Cropredy 1997 was a valiant attempt to bring together all the significant Fairport line-ups. At best, this is a memento of the occasion, and should carry a "For Diehards Only" warning. With Ian Matthews absent and Vicki Clayton only a spirited stand-in for the irreplaceable Sandy Denny, this ersatz model sounds unconvincing. Only the Full House band workouts truly pass muster, with both Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick in sparkling form. The rest reflects the patchiness of Fairport's work from the mid-'80s onwards, when the band's salad days were over.
The Gene Clark No Other Band - featuring members of Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Beach House and Fairport Convention - have been announced as the third headliner for this year's End Of The Road festival.
They will join previously announced headliners The Flaming Lips and Wild Beasts at the festival, which runs from August 29 - 31 at Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset.
Other acts confirmed today for this year's festival are: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, St Vincent, tUnE-yArDs, Jenny Lewis, Felice Brothers and Black Lips.
Yesterday I posted an interview here with Cian Nugent that prompted a Twitter conversation about other records which operate in the fairly narrow space between Television’s “Marquee Moon” and Fairport Convention’s “A Sailor’s Life”. This morning I’ve collated all the suggestions into a Youtube playlist, which should keep you elevated for an hour or two.
We head to Los Angeles in the new issue of Uncut (dated March 2013), out now, to meet Richard Thompson and discuss his extraordinary new album, Fairport Convention and recording in Nashville with Buddy Miller. Here, in this piece from Uncut’s May 2006 issue (Take 108), Thompson talks us through the making of some of his finest albums, including Liege & Lief, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight and Rumor And Sigh. “It was the best way to lose our audience overnight…” Words: Nigel Williamson__________________
Fairport Convention founder, solo artist and folk-rock guitar legend Richard Thompson is featured in Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes in the latest issue of Uncut (May 2012, Take 181), out now. The songwriter appeared in My Life In Music in our February 2009 issue, speaking to Terry Staunton about his favourite cuts, from Les Paul to Klaxons…
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The First Record I Bought
Roy Rogers – A Four Legged Friend (1952)
A raised eyebrow last week, when the new Earth album arrived, accompanied by a press release citing Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Tinariwen as key influences. It’s been a fair while, of course, since Dylan Carlson’s outfit made music quite so doomy and reductive as their reputation.
