FAIRPORT CONVENTION - By Popular Request

Fairport Convention – By Popular Request (2012)

Fairport Convention has done what many might consider the impossible on its recent release By Popular Request: the bandmates refreshed the 13 fan-selected songs without adulterating them, taking the voted-upon selections and going into the studio with John Gale for re-recording. Think of the sonic facelift as more Christie Brinkley than Liza Minnelli – just enough to look natural but not over-the-top in any sense.
That’s saying something when you consider that each of the songs on the album – including “Meet on the Ledge” and “Walk Awhile” – has been in the band’s catalog for most of its 45-year history. That left the band facing the challenge of satisfying purists while not becoming, in co-founding member Simon Nicol’s own words, its own tribute band.
Credit the band members’ restraint (each is a celebrated artist in his own right) with their reverence for the group’s past songwriters and players for exceeding expectations. Not only do the vocalists – notably co-lead singers Nicol and multi-instrumentalist Chris Leslie, the current incarnation’s chief songwriter – sing with zeal but the instrumentation and arrangements add just enough new textures to air out some of the (let’s just say mustiness) of a few of the tunes.
Consider one of most refreshed tracks on the album “Matty Groves”: this bluegrass flavored version of the classic English folk song owes plenty to the spirited fiddle of virtuoso Ric Sanders and Leslie’s sparkling banjo. The Richard Thompson-penned “Meet on the Ledge” is another Fairport standard that receives a welcome update by way of a slightly changed arrangement noticeably regarding fiddle and mandolin and a slightly more urgent tone in Nicol’s lead vocals. Even the haunting “Crazy Man Michael” is improved upon notably with the addition of what must be whistles according to the album’s liner notes.
1 – Walk Awhile (4:22)
2 – Crazy Man Michael (4:42)
3 – The Hiring Fair (5:43)
4 – The Hexhamshire Lass (2:32)
5 – Red & Gold (6:44)
6 – Sir Patrick Spens (3:36)
7 – Genesis Hall (3:30)
8 – Farewell Farewell (3:03)
9 – Rosie (4:18)
10 – Matty Groves (5:07)
11 – Fotheringay (3:26)
12 – Jewel in the Crown (3:33)
13 – Meet On the Ledge (4:25)
http://fp.io/bb74bma9/

FAIRPORT CONVENTION - NINE [1973]

Fairport Convention - Nine [1973]

Nine is the ninth album by the British folk rock group Fairport Convention.


Dave Swarbrick: vocals, violin, viola, mandolin
Trevor Lucas: vocals, acoustic guitar
Jerry Donahue: guitars
Dave Pegg: bass, mandolin, backing vocals
Dave Mattacks: drums, percussion, keyboards, bass

Side one
"The Hexhamshire Lass" (Trad arr Fairport Convention) – 2:31
"Polly on the Shore" (Music: Pegg, Words: Trad arr Swarbrick/Lucas) – 4:56
"The Brilliancy Medley/Cherokee Shuffle" (Traditional) – 3:56
"To Althea From Prison" (Words Lovelace/Music: Dave Swarbrick) – 5:10
"Tokyo" (Donahue) – 2:52
Side two
"Bring 'Em Down" (Lucas) – 5:59
"Big William" (Lucas/Swarbrick) – 3:25
"Pleasure and Pain" (Lucas/Swarbrick) – 5:03
"Possibly Parsons Green" (Lucas/Roche) – 4:42
http://www.fileserve.com/file/8cujmBt

FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Gladys' Leap [1985]

Fairport Convention - Gladys' Leap [1985]

Gladys' Leap is a folk rock album by Fairport Convention originally released in August 1985. It was recorded in April and May 1985 at Woodworm Studios, Barford St. Michael, Oxfordshire, UK.

The title comes from Gladys Hillier, who was a postwoman for Cranham, a village near Stroud in Gloucestershire, England. As a short-cut, to save a two mile walk, she used to jump the three feet (~ 1 metre) across a stream on her round. In 1977 the Ordnance Survey agreed to name the spot in her honour, and in 2005 a footbridge was built across the stream. Fairport heard the story, and named the album in Gladys' honour.

Simon Nicol - Vocals, Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Dave Pegg - Bass Guitar, Mandolin, Bouzouki, Double Bass, Vocals
Dave Mattacks - Drums, Drum Machine, Keyboards, Percussion
with

Ric Sanders - Violin (Tracks 2, 4, 5)
Richard Thompson - Electric Guitar (Track 8)
Cathy Lesurf - Vocal (Track 6)
Harold Wells - Spoken Intro to Track 2

Side one (The Folkside)
"How Many Times" (Richard Thompson) - 3:29
"Bird from the Mountain" (Ralph McTell) - 4:51
"Honour and Praise" (John Richards) - 5:21
The Hiring Fair (Ralph McTell, Dave Mattacks) - 5:53
Side two (The Backside)
Instrumental Medley '85 - 5:08
The Riverhead (Dave Pegg)
Gladys' Leap (Dave Pegg)
The Wise Maid (Trad. Arr. Simon Nicol/Dave Pegg)
My Feet are Set for Dancing (Cathy Lesurf, Arranged by Bill Martin) - 4:01
"Wat Tyler" (Ralph McTell/Simon Nicol) - 5:36
"Head in a Sack" (Dave Whetstone) - 4:23
http://www.fileserve.com/file/Gx6DvAX

FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Ebbets Field 1974

Artist: Fairport Convention
Album: Ebbets Field 1974
Released: 2011
Style: Folk
Format: MP3 320Kbps
Size: 154 Mb


Tracklist:
01 – Solo
02 – Hexhamshire Lass
03 – John The Gun
04 – Fiddlestix
05 – Dirty Linen
06 – Who Knows Where The Time Goes
07 – Sloth
08 – It’ll Take A Long Time
09 – Matty Groves
10 – The Medley
11 – Down In The Flood

http://www.fileserve.com/file/29b256w

FAIRPORT CONVENTION - FESTIVAL BELL

It’s been 44 years since Fairport Convention got together to emulate the American folk-rock bands they admired. Along the way, they started delving into the folklore of their native land and kicked off a revival of interest in the traditional music of the British Isles. In 2011, the band is still going strong, with original member Simon Nicol still on board, along with Dave Pegg, almost an original member with 31 years in the band under his belt. Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki) and Ric Sanders (fiddle), both vets with more than ten years in the band, contribute most of the original material, compositions that hew closely to the band’s roots of traditional and singer/songwriter music. Several tunes here sound like they could end up on Fairport’s next greatest-hits compilation.

…Leslie’s “Mercy May” is a brooding song that details the doomed voyage of Lord Franklin to the Arctic Sea in 1850. Sanders contributes “Ukulele Central,” perhaps the least typical tune on the album, a ragtime-meets-vaudeville number featuring a quintet of ukuleles and drummer Gerry Conway on washboard. The title track, a playful romp written by Leslie with a tongue-twisting folk/rap lyric and an insanely catchy melody, is another winner. Covers include Richard Shindell’s Civil War tune “Reunion Hill” given a melancholy reading by Nicol and featuring Leslie’s bluegrass-influenced mandolin fills. “Around the Wild Cape Horn,” a new tune by Ralph McTell, is a sea song with a jaunty arrangement that combines British and Irish influences. It’s driven by Pegg’s melodic bass and Leslie’s mandolin. The also cover themselves by reprising Sandy Denny’s “Rising for the Moon” the title track of the band’s 1975 album. Here it’s given a midtempo reading with Leslie singing lead and Sanders adding his distinctive fiddling to the mix.
1. Mercy Bay [06:46]
2. Rui’s Guitar [04:38]
3. Danny Jack’s Chase [03:55]
4. Reunion Hill [04:52]
5. Wouldn’t Say No [04:20]
6. Around the Wild Cape Horn [05:07]
7. Celtic Moon [05:09]
8. Ukulele Central [04:16]
9. Albert & Ted [02:37]
10. Darkside Wood [04:49]
11. London Apprentice, Johnny Ginears [03:50]
12. Rising for the Moon [04:30]
13. Danny Jack’s Reward [04:37]
14. The Festival Bell [02:58]
http://www.fileserve.com/file/6KPaw7G