John Babbacombe Lee - Fairport Convention

Advantages: Fantastic History of the band who invented Folk Rock
Disadvantages: No Family Tree, but you can get it in "History"

...The band's name is Fairport Convention, not Fairground Convention. There is a wonderful CD compilation , callled "History" which a fine selection of Fairport's music, but this compilation has two CDs and as such provides a more exhaustive selection of the band's work for the Island label. It opens with a track from their debut album (which was on the Polydor label) and featured Judy Dyble on vocals,) a version of Joni Mitchell's "Chelsea Morning" demonstrating their early leanings towards their West Coast influences of Bob Dylan , Jefferson Airplane and Phil Ochs. The band have always had a fluid line up and around 1968 virtually single handedly invented British Folk rock. Sandy Denny (ex of the early Strawbs) came in on vocals and Richard Thompson on guitar, The groups history is detailed concisely and beutifully in the liner... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Fairport at their peak
Disadvantages: Only scratches the surface

..., with a great vocal by Swarbrick, matched by some great work on the drums by Mattacks, and Swarb on both mandolin and fiddle. 13. Angel Delight, by 71 Thompson had left Fairport and things would never quite be the same again. There is plenty of fun to be had on the album of the same name. Angel Delight is a humourous singalong, but with choruses of 'la-li-la-la' it's gonna divide the audience. Unashamedly folky. 14. Bridge Over the River Ash, a Traditional instrumental that puts the band through their paces, nice bass from Pegg and Swarb pitches in on the fiddle. 15. John Lee, taken from the patchy 'concept' album Babbacombe Lee, now there are two things to strike fear into any sane person. Folk and Concept Albums. Lacks the subtle influence of Thompson or Denny. 16. Breakfast in Mayfair, lumbered with some rather clunky lyrics and Simon... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: varied, an intersting portrayal of a great band.
Disadvantages: not all versions include Crazy man Michael.

...Fairport convention began life back in 1967, and sine then have had as complicated a history as Whitsanke/Deep Purple, Rainbow and all the other in that set. Their line up has over the years included some of the great names of folk: Ashley Hutchins, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Pegg, and John Kirkpatrick, (but never all at the same time sadley.)having started life during the great sixies folk revival, they like other bands have mixed traditional music with electric modernity, and have done so to great effect. The istory of Fairport Convention is an album that seeks to capture their different sounds and line ups over the years, and as such is an admirable effort to do the almost impossible. This a good introductory album for anyone who has not previously encounered the group, and as a first foray into folk it... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful