Let us now praise Fairport Convention's "Liege & Lief"

Ten Man Mop is the other one to look for, it's got one of the key Steeleye tracks on it - 'When I Was on Horseback'

Below The Salt has its moments too, but the first three albums are definitely the ones you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q4BrtuM5mU

Don't know if Tom was talking about that particular song when he mentioned VU btw, but there is a comparison to be made right there.

the first three albums are definitely the ones you need

otm

Don't know if Tom was talking about that particular song when he mentioned VU btw, but there is a comparison to be made right there.

That's exactly the song! That's the song that got me into them!

would love to hear lou sing the "wasn't i gay" part

LOL

Easiest way to get the classic Hutchings stuff is to get the Lark In The Morning 2cd on Sanctuary. Think it may contain a couple of bonus tracks.
the r'n'r single?

The next 5 lps are available on a 3cd set too
A Parcel of Steeleye Span.

both of those sets go pretty cheap.

There was an edition of each of the first 3 with a bonus disc of live material a few years back. i never investigated since I had the Lark In The Morning set. Not sure what quality the live material had. Would like to cos I haven't found Hutchings era stuff torrented, earliest I've found is '73

i listened to this every week when i was in college.... not so much for about a decade thereafter... i thought it was a bit over the top... but am rediscovering it as we speak... and it's good....

btw the two key members of sweeney's men, discussed above, later joined planxty, who are at least as awesome as fairport IMO....

It's Fairport night on BBC4 next Friday – docus on the band and RT, a (recent, sadly) live performance and some archive BBC footage from the 60s and 70s.

Sky Arts just showed a film called London Rock earlier this week that had some footage of the Full House line-up at their communal home among some other stuff. hadn't seen it before.

Also had The Faces and a few other bands. Keep finding interesting stuff on that channel , wish I'd realised I'd had access much earlier.

There's another live set by that line-up shot in I think Maidstone in a show that also feature Matthews Southern Comfort who were also in that London Rock

Just saw that there's a huge Fairport box set out - Come All Ye: The First 10 Years, with a lot of live material, rarities, alt takes. Most of it is on Spotify, as are pretty much all their albums (many of which hadn't been added last time I checked).

What a motherfucking album

I wonder if the debut live L&L performance at the RAH is ever going to become releasable. Somebody did a home remastering of it a few years ago that was at least listenable.

but the recording was deemed unreleasable a few years ago.
Shame to have a recording that historic and not be able to circulate it fully.

Are advances in recording technology going to make things like that more salvageable.

I have the "deluxe" edition with a bonus disc containing:
2-1 Sir Patrick Spens (Sandy Denny Vocal Version)
2-2 Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood {Take 4}
2-3 The Ballad Of Easy Rider
2-4 Tam Lin (BBC session)
2-5 Medley: The Lark In The Morning; Rakish Paddy; Foxhunter's Jig; Toss The Feathers (BBC session)
2-6 Sir Patrick Spens (BBC session)
2-7 Reynardine (BBC session)
2-8 Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood {Take 1}
2-9 The Lady Is A Tramp (BBC session)
2-10 Medley: The Lady Is A Tramp; In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon)

It's a great addition to an all-time classic.

I wonder if the debut live L&L performance at the RAH is ever going to become releasable. Somebody did a home remastering of it a few years ago that was at least listenable.

but the recording was deemed unreleasable a few years ago.
Shame to have a recording that historic and not be able to circulate it fully.

Are advances in recording technology going to make things like that more salvageable.

― Stevolende

it depends how low our standards as a species get!

that bbc box of theirs is totally amazing btw

don't know if i've ever heard the royal albert hall L&L performance ... anyone know where it can be found?

Royal Festival Hall. To be annoying about it.

ah — i've heard a 1970 festival hall show w/o Denny ... is this one different?

Maybe not? Is the sound quality atrocious?

it's not great — i guess this is the one you're referring to (link is dead): http://time-has-told-me.blogspot.com/2009/01/fairport-convention.html
don't think i've heard it, judging from the comments, the quality is terrible, but I'm pretty used to that.

That's like two or three months before L+L was released, so I would think that's the gig stevolende was referring to.

someone ysi plz

I want to see the English countryside next year, really really I want to go back once in my life...I promise, before I die...

― Bimble, Sunday, 22 April 2007 20:34 (ten years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah man

I was wondering to what extent the L&L line up was a live band. trying to think when the accident taht killed Martin lamble happened. looks like taht was June 69 and both Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings quit on the way back from a Scandinavian promo appearance before the end of teh year.
Plus there had to be some recovery time and whatever time teh band spent getting their music together in teh country before it got recorded. Chronology I'm looking at here http://www.stocton.org/fc_chron.htm only has the band together for 2 months in taht lineup though some of teh new members are around for serveral months after that.
So wonder if they had time to play together live much at all.

I think that the lineups either side of that L&L one are better documented live. Dyble era has the Bouton Rouge performance which really need s to be seen. Sandy & Ian matthews has 2 1968 sets Whittlesley Barn and Amsterdam.
Then the post Denny/Hutchings line up have Maidstone and POP2 from paris as video plus there seem to be several 1970 audios.

Wish there was more around. the 2 early Sandy are quite nice.
Bouton Rouge has some great guitar from Richard Thompson.

There are also a couple fo pretty good tv appearances from 1976

I wish they still had the TOTP appearance. Looked a laff..

xp Also would love to see taht TOTP performance where thy are consciouly miming and bringing attention to it with props and things.
Seen stills from it but don't think the actual footage survives.

It's Si tu Doir Partir from what i recall.

I was wondering to what extent the L&L line up was a live band.
really don't think they played very much at all in the L&L lineup — Sandy was pretty much gone by the time the album was released, I think, and by early 1970 Hutchings was out too.

I thought they both quit on the way back from a Scandinavian appearance. Thought it might have been a tv show in which case would love to see the footage. if not I thought it was a radio thing which would also be a good thing to have. Thought it wasa performance as in songs rather than just an interview anyway.
Must get around to reading I Always Kept A Unicorn now.

the Ashley Hutchings biography the Guv'nor was a very good read but may be long long gone since it was on helter skelter books I think.

Also would love to see taht TOTP performance where thy are consciouly miming and bringing attention to it with props and things.
Seen stills from it but don't think the actual footage survives.

It's Si tu Doir Partir from what i recall.

Yeah..

A bit of a shame, as they managed to get copies of the songs they did in radio session by "asking nicely at the time", otherwise they'd all have got wiped after broadcast. Which is why that BBC CD exists.

Had a lovely evening tracking back and forth across various Denny Thompson bits and pieces. Ended up with the Albion Band who are patchy but damn, Gresford Disaster and Poor Old Horse.

L&L is unimpeachable.

Denny Thompson, wasn't he in Pentangle?

Liked fighting with Jehn Martyn, so I'm told.

I do like the post fairports Ashley Hutchings stuff. Albion band was mainly him plus various others over the years. Including one time wife Shirley Collins on No Roses which is worth tracking down.
As is the Battle of the Field which seems to have an inner glow that always reminds me of Kosmische stuff.
& the 1st 3 Steeleye Span lps.

Albion band also went through a stage where it featured both Richard & Linda Thompson and covered The Left Banke prior to the recording of teh first lp. There are 2 or 3 live sets from taht very early period that circulate.

I am hearing Bright Phoebus for the very first time rn

0_0

according to this site:

http://home.myfairpoint.net/srabbot/fc/fcbase.htm

...the "liege and lief" band did maybe a dozen gigs before sandy denny left. i haven't heard (or seen) the danish tv broadcast - is it out there on video?

"Tam Lin" is such a savage piece of music.

yes "Tam Lin" is a wild ride, would love to hear a live version from the era that catches even more fire if one exists

That List that Rushomancy links to is really fascinating. I wonder if tracklisting denotes existing recording or just surviving set list. Would love to hear those sets if they do exist anyway. & see the Danish tv performance.
Here's the 2 tracks from Bouton Rouge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zvr-IKaf9I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5IUHjLpf3A

I was hoping something like that gigography existed since I'm familiar with teh fromthearchives site which covers Gun Club, Birthday party bad Seeds etc in a somewhat similar fashion.

I don't see an entry for Ashley hutchings leaving on the list though. I thought it was on the same return trip as Sandy Denny left so surprised it wasn't included in that note. Especially since I thought he was the actual founder member that the rest of the group formed around.

Pop 2 is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgnWWNZoa4w
and still has Richard Thompson on board.

yes "Tam Lin" is a wild ride, would love to hear a live version from the era that catches even more fire if one exists

― droit au butt (Euler)

well, i've heard the tape discussed on this thread (i'd ysi it but i've no clue where i left the darn thing) and i don't believe such a thing does exist. my recollection is that the "tam lin" at this gig is about the same as the version they recorded the day before for top gear (it's on the bbc box) but in much worse fidelity - and i don't think the top gear version is by any means a patch on the album version. on the top gear version sandy starts in full bellow and stays there - no build.

the nonexistent thing i'd love to hear is the "liege and lief" band playing "a sailor's life". it could have been great! but the band didn't last long enough for such things.

the "pop 2" show is wonderful. the '70 fairport gets way short shrift imo, and hearing richard thompson play "sloth" with wilco a couple years back was pretty fucking awesome.

One of the great rock holy grails is a recording of (parts of) Fairport jamming with (parts of) Zeppelin at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in 1970.

"September 4, 1970 - Today, after playing to 20,000 fans at the L.A. Forum, Led Zeppelin appear with Fairport Convention at the Troubadour in L.A. to a crowd of only a few hundred. The bands share instruments. Richard Thompson, guitarist for Fairport Convention plays Page's Les Paul, but FC's drummer, Dave Mattacks is hesitant to let Bonham play his drums because of Bonham's reputation as a very powerful drummer. Bonham sits down at the kit and steps on the bass pedal. Mattack watches in horror as his bass drum flies forward a half a foot. After the jam session which lasted almost three hours, the drum heads need a good changing and the toms need a good tuning. After the jam session, Bonham retires to Barney's Beanery, an after-hours bar, where he engages in a drinking contest with Janis Joplin."

Denny Thompson, wasn't he in Pentangle?

― Buff Jeckley (Tom D.), Monday, March 12, 2018 2:53 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

TS: Denny Lethargy VS. Denny Vertigo

Which is the best box set to get for a beginner like myself? No Best Of crap, just album collections. Do some have important bonus tracks that others don't.

Just go for the Five Classic Albums CD box set for ~$15. A good place to begin. Covers the first five albums, which is the Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny years (except Rising for the Moon), no bonus tracks but I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole until you're more devoted.

Is there notable bonus tracks on any releases?

Heyday has a lot of bonus tracks on the reissue

Liege & Lief reissues have included great outtakes like Sir Patrick Spens (w/ Sandy on vocals), Quiet Joys of Brotherhood and Ballad of Easy Rider.