TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

I'm somewhat hesitant to put this question to the man himself, but this is the first I had heard of this rift. Could somebody fill me in on some of the details? When it occurred? What caused it? Thanks

Yeah. I was wondering that myself. He refers to him as the ''j'' word.

Pat

wasnt the song "Big William" off "9" inspired by Joe Boyd?

"9" is one of the albums I haven't heard yet ...

Apparently they used to dedicate Adieu Adieu to Joe  ;D

I think you will find that it was Jo Lustig once Fairport's manager not Joe Boyd.  Cheers Andy

Go on ask the question, wasn't there a Cropredy program that Swarb expressed the wish to see in Joe Boyd's wallet? All he can do is not answer  ;D

i think you'll find that we were talking about swarbs rift with Joe Boyd not Jo Lustig.cheers Jim

I think you are at cross purposes here. Andy's comment was, I believe, in response to Ollie's about the dedication of Adieu Adieu, the implications of which I don't think we want to dwell on. Let's just say it was a pun.

This is one essential factor I think - Swarb may feel Joe did rather better financially out of Fairport than Swarb did.

Swarb has also said that Joe undermined Swarb's confidence in the studio as a singer.  I don't think there was much love lost between the two men.

Jules

Swarb a singer?  Surely you jest. ;D

Make it your next purchase, Bob - it's a cracking album!

Jules

Nope.  He was a great singer imo.  Lots of other folks round here would agree with me too.

 >:( :P

Jules

No. Great voice.

I guess his vocals can be described as an acquired taste. Absolutely of my - and lots of others here - taste, I hasten to add ... and FC is full of 'em: take RT or Ashley Hutchings - or Simon. They didn't actually start lead singing until well into their recording careers, and might technically not be the best singers. As in, none of them will probably pass the first round of (urgh) Pop Idol! But what's a technically good singer? Bo-ringgg! I suppose Mariah Carey has a wide range and can be called a technically good singer. I can't stand the sound of her. What lacks there I guess is personality, which to me, people like Swarb etc have in abundance - no one sounds like him, it's extremely distinctive. And although turned into vocalists by necessity, he and RT and Simon etc became very good at it. Hear how Simon has grown since those first lines in Walk Awhile; listen to, say, Lynden Lea delivered by Swarbrick on his last Whippersnapper album. Compare RT now, to Henry The Human Fly. They may not be Pavarotti, but it feels right. And Swarb's singing fitted Fairport's style perfectly. IMHO etc.

I'd applaud you if that worked on internet forums!  Bloody well put, sir.

Jules

Re a few posts back I was answering the baked bean who suggested that Adieu Adieu was dedicated to Joe Boyd and it certainly wasn't it was as I stated to Jo Lustic.  Throws teddy in the corner!!!!!  Cheers Andy

Fair point.  Not my cup of tea but I do appreciate that a lot of people here probably would like his singing.  Then again, I can't listen to anything by FC after Unhalfbricking. I have tried but I guess its not for me.

i love Swarbs singing with FC
it suited them and the material down to a t

ok hes no Pavarotti or even Presley, but he was just right for the job

Swarb is a very under-rated singer, in my view.  I especially love his singing on The Angel Delight, Full House & Babbacombe Lee albums... but, above all, To Althea From Prison is sublime.  

I couldn't agree more. To Althea from Prison is right up there with Now Be Thankful. Swarb is no Presly. He's better.

Pat

That is one of My favourite swarb songs too! I love his voice ;D

Well said!

I love his voice in so many songs and bands.

OK, now that we have everyone's opinions about Swarb's singing sorted (I initially disliked it but I've come around), can we get back to topic?  ;D

Unless this diversion is everyone's way of telling me either:
a) none of you have any idea when, where or why the rift occurred (I suspect money was involved  ::))
b) mind my own business  :)

Maybe it is Swarb's business .. and not ours??

Hi All,

I did happen to ask Swarb if he read Boyd's book and he said ''that I don't mention the ''J'' word in my house''. Additionally, Iread an interview with Swarb some years ago an he made a comment about Chris Blackwell, president of Island Records, calling him something along the lines of a rich, clueless, crook.Both Boyd and Blackwell handled FC with Island Records. I think it was about money. Boyd even said in his book that he always had a prickly relationship with Swarb.

Pat

Well perhaps it might be a subject better left alone then eh? :)

I agree.

Pat

Well, mind my own business it is then.  :)

Sadly there seems to be no shortage of musicians who have been short changed or whatever by managers. One very good book on the subject is Noel Redding's "Are You Experienced?: The Inside Story of the Jimi Hendrix Experience" which goes into some detail about how most of the money from the Experience disappeared into off-shore accounts etc and he hardly saw a penny.

I'm still trying to cope with someone not having heard Nine.....

Why?  ???
Wasn't there a point in your life when you weren't familiar with every album released by Fairport?

I'm a relatively recent convert. I've heard various tracks from Nine on compilations and live recordings, but never the original.

There is a special place in the after whatever for these people  ;D ;D

Joke.

Never take me too seriously, its not worth the effort and I don't probably mean what I post anyway! I just don't like smileys.


Anyway - Nine is probably the Fairport album I play the most, and could be regarded as the 'great lost' Fairport album, in that a fair number of Fairport fans have not actually heard it.

I love 'em both for very different reasons.

Jules

Hi All,

You know it's funny but I never saw the thrill with Elvis. I grew up on his music but thought it  never really hit home. I also think it's a load of **** branding him the King of Rock and Roll. To me there was no one king there were a few, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Pat

Try listening to his 1969 Memphis recordings.  It was these that convinced me of Elvis's greatness, rather than the earlier rock & roll stuff.  There's lots of southern soul and country and blues in there.  And pop hits too, like Suspicious Minds and In The Ghetto.  There's a 2 CD compilation of the sessions called Suspicious Minds - The Memphis Anthology.  Check it out.

Jules



Edit: And on that note I shall point to the title of the topic, then ponder why you guys have started rabbiting on about Elvis  ::) ... Back on topic please!

Ooh, that must be painful - what nuts are we talking about? In any case, was it Joe or was it Jo?

Other FC forgotten albums - I really like The Bonny Bunch of Roses. Typical of Swarb grabbing some trad songs by the scruff of the neck and flinging them around. If only.....

As to Swarb's voice - it wasn't great on Full House, neither was Richard's or Simon's, but with time, all three developed good, if not great singing voices. That's what happens when you sing lots, your voice improves and so does your delivery - no real difference to practicing an instrument. Swarb and Richard have both made a big impression on me as musicians, composers, arrangers and singers.

I agree about Richard and Simon, but I think Swarb sang great from the get go.

Jules

So do I.

Edit: And on that note I shall point to the title of the topic, then ponder why you guys have started rabbiting on about Elvis  ::) ... Back on topic please!

Personally I think there's a little too much of a straight jacket here about wandering off-topic.  Conversations do tend to wander.  It can feel artificial to not have the odd wee aside.  And I don't see why some pairs of knickers get in such a twist about it.

 :-\

Jules

I agree. One of the things that fascinates me about TAW is the way the conversations develop and how a thread that starts in one place can end up somewhere completely different and unexpected according to what part of the discussion fires the imagination of the contributors. If nobody is complaining why put constraints on that?

Absolutely.  The relaxed and chatty manner is a major pluspoint.  I don't particularly care for trad folk music, I prefer FC in their pre Liege days but I enjoy reading the posts.  I have learnt quite a lot about various types of music or artists which I maybe would not have come across anywhere else.

Meandering is allowed but within reason. The Arms is a little more liberal about this but meandering is not encouraged in the Music parts of Talkawhile. People use TAW as a reference and it becomes impossible to find things if the content doesn't match the subject.

Meandering like this is also a bit rude to the person who started a topic. Maybe they asked a particular question or maybe they wanted to talk about a particular thing. it's not fair on them if you choose to use their topic to talk about something different. In this thread Bob asked an interesting and difficult question which is worthy of some discussion and focus. I think it is worth keeping this thread on topic.

If you want to talk about Elvis, start a topic about Elvis and talk there.

If we did not call things as off-topic every now and then, then every thread on Talkawhile would end up on the subjects of Cr ocs, The Who or Chris Leslie's hair  ::) and that, in my opinion, would make it a horrible place to be.

Cheers

Nick

tis a great album - one if not THE highlight of my fairport experiences is seeing the Nine line up at Crop 85. probably the last time this line up ever played together - such a shame

I remember seeing them at a free concert in a park in Harlow, Essex. I reckon this was one of the most technically and musically able line-ups with some cracking arrangements. This, of course,  evolved into a kind of Fotheringay mark II with Sandy rejoining and, the sometimes under-rated and overlooked, Bruce Rowland on drums, who I saw in Bristol's Colsnall - another happy and memorable gig. This in-turn led to the "BBoR" line-up who I saw in that Labour MP's garden, err whassisname? And probably one of my favourite albums by them. The title track is astonishing, it lasts for ages and Swarb doesn't play a single note on it - but my, what singing and the rest of the guys put in a superb backing.

Quote from Pete S
This in-turn led to the "BBoR" line-up who I saw in that Labour MP's garden, err whassisname?

Richard Crossman, Prescotte Manor  ;)

Glad you brought that up, Nick.  I for one have always wondered how Chris managed to re-grow it so quickly...

(Sorry, sorry, couldn't resist  ;)  ;D  :-*  HH hides behind filing cabinet!)