally acknowledged as Fairport's finest work.
It was voted the "most important folk album of all time" by BBC Radio 2 listeners in 2002, and "Most Influential Folk Album Of All Time" by public vote for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2006. According to Mark McCulloch on the Fairport website (
www.fairportconvention.com), the LP marked the transition of Fairport Convention from a rock band that used folk music as an influence on their sound into a band that specialised in reinterpreting traditional English music.
McCulloch wrote: "Fairport had thrown themselves into the electrification of ballads, myths, and rollicking jigs with innovative and stimulating effect. Guitarist Simon Nicol recalls drummer Dave Mattacks 'getting a tremendous charge out of it, inventing a whole new form of drumming without knowing it.' Many of the songs were premiered on long-time supporter John Peel's BBC radio show Top Gear. Peel commented that these were the songs that would 'sail them into uncharted waters,' and as was so often the case, Peel was correct."
As reported in the wikipedia, before recording the album in November 1969, the band was involved in a tragic accident which claimed the lives of drummer Martin Lamble and Jeannie Franklyn, Richard Thompson's girlfriend. However the remaining members decided to continue. By then, vocalist Iain Matthews was replaced by Dave Mattacks and Dave Swarbrick (fiddle, viola) joined the group.
Apart from being a critical success (Liege & Lief was launched with a sell-out concert in London's Royal Festival Hall), the album was also a high-water point for the group, after which bassist Ashley Hutchings left to join Steeleye Span and Sandy Denny left for Fortheringay (and a subsequent solo career). Denny died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1978 at the Atkinson Morley Hospital, after falling down a flight of stairs. She was 31.
At the BBC radio 2 Folk awards 2006, the 1969 line-up of Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Mattacks with the addition of Chris While in place of Sandy Denny performed Matty Groves. The same lineup then performed the album in its entirety at Cropredy Festival 2007.
Reviewing the Cropredy concert in The Guardian, Robin Denselow wrote: "The result was rousing, highly emotional and still sounded bravely experimental. Described by Simon Nicol as 'the best advertisement for the National Health Service' after surviving serious illness (and an obituary in one national newspaper), Dave Swarbrick was back in rousing form on tunes like The Lark In The Morning. Denny's place was taken by Chris While, who showed she could stand up well against the enthusiastic band, whether on the dramatic Matty Groves or that exquisite early Richard Thompson song, Farewell, Farewell. This was surely one of the events of the year."
Thanks to youngsbest who recorded the excellent BBC broadcast (FM) and shared the lossless tracks on the internet. A word of thanks also goes to davies51 for the artwork. Youngsbest adds: "The first three songs (plus intros) were a continuous broadcast, after which interviews were interspersed between songs. I have chopped out the interviews to make as seemless a performance as possible, and put them as one track at the end."
Track01 Come All Ye (7.6MB)
Track02 Reynardine (5.7MB)
Track03 Band Introductions (4.1MB)
Track04 Matty Groves (10.1MB)
Track05 Farewell, Farewell (4.4MB)
Track06 The Deserter (5.4MB)
Track07 Medley: The Lark in the Morning/Rakish Paddy/Foxhunter's Jigs/Toss The Feathers (6.0MB)
Track08 Tam Lin (11.1MB)
Track09 Crazy Man Michael (6.8MB)
Track10 Interviews (13.0MB)
Lineup:
Simon Nicol - guitar
Dave Mattacks - drums
Richard Thompson - guitar
Ashley Hutchings - bass
Dave Swarbrick - fiddle, viola
Chris While - vocals
artwork incl.
http://rapidshare.com/files/10241798...81007.zip.html
Threaded Mode