Album Club: 20.09.2011: Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief (1969) (CD, Vinyl,)

[Vinyleyes]

Here we have Liege and Lief by Fairport Convention which is one of my top 10 all time favourite records. Voted the most influential folk/rock album of all time I urge all of you who may not normally go near this genre simpy to find yourself in a nice place, nice mood, possibly with a three quarters drunk bottle of wine and put this on.
Do play it loud .. the powerful interplay between Thompson and Swarbrick on Matty Groves deserves it and if you have never heard the voice of Sandy Denny then prepare yourselves for finally meeting one of the finest female singer/songwriters that Britain has ever produced.
Dave Swarbrick has never been more fluent than during the version here of Toss the Feathers medley ... and the opening self penned track "Come All Ye" bounces with an infectious energy underpinned by the newly evolved drumming style of Dave Mattacks and terrific lead licks of an amazingly young Richard Thompson who has long since been one of Britain’s finest ever guitarists as well as being one of it's most original and proficient songwriters.
The only thing wrong with this album ( and it’s not a fault at all J ) is that it could not contain what IMHO I consider to be Fairport’s finest folk/rock moment on disc which would be "A Sailor’s Life" from the "Unhalfbricking" album. It outdoes Matty Groves for the Thompson/Swarbrick interplay and it also has Sandy singing her own classic "Who Knows where the Time Goes".

So as always it seems we would ask to put aside the preconceptions folks … just open up and listen to the timeless, melancholic beauty of Sandy’s voice, Thompson’s incredibly articulate guitar, Swarbrick’s peerless fiddle, Dave Mattacks pounding drumbeat supported by Ashley Hutchings and the ever present solid and reliable Simon Nicol ……

There are several links here to give you much more info on the album and the circumstances surrounding the newly evolved band at this time and what was sadly a very short lived Fairport lineup.

Spotify: [ spotify:album:1OicAgzQw7DaGNHzO8Zryf ]
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liege_%26_Lief
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/93796-fairport-convention-liege-and-lief-deluxe-edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liege-Lief-Fairport-Convention/dp/B0000657UB/ref=pd_sim_m_h_2
http://www.fairportconvention.com/the_liege_and_lief_story.php
http://www.allmusic.com/album/liege-lief-r7059/review

[Thing Fish]

Hmm I have one of their albums but not this one. I look forward to giving it a spin as it were...

[MartinT]

Thanks, Brian. I don't have it so I'll hook up Spotify to the 'big rig' tonight and have a listen. No intro to Sandy Denny required; she was the real deal.

[John]

I just quickly listened to the album for th first time but just using the laptop so really looking forward to hearing in its full glory latter. But so far I really like this

[The Grand Wazoo]

What a great choice!
Here's a good excuse to play a great album several times again over the course of a week. A great introduction too, Brian.
Cheers

[griffo104]

Interesting. Ive had this in may hands in HMV several times, it's on sale quite often, but there's always been something else more urgent to buy.

It looks like I have a proper excuse to go and have a listen now.

[John]

I given it a 4
I really like the album and to be honest its not something I would of tried out without this thread
The band has put a lot of thought into it and at times the music takes you on a journey. Thanks Brian a really good listn and something I will come back too

[WAD62]

I don't have this, so I've given the spotify version a good listen...

As a youth I grew up on a remote farm in Cumbria, our next door neighbours (about 1 mile away) were a commune of 'hippies' (rubbish term), who'd 'dropped out' (another rubbish term) to lead a self sufficient existence. Over the years they became very good friends, and they had some excellent parties/mini festivals. They were very keen on Fairport Convention, The Incredible String band, Planxty, The Albion Band etc, so the tracks on this album are quite familiar to me.

Quite obviously this is viewed as something of a classic of it's genre, and musically I find it very enjoyable, perhaps it goes a bit flat for me with Farewell, Farewell & the Deserter, but overall very nice, and Sandra Denny has a beautiful voice.

But here's where I have a problem with this album (or perhaps the genre to some extent), it's the oldie worldie englishie lyrics...'I did see that crow oh...I took my bow oh...and shot him through the hearty oh...all for my true love', or words to that effect.

I know that most of this is traditional, except for a couple of original tracks written in '69, but even their lyrics are written in a cod pre 18th century style.

I'm a big fan of Dead Can Dance, and they do exactly the same thing with traditional music, but for me they get away with it because they're often singing in a different language...If this album was sung in a foreign language I'd probably enjoy it more, I know that sounds strange, but for me lyrics really have to say something, or they are unintelligible and add to the melody.

This is probably why I'll always prefer Richard Thompson's solo stuff to Fairport Convention.

On balance I'll give it a 3, as for the oldie englishie, that's my own private hell

[aquapiranha]

I have been a fan of this album for many years. I particularly like anything to do with Sandy Denny, so I would like it wouldn't I?

[Welder]

What an interesting choice.
Fairport Convention, never short on ideas or the talent to turn those ideas into something that has a much broader appeal than the “folk” label might lead one to believe.
I’ve always liked what Fairport do and this album is no exception. I have it on CD, file and a taped vinyl copy.
I must confess I tend to listen to a compilation of Fairport these days rather than a complete Fairport album but I’ve given this a full play this morning and still think this is a magical album.
I think these days I prefer to listen to bands like Crooked Still or as Will suggests Dead Can Dance for my folk music fix but that certainly doesn’t detract from the gorgeous voice of Sandy Denny or the talent of the band overall.
4 out of 5 from me.