RFI: Folksy Stuff like Fairport Convention S&D

I feel like she may be better than that. Gotta be hard for anyone to be compared to Sandy Denny.

Well, she may have been the best singer in Giles, Giles and Fripp...

It's curious but notable that the originals on this record are more memorable than the cover versions

"Time Will Show the Wiser" is great, better than the original.

OTM. Also I believe some of the Joni Mitchell material appeared here before she released herself so maybe that counts as cover+.

Same with "Eastern Rain" on the next album.

Believe they came as demos via Joe Boyd iirc.

Was about to say the same.

Recommending his book White Bicycles to those who haven't read it. Recommending Beeswing to myself since I only just started nosing around in it.

Beeswing is excellent, especially if your main interest is in Fairport Convention. Thompson focuses on his upbringing through Fairport Convention to his conversion to Islam, but after that, he writes about his life in much less detail.

That's usually the opposite of how those bios go, so that's a plus for me. I guess because the recent events and work are usually at the front of the writers' minds, they are recalled with more clarity. The Bob Mould book is a great example. It was like he just couldn't wait to blaze through the Husker and Sugar stuff so he could write about working for the WCW and getting into techno. Neither of which was as interesting to read about as it sounds.

Ugh, I guess I'll skip Mould's book. That's really disappointing, because he seemed like someone who could write a great memoir.

The only thing I would have liked was an equivalent amount of detail on Richard's work with Linda, and given how it was entwined with his personal life, I can see how he would be reluctant to do that. Plus quite a few people still insist that Shoot Out the Lights was autobiographical when he's already explained many times why that isn't so. I think he's already had enough talking or writing about those years as a result.

Feel like maybe more often than not there is also usually some big block of negative emotion– anger, resentment or just plain old bad blood– that has to be addressed somehow before even beginning to tell the old stories of the original band without it turning into simple score-settling and backbiting. “I’m not going to give those bastards any credit! They’ve already taken more than their fair share and bled me dry for all those years. Turnabout is fair play.” Richard seems like a reasonably retrospective person that could get to some kind of place to deliver a balanced enough story. I also imagine that telling too much about his relationship with Linda would be fairly painful for all involved. Now picturing Teddy on the phone to Rufus Wainwright if not Martha: “Can you believe what he wrote? Listen to this!”

From what I know about the Lol Tolhurst book (which I own and have delved into but…) he was able to get to the good storytelling place as well.

Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys

Huh.

Can't believe no one told me that Richard Thompson & Dave Mattacks rejoined Fairport Convention last weekend to play Full House in its entirety. https://t.co/9yAe0PuSzi

— Tyler Wilcox (@tywilc) August 17, 2022

Good find. Those Fairport folks still seem to be pretty good friends. And props for the frontline rocking shorts.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137254526#/?channel=RES_BUY

Experience the vibes in the original Fairport house! Yours for £4,300,000. Includes duplex annex with a self contained flat and garage space for multiple cars. Listing doesn't mention it but the property is also within walking distance of both Muswell Hill Sainsbury's and a fairly decent Chinese.

its better to buy something that hasn't been done up than something done up badly