TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Apologies if this has been covered before (though I did a quick search and there doesn't seem to be any recent posts about it), but can anyone tell me what Bruce Rowland's post-Fairport career has been?  I understand he held the drum chair after the initial splt, but before DM came back for the 80s albums.  But what about after that?  He was the only member of Fairport (at least, on record*) that didn't show at the 40th bash a couple of years ago and I was wondering why that may be?

*On a similar note, is there any information on the post-Fairport careers of Roger Hill, Tom Farnell, David Rea and Dan Ar Bras?  Have any of them re-appeared at Cropredy or any other Fairport-related gigs/ recordings that aren't on the Unconventional box?

My understanding was that BR retired from music some years ago, lives in mainland Europe and had arthritis problems which prevent drumming. The last time he was at Cropredy (can't remember the year but not that long ago) he banged a tambourine in a massed guest spot on stage.

Dan ar Bras was playing and singing an FC classic en Francais at Peggy's Birthday Bash 2 years ago and is still making music as far as I know.

Over to someone else for the others!


 

Tom farnell plays semi pro and teaches drums in Birmingham

After contributing to "The Manor Sessions" & then leaving Fairport, David Rea made an LP called "Slewfoot" with Keith & Donna & Bob Weir, of the Dead + various members of New Riders & Kingfish, that included a version of "Rosie". I'd not heard of him since until I came across this:

http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:Ze0xrlWbLhAJ:www.answers.com/topic/david-rea+david+rea+slewfoot&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Bruce played in Fairport til (I think) late '84 - the spring tour of '85 being (again, I think) Simon, Peggy, DM and Swarb prior to the new line up when Swarb left later in the year.  DM had already sat in for US dates the previous year (and maybe once earlier in the decade).  He played tambourine at various Cropredy's, but not for aeons, and I haven't seen him on drums with the band since '83, I don't think.  Although maybe he did play a few songs in the late 80's?

A stupendous drummer and much missed (being my first lineup, the Bruce/Swarb/Pegg/Nicol foursome is one of my faves).  I asked a similar question a year or two back and Simon posted a reply about him being very happy but not even having a drum kit.

I love the Manor Sessions recordings with Rea!

Is that really right?  :o  Do Keith, Donna or even Bob play on Rosie?  I've never heard that (or heard of it!)....and (being a Deadhead and Fairport fan) I really must!!  :)

Just looked this up. http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Slewfoot.htm  I need to hear this urgently.

Bruce appears on the '92 and '97 Cropredy CDs, doesn't he?

Dan is on the '97 box.

Not sure about the other Croppers sets and the other ex-members you listed.

Jules

Is Roger Hill the guitarist on the youtube footage of the Babbacombe Lee track?

Dan has a number of albums available via Keltia Musique - as well as the "Heritage des Celtes" CDs & DVDs - well worth investigating.  And he represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest a good few years ago - with (I think) Elaine Morgan and/or Karem Matheson on vocals. Something which to my knowledge, Bruce hasn't yet done - although I'm sure I saw Simon Nicol backing a UK artist in a Eurovision "heat" many moons ago...

I used to have a Cathy LeSurf cassette recorded in Denmark in the early/mid 80s with Bruce's assistance & involvement - wish I still had it.

Oui.

Yes he is, Bridge.

Jules

Freshly disinterred from the cellars of Quodlibet Towers, I can offer the following: the sleeve notes are not exhaustive & it doesn't have a 'who does what on which track' list, but the album is produced by DR & Bob Weir & vocal arrangements are by Weir-Godchaux so chances are Keith, Donna & Bobby are involved on Rosie. I cannot confirm as me & the record deck are currently estranged.  :'(

Also just noted it has the late lamented Airplane alumnus, Spencer Dryden, on drums, percussion, technical assistance & advice.

If memory serves, having not heard it for 30 years or so & even as a rabid FC/GD fan, the project looks better on paper than it sounds to the ear, but what do I know? Others may love it.  :)

Thanks for that!  I'd taken it as read that it would be fairly awful, but even so I still want to hear it badly.  Oh the trials of the middle-aged music obsessive......  ::) :)

I've just found some Dan Ar Bras's solo albums (Allez dire à la ville (1978) and The Earth's Lament (1979)) on Spotify so I'm giving them a spin.  

Hard to see how he'd fit into Fairport at any point, though he seems to be quite a good vocalist and guitar player- can someone remind me where he fitted into the chronology?  I'm guessing it was after Trev, Jerry & Sandy left, but I can't remember if it was pre or post Gottle O'Geer.  

And yes Davimjs, the Manor Sessions with David Rea are pretty good!

Dan ar Braz's "Rain" from (I think) '92 at Cropredy is still one of my fave Fairport moments. Quite sublime...

97 was the year he did rain, the rest you  are spot on about
judging from the fact he was on the Gottle cover then i'll guess it was before and possibly shortly afterwards, but i think we can quite correctly use the term "short lived" about that line-up

I don't think Dan played on Gottle O'Gear, but that line-up with DAB, Bob Brady & Roger Burridge were great live, at least on the single occasion I saw them in Harlow Town Park  :)

No, but quite a lot of people did  :o

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fcfansite/album-gottle.htm

Dan Ar Bras - still active and well worth to listen to.
The live DVD "Celts" at the Zenith/Paris is just great stuff
and IMHO among his best albums are 'Greenland' and 'Reve de Siam'.
I'd love to have him with a proper set at cropredy.

Lucky you then. Cos I saw them on what was regarded as a high profile gig on that tour at Victoria Palace in London on June 6 1976. What I witnessed was an uninspired FC trying their best but just not working very well until the usual jigs and reels came flying out at the end. Which was fun. But the earlier part of the show featured stumbling blocks like Dan doing an uninspired "The town I loved so well", Bob Brady leading them through a rather pointless boogie-like instrumental (the title of which eludes me at the moment) and there was (wait for it...) a tango, would you believe! Jokingly referred to as "The last tango in Bradford". I can't recall any of them doing much for me that night.

I had expectations to hearing Dan on Sloth, but can't recall that being much of a winner on the night, either.

But of course it was fun at the end when the instrumental fun started and Swarb proved once again what a fiddler he is. But the rest of the gig left me with a worried feeling, in spite of the fact that I was happy they hadn't broken up as had been reported about half a year earlier when Jerry, Sandy and Trev all left.

Later that summer the line-up played a festival on the west coast in Norway (in Ålesund) which was recorded for national TV in this country. The TV show featured the chaps performing "The hen's march" medley and the final half of "Sloth". Nothing sensational about the performances, but it was nice to have them on the telly in our country.

Shortly after all the newbies were gone and the remaining three were joined by Simon Nicol. The BBoR/TT line-up that flew the flag for the rest of the seventies was born.

Hey Thor, I was there at Victoria Palace that day as well!

Must say I concur with your evaluation - it was a distinctly dicey gig. There were about 3 Fairporters in our mob and we did try to like it but afterwards we agreed "They have taken a wrong turn here". I seem to remember Swarb saying the same years later.

Somewhere I have a flyer for the gig - anybody else got one they can scan?

I guess everyone remembers but Dan Ar Braz played a set at Cropredy on the Saturday in 1991. For some reason, I got the impression where I was standing that the set wasn't very well received at all (I guess it was a bit "new age" in the 1980s sense) and the audience were almost hostile - very odd for Cropredy and any member of the extended Fairport family. Certainly there seemed to be more noise from the crowd than the stage. I remember feeling very sorry for him at the time but perhaps I misinterpreted it.

"Rain" on the other hand was a spectacular success!

Actually, now that you mention it, I remember a similar hostile reaction towards Dan in '91 or whenever it was. Also when he appeared at Cropredy 1997 doing Rain at least from where I stood (despite it indeed being a success). The guy is French, that was his main fault - according to the narrowminded emptyheaded nationalists among the Cropredy audience who were very vocal. Maybe (and presumably) there were very few of them, but they sure were vocal, heckling in an Inspector Clouseau accent (which is funny, but not in those circumstances). There's bastards in every crowd.  

Am I reading this wrong, or is there a strong proportion of right-wing supporters at Cropredy?  Or do you just mean the sort of person who's had a few too many ales making un-PC gags?  Either way, I must be really lucky as I've thankfully never noticed anything of that sort when I've gone.

ive got to say that ive never ever noticed any nationalism, empty headed or otherwise, at cropredy and,  since i wasnt there in '91, only heard wild applause when Msr ar Braz took to the stage in 97

I've never heard politics as such mentioned at the Cropredy bar or on stage I or II, so no probs there, I think.

The incident was probably just a function of the amount of alcohol consumed.

alcohol? I'm shocked and appalled!

Come along now Andy, don't act all naive and innocent!  ;D ;D ;D

Heh, that's what I thought.  All seems very friendly and inclusive.  

Ron Hill is still gigging in Birmingham & has turned out for Peggy's Birthday bashes at the Town Hall.

Is that in between marathons Chris??

[/quote]

Am I reading this wrong, or is there a strong proportion of right-wing supporters at Cropredy?
[/quote]

The delight at much of Digance's set might suggest so.

Tell me am I correct in thinking that bruce rowland played on the jesus christ superstar sound track?

Well, I definetely remember anti-French heckling against Dan Ar Braz from where I was standing. But, you know, I hope I just happened to hear 5 drunken loudmouths among the 20.000 who were there. That's probably exactly what happened: it's always the one heckler you remember at a gig but they're isolated incidents. I was at a theatre performance by Dutch chanteuse, Wende Snijders, in Amsterdam just before last Christmas. She came on, after initial applause silence came over the audience, exactly as intended. Then, just as she wanted to open her mouth, some bastard 4 rows behind me bellowed "show us your tits". No funny jokes now; that was such an embarrassing moment and I felt so bad for her. Thankfully the idiot remained quiet after that. But it IS what sticks in the mind. Just like hostility towards Dan Ar Braz stuck into mine.

That'll teach me to keep my mind on what I'm typing!!! Roger, apologies....

As he is a proud Breton I think anti French sentiment would be wasted on DaB

I guess what made the apparent hostility stick in my mind was the fact that I'd gone along with a friend who'd never been to Cropredy before and he said something along the lines of, "the audience really don't like this, do they?" and it just got worse and worse. It's the only time I've noticed anything like this before or since, so it's just a one-off mystery! I guess the fact that Ron Kavana had just left the stage after a rousing set didn't prepare people for something much more laid back (and I might add, just as good in it's own way). It still wasn't anything like the hostility that I saw a Sheffield City Hall audience show towards a French band called (I think) "Telephone", supporting Steve Hillage circa '78/79. Mind you, they really were dreadful and the sentiment wasn't anything anti-French...!!

Not the soundtrack, but the original cast album. The one with Ian Gillan as Jesus.

Paul

Now that's funny.   :D

Jules

ah thanks!

Am I reading this wrong, or is there a strong proportion of right-wing supporters at Cropredy?
[/quote]

The delight at much of Digance's set might suggest so.
[/quote]
I dont agree.  I am not right wing, middle or left wing but can enjoy Digence for what he is and does.  

"Your winnings, sir..."

I'm a bit of a righty but I absolutely wouldn't make nationalist or racist comments about any performer, so whoever was making them I suggest it was nowt to do with their politics but everything to do with them being rude and inconsiderate. And a bit childish.  >:(

Anyway - I always thought Dan Ar Bras was Welsh!!! (It means Under the Thickness  :-\ )

Indeed. Suggesting a Breton is French is like saying a Welshman is English.

That's not strictly true, is it?  It's like saying a Welshman is British.

I see what you mean, but many Bretons would say (and there are some in my family) that France is a separate entity from Breizh. In the same way that England is separate from Cymru.

Oi, I am Welsh AND British, thank you very much. >:(

And me  :) And Ancient and Rocky Rockworm.

Here we go. Actually old chap I don't mind being English if that's alright with everybody else. (Cue Celtic backlash).
Perhaps somebody could ask Bruce Rowland what he thinks of the Welsh, just to get back on topic.

According to the Reverend S. Fry, "British" and "English" were synonymous until the 1950's.

I can't believe that on so many levels.

Chapter and verse??

Andy makes these quotes up off the top of his heid
good arnt they ::)

He was English, I'm guessing?   ;)

Sorry to have been slightly obscure, I was referring to Stephen Fry, on a recent QI where he made this statement.

D'oh...sorry.  It must be true then.  We can't have people doubting Mr Fry.  That would never wash.   ;D

Is that the one where they ask the comics if a bumblebee can fly, the comics say apparently it can't, and Fry reveals sententiously that in fact a bumblebee can fly, and rumours that it can't were caused by everybody else in the world being less brainy than S. Fry. ( Though 90% of the world can act better).

If I remember correctly in Breton "Ar" means "near". Sorry, I don't know what Bras means.
Anyway, I saw Dan on stage about 25 years ago - an acoustic set - and I can witness that he's a great guitarist and a good singer

best

paolo

Um....it means lady's chest garment, Paolo.  Ask yer mum.   ;)

Jules

In french, but in breton as well?

 ???

in French it means 'arms' surely? ???

Yes.  And stop calling me Shirley.   ;D

Jules

I just knew there was a reason not to say that... ::)

Ahem!  ;)

LOL

Jules

Actually Dan Ar Braz is a Bretonisation of his real name - which is Daniel Le Bras.

I'd imagine Owen Glendower might have had something to say about that!

Or even, Owain Glyndŵr  ;D