TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

As a newbie I'm sure I've missed out on many topics but what is the general consensus regarding Fairport's... Rising For the moon?
I think there are some excellent tracks on there and standout musicianship not to mention Sandy's searing vocals.
                                    What say you?

I really like it. . .I always wonder what that line-up's next album would have been like.

I think that Jerry Donahue put down some lovely guitar lines, Fairport seemed effective in turning his country playing style in another direction as did Fotheringay.

One of my fave FC albums except for the dreadful NightTime Girl - not one of Swarb's finest.

Jackdaw

Love it and always have done.  This was the new studio album just after I got into the band and we had the front row of the dress circle at Drury Lane for the ensuing concert.  There is some staggering guitar work on there, as you say, and the diversity of material I find keeps the interest going.  One More Chance has to be a contender for one of the greatest Fairport tracks ever, IMHO.

It's OK, love One More Chance and Rising for the Moon. Interestingly, the only FC album not to contain an instrumental

Brrrr! Probably Swarbs least successful song in the Fairport context. But the title track is a lovely opener, I'm very fond of "White Dress" and "Stranger To Himself". Un-Fairportish but still...
And "One More Chance" must be one of Sandy's finest.
Staffan

For me the title track is Sandy at her best and that is all I will say on the subject.

I'm pleased that there is agreement with me on these tracks, One More Chance seems to peak, peak and peak again just when you thought it was peaking, if that makes sense.  

and Simon should really take a pop at restless or Iron Lion sometime soon

Oh yes!  ;D

Definitely got the richness of tone to do it.

Is he out there to answer?

In an existential kind of way you mean?  ;)

Simon is on the board and posts fairly regularly...

All credit to Mr Nicol, he does read the board and, if he can spare the time, will give honest answers to questions about FC's history, music and songs.  I will hunt down a link for you as an example.

I believe they're still in Italy?

Last gig yesterday, so probably back sometime today.

while we are stuck here in the rain listening intently to the old Fairport tracks, makes up for the rain a bit. Perhaps it should have been called.......Rising For The sun ;)

Of the pre-80s albums, Rising for the Sun is the only one that I have never gotten on CD at least once.  Its alway been in reach, but I've just never had the compulsion to get it.  I don't really know why.  I guess there are a few records from all the rest that I probably like less. 

I do love Stranger to Himself and I've always had a soft spot for Dawn - a minority opinion, for sure.

Otherwise, I've never been very excited about the rest of the material.  One More Chance should be a slam-dunk in regards to my musical tastes - Sandy and long instrumental solos.  Frankly, however, its just always bored me.

Perhaps, its simply that I'm so partial to Nine.  To me, that's the big "what if."  So much potential was lost, because they basically shot their wad and lost everything by trying to hype Moon.  Had that line-up been given more opportunity to create records on their own terms and expectations........

Love One More Chance. As has been said earlier, surely one of the best ever Fairport tracks. And there are some other good songs on the album but it is one I rarely play. Somehow it just doesn't sound like Fairport and it is the sound possibly, rather than the songs, that are the problem.

I think I could have written that sentence...agree 100%.

Ditto. Fairport could have easily been Fotheringay at that point. With TL and JD, it just doesn't have that English FC sound (not that I'm being xenophobic in anyway)

Very true ..... was it a mistake, Sandy rejoining?  I don't think so myself, but there is always that "what if" the Nine line up had carried on as it was.

In response to that I should say that the Fotheringay album is one of my favourite albums of all time.  Personally, I don't think RftM comes even close to that masterpiece...

Well, she thought it was, didn't she...?

I'm listening to RftM at the moment, I borrowed it from Ancient Muse and copied it to my MP3 and, to be honest, I rarely listen to it. Have just realised what I'm missing.

I agree One More Chance is superb and I also like After Halloween. I'm a big fan of Trevor Lucas's voice as well and would like it to have featured more on this album.

Not my fave FC album but good anyway. It's almost like it's another band altogether (which I suppose it was, in a way).

I don't recall her (or anybody else) sauing that at the time.  In fact, I don't recall her saying that at all ....

I agree with Barry, although I'll probably get shot down in flames, weren't the record company and Trevor putting pressure on Sandy to pursue solo (no pun intended) career, I have read that Sandy said she was comfortable and happy to be back in the fold.

I've never seen her quoted as saying it was a mistake, but enough voices have echoed the sentiment that it would be easy to incorrectly assume it.  Really, Moon seems more like a Sandy solo record, sans a couple of tunes, than a Fairport or Fotheringay one.  Certainly, her material on it was meant for an upcoming solo project - not from a band effort.  At the time, her rejoining was more a decision of convenience and not seen so much as a career move.

As I recall, Island was trying to market them as another Fleetwood Mac, hence Moon has a very polished and slick sound.  Unless I'm mistaken (and I usually am), Island did not try to book them with a strong touring band to promote the album.  Most of what I've been able to acertain is that they were booked in the same small to medium auditoriums they would have been playing otherwise.  Can somebody confirm this for me?  If so, it seems like they would have had a fighting chance had they been booked with The Eagles, Mac, or even Captain and Tenneal (?) to break into the US market a little more effectively.

Oh yeah!  After Halloween.  Love that song!  Forgot all about it!

The first Fairport album I heard so predictably I really like most of it, except Let It Go and Night Time Girl which seem a bit naff now amongst the more heartfelt stuff (and would have been more at home on Gottle O'Geer). Then again it would be really slow paced without them, since most of the Sandy vocal songs are slow-mid tempo. Wouldn't want to be without all those great Sandy ballads though...Dawn, Stranger To Himself etc.

Really like the Trevor Lucas vocals (Restless is a very overlooked song) and the playing from everyone on One More Chance is stunning! Would love to hear this song in August if DM, Swarb and Donahue are around on the Saturday night set. Remember seeing them attempt it at Cropredy after Swarb's departure in the mid-80s and it was alright but it definitely needed Swarb. Here's hoping for this year;)

They did it with Cathy in '86 i think....isn't it on one of the Free Reed boxsets...?

 Really like the Trevor Lucas vocals (Restless is a very overlooked song)

Have been known to sing (or what passes for it) that at our local pub accoustic night. I missed Jerry to do the break, though ;D

I have listened to it once, I didn't like it. Some people are saying its country or like Fotheringay. No Fotheringay is that bad. It seems uninspired. I find many of the mid 70's releases a fraction of what they sound like live. Maybe a live recording will let me like the material. Its the only FC cd I never play.

too produced for my liking, it was a last throw of the dice for island with sandy back in the fold and big bucks were spent gettting glyn johns on board and the quality cover art
 had it sold it may have signalled a "sandy denny and fc" outcome, but that line up was mustard live
great players, great and good singers, a great back catalogue to call on and 3 main songwriters
 the songs always sounded more fc live than the recorded versions

It's a little too over produced for my tastes too.  It sounds like one of Sandy's later album welded to the Rosie album.  It just doesn't really sound like a band.  It sounds like Sandy and a backing band, and then Trevor and a backing band and then Swarb and a backing band.  And yes Swarb's song is terrible.  And Trevor's are below par too.  It just doesn't hang together.  Thank goodness for One More Chance though - by far the best track on there.

Jules

One of my favorite FC songs.  

I think it's a great album, but I've heard it referred to (perhaps a little unfairly) as "Fotheringay II".   But hey, I loved Fotheringay too!

Yes, the Before The Moon live set, recorded before the album, is proof of that and is really rather fabulous.

Since I posed the question opinions do seem to be mixed, I think it is fair to say that it perhaps wasn't the Fairport before or the Fairport after. It is still very good though wherever you want to place it.

I think Simon could, and should, do a BRILLIANT version of restless.

It is a different band, apart from the name, but they really should try it!!!

Chris While on Backing vocal?

For me one of the most important factors about the RFTM album is this: Just about half way through the recording of it, Dave Mattacks left the band. Most of the good stuff on there are the songs he is on.

In came Bruce Rowland. Who was a good drummer - trouble is: He was never a FAIRPORT drummer. Bruce Rowland made FC sound pedestrian from the word go. The power, the taste, the imagination and the understanding of what makes a song work - so much of it just went out the window from the drumming point of view. DM was always the ultimate FC drummer. Just listen to the live recordings from DM's time in the line-up and then hear live stuff from BR's time in it. There's just no contest!

In fairness to BR, it also has to be said that the RFTM material recorded after DM's departure was considerably weaker than the earlier songs on it. I heard several early RFTM songs played live long before the album came out - which made me feel extremely optimistic about it. When it came out I liked it a lot, but there were songs on it that disappointed me. "Let it go" is probably my least favourite. And I don't much care for "What is true", either.

But I still love about 70 % of it, which is more than enough for me. Pity the drummer and the material of the second part of the recording wasn't up to par with those on the first.

Having said this, I agree entirely with the sentiments about the Nine line-up. Sandy rejoining seemed like an excellent idea to me when it happened. But looking back with the wisdom of experience, I keep thinking that the Nine line-up really never got a proper chance to develop. It showed great promise and there were many interesting directions it could have gone. Nine is FC's most underrated album and one of my favourites.

But that's an entirely different discussion, I suppose.

Thor-Rune

BR is a superb drummer, and a superb FC drummer... the SN, DP, BR, DS 4-piece is probably my favourite lineup.  But then it was my first...which probably explains a lot!  I would agree that he's not a 'showy' drummer and the Rising material is certainly that!

Fair point David, DM was a show /dance band drummer before FC was he not? this gave him the experience and knowledge to push the thearical style.  BR is more your rocker/jazz type, therefore a different approach (still bloody good though!!!) Will stick mt neck out on this one, I reckon that GC could do more than brilliant take on the RFTM material, he is IMHO one of the finest precussionists around.

Rising for the Moon has always struck me as a good, but not a great, album.  A few things just don't work (like Night Time Girl).  One More Chance is excellent - Fairport's 'Freebird moment', I always think.  After Halloween is one of my favourite songs, but I've always preferred the demo version that appears on the Sandy box sets.  

But I agree it would be nice if a few of those songs could be revisited by the current line-up.  Always (well, often  :)) nice to get a new take on old friends.

Maybe a different thread but I think that many, many Fairport fans thought it a brilliant idea when Sandy re-joined. Especially we who hadn't had much opportunity to listen to a live Nine-line-up. It's only with hindsight we see some things...
Staffan

Same here.  That's a lovely demo.

Jules

I disagree - just about everyone I know who has heard it really rates Nine so it can't be that underrated.  The most underrated album IMO is Tipplers Tales.

Jules

Think I'd probably agree with you...along with the majestic debut of course...

That's the problem. Outside of this community, not too many people have.

I had a friend who I turned on to FC. He went to see the current line up live several times. He loved the albums up to Full House. I eventually got him to listen to Angel Delight & Babbacombe Lee which he enjoyed. But he absolutely refused to listen to anything else despite me imploring him to give Nine a go.

That's it excactly, GubGub. In here we are aware of it, but elsewhere it's been largely overlooked. So I suppose "ignored" is a better word than "underrated". But I still recall how annoyed I felt when the remastered CD of it got slagged off by some idiot in Record Collector (not Kingsley Abbott, I hasten to add), who then proceeded to give Live Convention and RFTM the same treatment.

T-R

.....and that's a darn shame, because NINE is the finest album the band produced in the 70s, besides FULL HOUSE, IMO.

Right on target about the "underrating" of TIPPLERS.  All fans will rate it on a different level than non-fans.  Although, if I were to have to rate it amoungst the other albums before it, I don't believe it would end up very high on the list.

Back on topic:  I prefer the demo of One More Chance, far more than the lush over-treatment on MOON.  

If the whiskey is good - no ice, water, or 7-UP, please!  ;)

Talk about "overlooked": on its "unavailable" list, Rhapsody doesn't even list Nine!
'Course, it doesn't list FH (which is strange, because HF is listed), BL, R, TT, AD, TFTM, GoG, BBoR ...

RFTM is one of my favourite Lp's and like so many on this board, I agree that 'One more chance' is I feel one of Fairport's Finest. For along time I had difficulty with the balance of the LP in respect to the over all recorded sound, this was in relation to the recording of the two distinctive styles of drummers, DM and Bruce. I always have and continue to perfer DM's open sound to Bruce's more 'funkier' and dense sound. That said, on the many occasions I saw the 'Fairport four' of Bruce, Swarb, Nicol and Pegg I always thought they were a great, tight and enjoyable gigging band; I listen fondly to 'Bonny bunch of Roses' particularly. The Bruce years made Fairport very earthy, rural and authentic, akin to 'Full House' line up I feel. (I hope this connection between the two Lp's is not too easily explained away and I am not saying all other Fairport material is not authentic, neither is it any reflection on Bruce or DM... its just that these two Lp's seem to come from the same place, if you wish so does L&L and Swarbs Solo LP ' Smiddyburn') Before I dig a big hole...... :-X

I'd love to see Bruce pick up the sticks again and perform at Cropredy.

I´m happy with having experienced at least three different but very rewarding styles of drumming in Fairport  and I totally aggree concerning the gigging foursome. But different players, different styles and sounds. There are always things you like more or less.
But I´d love to hear some Bruce- and DM-drumming together with Gerry´s in a fortnight.

Does this mean that the album shall be renamed....Uprising For The Moon....perhaps a live concept album including a host of musical friends to swell the numbers, think of all the Sandy type singers, think of all the guitarists who would sign up for such an event!!! ;) ;)

Like a lot of Fairport's albums, it's a mixed bag - I think overall it's a good album, but I imagine the direction would have baffled a lot of people. Nine is more consistent.

Isn't this down to the producer being the bloke who was more used to working with US bands like the Eagles?

It is, however, a model of consistency compared to Rosie, Gottle O Geer and two or three recent efforts.

Rosie. Ugh. Never could get into that, or Gottle!

I have to say regarding the Fairport drummers, that I think DM, Bruce and Gerry are all first rate and I can't criticise any of them.  DM is near perfect but I also think Bruce did an admirable job subbing for DM, and Gerry has always been a class act - recently played the first Steeleye album and on the tracks Gerry drums on his playing is terrific.

Jules

So is DM's

Quite like many of the tracks on Rising for the Moon., even if they do sound like a different group! I'd listened to Blackmore's Night before hearing RFTM, and as soon as I heard the title track it made me think that that sound must have been an influence on Blackmore's new tack.

i like a few of the songs especially the title track.it's worth the money just to hear Sandy's singing of the word "lark" at the end of the song.

[Interestingly, the only FC album not to contain an instrumental]
A pedant writes - Unhalfbricking ?
Just catching up with the Board (thus my belated response to the above).  I remember being hugely disappointed by RFTM at the time of the original release - probably because this line-up was so good live & this just didn't capture them at all.  My view has mellowed over time & I really rather like it now & like several other posters would love to hear Simon have a crack at Restless sometime.

Oh yeah.... having heard both the title track and One More Chance on Saturday, I have to agree. This album is sooooo much better live.

Settled own for a quiet evening leafing through the (reissue) sleevenotes and gave up due to the low level lighting and .04 font, even though they look interesting. Are they online anywhere?

I love this album - the title track, 'After Hallowe'en' and the wonderful 'White Dress' are my favourites.  And am I the only one here who actually likes 'Night Time Girl'? :-\

One of my favourite Fpt albums with Sandy. Get it for 'One More Chance' . :)

(And no, there ain't nothing wrong with 'Night time Girl, really.)

Not just you, I like it also.

I always thought RFTM unfairly talked down, presumably because it sounds more like a solo Sandy album then a Fairport one. But theres nawt wrong with that.