TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Ok - no cheating.................

You're gonna be marooned on an island in the Cherwell with only ONE CD - 10 Fairport tracks only. What's yours???

Mine - and a couple of these surprised me -  in no particular order

1) Matty Groves
2) Hiring Fair ( From the '87 Live CD)
3) Fotheringay
4) Run Johnny Run
5) Eynsham Poacher
6) Close to the Wind
7) Red & Gold
8) The Deserter
9) Girl From the North Country ( From the 25th Anniversary set with Robert Plant)
10) Bonny Black Hare

Hiring Fair              (memories of my first Cropredy)
Close to the Wind  (ditto)
Rosemary's Sister    (ditto, plus if drunk enough I try to sing it)
Widow of Westmoreland (traditional FC)
Red & Gold              (Memories of every Cropredy)
To Althea from Prison  (A lovely song by Swarb and great guitar 'bellringing' from JD)
Rosie                         (Needs no justification)
WKWTTG with Sandy singing  (ditto
Dirty Linen with assorted medleys from one of the live albums (Got to dance around the island)
Meet on the Ledge    (to remember all my friends)

Off the top of my head:

Meet on the Ledge
Sailor's Life
Who Know's Where the time goes
Walk Awhile
Now be thankful
Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman
Journeyman's Grace
Bonny Black Hare
John Gaudie
My love is in America

Today's choice (probably different tomorrow)

Honour and Praise - Great song from John Richards and Simon beginning to excel as a vocalist
Crazy Man Michael - Swarbrick/Thompson at their best
One More Chance - One of Sandy's finest
To Althea from Prison - Wonderful Swarb setting of a fine poem
Polly on the Shore - Got to have some of Trevor's vocals in there
I wandered by a Brookside (Live at Cropredy 1992) - A wonderful song, great singing by Chris and family connections with the origin of the song.
Jewel in the Crown - Strong sentiment from Julie Matthews superbly expressed by Simon
Fotheringay - Another great Sandy song, and Mrs S's favourite
One Sure Thing - Got to have Jude in there
Meet on the Ledge - Because it has to be there

Hi,
  I just crammed the best of the box set onto one cd. It is strange how they seperated the tracks and spread them out over 4 cds. I just put all the old tracks together and it is a mighty fine cd. But it might not be the perfect desert island cd. This is off the top of my head (cheating a bit with your lists)

Innstuck
Battle of the somme
Farewell farewell
banks of the sweet primroses
Polly on the shore
Sloth
The cat on the mixer
Lord Marlborow
Adieu adieu
Tam Lin
John The Gun
Bonny Black Hare

Well, let's see..... ::)

The Hexhamshire Lass
Polly on the Shore
The Brilliancy Medley
To Althea From Prison
Tokyo
Bring'em Down
Big William
Pleasure & Pain
Possibly Parsons Green.......and :-\

Hummm.....I can't think of a tenth.......  ???

 :o Hey!  I've seen this listing somewhere before!!

 

Here's my fave top ten pop pickers

Rosie
Hexamshire Lass
Widow of Westmorland
Matty Groves
Hiring Fair
John Gaudie
Western Wind
Rocky Road
MOTL
Deserter

if pressed i'd take these

the book song
the bonny bunch of roses
sir patrick spens
a sailors life
something you got
sloth (preferably a nice long live version by the pub rock lot)
the lark medely
dirty linen(full house version)
ballad of ned kelly
down in the flood

Meet On The Ledge (original version)
I Wandered by a Brookside (1992 Cropredy version)
Girl From the North Country (1992 Cropredy with R Plant on lead vocal)
Fiddlestix (Fairport "Live" Convention)
Crazy Man Michael (L and L)
Reynardine (L and L)
Who Knows Where the Time Goes (Unhalfbricking)
Autopsy (Unhalfbricking)
Sloth (Full House)
My Love Is in America

This depends - have I also got my Richard Thompson CD's with me, because otherwise its all going to be RT stuff !

For today I will go with;

Sloth
Sailors Life
Jewel in the Crown
John the Gun
Tam Lin
Polly on the shore
Come all ye
Rosie
Jack O'Diamonds (Cropredy Box version)
Matty Groves (25th Aniversery heavy metal version).



All a bit retro, but undoubtably there will be a totally different list tomorrow.

We are going to be strict - one FC filled CD only this time.......................

Mind you, I see another possible " best of" developing later on - best version of " Matty" ever ? - unless of course you've already done that......................but. back to this topic

Todays choice:

Rising For The Moon
Percy’s Song
Fotheringay
Furs and Feathers
The Plainsman
Iron Lion
Hexhamshire Lass
Bring ‘Em Down (AT2 version)
John The Gun
Matty Groves (Live Convention)

Today it would be

Crazy Man Michael
Who Knows Where the Time Goes (Sandy singing)
Sailors Life
Hanging Song
Tam Lin
Honour and Praise
Rosie
Jewel in the Crown
Close to the Wind
Meet on the Ledge

Tomorrow it will probably change.

And in the best traditions of the programme. You have to choose only one to take. which one?

Mine would be Meet (or WKWTTG, or Crazy Man Michael)

MikeC

Just to cheer me up as I stare at the vast expanse of water surrounding the island here are ten with a maritime/nautical flavour that I wouldn't mind listening to. Alright, I know the link's a bit tenuous with a couple of them. ;D
Sailors Life
Sir William Gower
Sir Patrick Spens
Polly On The Shore
Honour & Praise
Sailor’s Alphabet
General Taylor
Ye Mariners All
The Wounded Whale
Wait for the Tide to Come In

I just knew someone would ask that...........................

It would be a choice between " Matty " which has lust and a good story, or " Hiring Fair" which has lust and a good story, or " Bonny Black hare" which has - er - there seems to be an obsessive theme here.....................so I'll just go for Run Johnny Run, 'cos I love playing along with it. ( my drum kit will be my luxury, you see)

If I had to choose just one I'd probably ditch al 10 and choose one of the live recordings of Matty. Not sure which one, I'd have to listen to them all again to choose.

Just one?

Sloth - One of the live versions w. RT.

yeah if it was just one track it'd be Sloth for sure.. a really, good, long, slothful one  ;D

and the other nine...

Hexamshire lass
John Guadie
I'm already there
Dr of Physic
Widow of Westmorland
Sir Patrick Spens
Jewel in the Crown
WKWTTG
The Girl from the North Country (Plant)

For me it's gotta be.... (original studio versions unless indicated):

Royal Seleccion No.13 (live 90s Cropredy)
Time WIll Show the WIser
Walk Awhile
Genesis Hall
I'll Keep it WIth Mine
Rising For the Moon
Hiring Fair
Lark in the Morning medley
Matty Groves
Meet on the Ledge (live 90s Cropredy)

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but this is my favourite game and currently my favourite band, so....

In chronological order:

1) Who Knows Where The Time Goes? (Unhalfbricking)
2) Sir Patrick Spens (BBC version from the Boxful of Treasures/Fairport Unconventional box sets)
3) The Deserter (Liege & Lief)
4) The Journeyman's Grace (unedited BBC version with RT from b**t, and maybe the forthcoming box set!)
5) Now Be Thankful (long BBC version with RT guitar solo, hopefully this'll be on the BBC set as well)
6) Banks Of The Sweet Primroses (House Full version)
7) Lord Marlborough (Angel Delight)
8 ) Polly On The Shore (Nine)
9) Adieu Adieu (radio broadcast version from Fairport Unconventional)
10) Jack Orion (Tipplers Tales...or maybe the version from The Boot - I can't decide!)

That's it for this week anyway.  If it was just down to one song it'd be Now Be Thankful.  I play that song so many times and still never tire of its serene beauty and utter class.  Best.  Song.  Ever.

Jules

Nice little list...I can't argue with any of it, and I think Now Be Thankful is probably my favourite FAIRPORT song ever too (although the favourite ever changes on an hourly basis!)...only real omission would be something from the first album, and of course the whole of WWDOOH  :D

You know I've been playing those first two albums this week, and Heyday too, to see if they resonate more with me now than they did when I first bought them last year.  I enjoyed all three, but I don't have the same devotion to WWDOOH as many of you have.  I guess I prefer the band when it got folkier.  Plus I'm also a huge Swarb fan.  Having said that Time Will Show The Wiser and Meet On The Ledge would rank pretty high on a lengthier list.

Heck there's so many songs in the back catalogue that you have to leave out of a Top 10 list.

Jules

Matty (Cropredy 1992) played vvv loud
MOTL
Spens
Percys Song
Honour & Praise
Fotheringay
Sloth
Rosie
WKWTTG
Sailors LIfe
All original studio recordings except Matty
10 is nowhere near enough!
Is somebody going to tot up the answers?

In no particular order

Sir Patrick Spens
Ye Mariners All
Close To The Wind
Lord Marlborough
Hexhamshire Lass
To Althea From Prison
General Taylor
Journeyman's Grace
Banks of The Sweet Primroses
John The Gun

Very hard to keep in down to ten though.

Chelsea Morning
Suzanne
Fotheringay
Sailor's Life
Come All Ye'
Walk Awhile
Sir Patrick Spens (House Full version)
Sloth
Innstück
Meet on the Ledge

All from the original albums unless noted. N° 11 would most likely be Dr. Monk unpacking his trunk...

Difficult to explain, each song brings along different moods/feelings or can help you through different moods/feelings...

Karl

Having now heard the Steeleye version of General Taylor, circa 1971 with Martin Carthy on board, I find that the Fairport versions just don't quite measure up.  In fact I find the version on Bonny Bunch quite disappointing - the added instrumentation seems to make the song drag.  I much prefer to hear it a capella.

Not wishing to criticise one of your choices, just that I've listened to 3 versions of General Taylor (2 Fairport and 1 Steeleye) in the past week!

Jules

You might be right, but part of why we each make our list is probably driven by nostalgia, and as a 15 year old who was new to folk music I was blown away by it at the time. General Taylor is a cracking song whoever does it and I like the Steeleye Version too.  

Fair points well made - I can't argue with that!

Jules

Have you heard the version by Great Big Sea? Best version is on their live album 'Road Rage'.

So good I almost signed up.

Just one would have to be MOTL.

Other than that I would be happy with Nine on repeat - my absolute favourite FC album with not a duff track on it.

Jackdaw

You mean you actually rate "Big William"?!?!

 :o

Jules

any song with the line

"you can stick it where the monkey sticks his nuts"

is OK by me.  ;D

In no particular order and so that I shall have plenty of time listening to these tracks I will not be sending out a message in a bottle, shooting distress flares up into the night sky, lighting beacons to attract passing ships/aircraft or writing the letters 'SOS' into the sand out of beach pebbles. It will mean that I shall not be able to return to blighty for Cropredy however! :-[

Tam Lin - 1983 The Boot
A Sailor's Life - Unhalfbricking
No mans Land - What we did on our Holidays
The Hens March/Four Poster bed - Rosie
The Lark in the morning - Liege and Lief
Bing em Down - Fairport Nine - But I really like the version on 'Before the moon'
Decameron - Fairport 1st
Sloth - Full House
One More Chance - Rising for the moon
Wat Tyler - Glady's Leap

Well I've had a quick tot up of the votes so far an the front runners are:

1 - Meet on the Ledge - 9 votes
2 - A Sailor's Life - 8 votes
2 - Sloth - 8 votes
4 - Who Knows Where the Time Goes - 7 votes
4 - Sir Patrick Spens - 7 votes
6 - Polly On The Shore - 6 votes
6 - Matty Groves - 6 votes
8 - Fotheringay - 5 votes
8 - Rosie - 5 votes
8 - Hexhamshire Lass - 5 votes

and hovering just outside the top ten with 4 votes
Honour & Priase, Jewel In The Crown, The Hiring Fair, Close To The Wind, To Althea From Prison, Tam Lin, and John The Gun

The most astonishing thing though is the sheer number of songs and tunes that have got a mention  - 88 so far  :o  

Andy, mate, a quiet word. You need to get out more  ;)

Very true

I wouldn't normally do anything that sad but I'm suffering from post-resignation ennui  ::)

Meet on the Ledge
Matty
Now be Thankful
Rosie
My love is in America
Portmerrion
London River
Sloth
Red & Gold
John Gaudie

In no particular order and could change tomorrow!

Hello all. i think mine would be:

Meet on the Ledge
Hiring Fair
Close to the wind
Close to you
Polly on the shore
Red Tide
Waiting for the Tide to come in
Spanish Main
WKWTTG
The Crowd (Ducks Knowingly expecting Brick Bracks for this one)

Am i the first one to show preference for the curreny line up? Not many pre 85 in my list.

Sorry! ;)

10 tracks OK here we go then
John the Gun
Sloth (LA Troubador)
Wat Tyler
Genesis Hall
To Althea from Prison
Tam Lin (L&L)
Crazyman Michael
Rising for the moon
Hiring Fair
Close to the wind

Won't ask about a book or luxury.

Although I wonder whether you can take a song by another artist as a luxury, if so i vote for Walking on a Wire R & l Thompson