TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

hello, i got a few compilations of FC stuff copied for me but have no idea of a good album for a relativily newbie like me......i am a big folk fan in general and i tend to go for more folk side then the rock side.....also anything funky folky.....any recommends for me or the like.....cheers :)

Start with either the deluxe Liege & Lief (Sandy singing) or the remastered Full House (the chaps singing), and expand outwards from there.

Jules

Get the Cropredy Capers box Ady, there's one on ebay atm going for £17.

I wouldn't go for a live one yet, just because you should hear the source material first.

I would go for The History Of Fairport Convention for the early stuff, as you can almost certainly get it on eBay for a couple of quid.

This looks like a decent summary of the creative period between 1985 and 1995 too:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Some-Our-Yesterdays-Anthology-1985-1995/dp/tracks/B00005QX6B/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

He's already got compilations, Keith.

Jules

i'll say this every time, and since youve already a bit familiar with the bands output, start at the beginning and work your way forwards from there , see how it all pans out

And once again I remember what a good idea that is.  I used to always get into 'new' old artists this way.

Jules

I did it completely the other way around! I had In Real Time first (which I still play a lot) then Five Seasons, then Over the Next Hill (yes there was a large gap) then started on the old stuff.

I'd strongly recommend Babacombe Lee as IMHO it has everything. Then I'd go for Unhalfbricking. Then The History of...

Good luck Ady and have fun!  :)

But what's the point of buying History Of... once you've started buying the albums proper?

Jules

Completeness. or something like that anyway  :)

Excellent start! You get the best of the Tippler's Tales set that way and the production on that album is top notch.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Time-Live-87/dp/B00002649B

I'm all there for being a completist when it's about songs that are unavailable esewhere, but not with comps made up solely of tracks from regular albums.

Jules

That was my starting order too! But then I went for Liege & Lief which came as a bit of a shock after those two!

Jules's suggestion is a good one I think, particularly if you are interested in the point where the folk and the rock first and most successfully embraced.

I always tend to point newbies at The Cropredy Box (not to be confused with the Cropredy Capers Box). It is a three disc set recorded live at the 1997 festival and contains full strength performances from pretty much every line up from the first to the current one (with the obvious exceptions of band members who are no longer with us and Gerry Conway who was yet to join the band) in chronological order. There are many splendid individual studio albums but I tend to regard this live outing as a near definitive collection.

And currently available (AFAIK) from Fopp for £5!

With GubGub on this one...love the Cropredy 97 Box, especially Ashley's narration.

I don't want to know about his medical complaints.

One or two from each era, then:

Unhalfbricking
Liege and Lief
Rising For The Moon
Nine
Babbacombe Lee
Gladys' Leap
Red And Gold
Over The Next Hill

Should keep you happy.

crikey lots to choose from! one of those box sets sound very temptinf....but realistically money wise i can afford 2 or 3....think i'll do liege...as one of um  :)

I started out by trying to get anything I could find.  In the early 80s you had to be pretty deligent - combing used record stores to find anything.  The first polydor album used to go for a mint in the US - extremely rare.  The only album in print was L&L, but you had to special order it anyway.

In retrospect, I can't imagine a more desirable way to do it.  Each find was a triumph.......another piece of the puzzle.  "Okay, I guess Sandy must have rejoined the band again....hummmmmm."  

I remember finding Fotheringay in a bizarre, rundown electronics store, still wrapped in cellophane(!).  Never had heard any songs on it - just that the album existed.  "Dang!  This stuff is good!"

Lotsa fun...........I miss the chase!

Get "A History Of ..." a great intro to the best of early Fairport.

ummm, except my Fairport which wasn't on Island so wasn't allowed to be on it. :-\ :(

I think that the better option if you are after a compilation is the Meet On The Ledge set from a few years back. It covers the same period, plus the original line up and is spread over two discs. Jude still only gets one track though.  :(

The early Island albums (deluxe L&L aside) are all a fiver, Ady.   ;D

Jules

Uh...he really did say he already had compilations.  Honest.   :D

Jules

Bonny Bunch of Roses is my suggestion, it worked for me anyway

My first FC album was Jewel In The Crown, borrowed from our local library in 1998.  That and Red and Gold were bought straight away.  Then I set about working backwards, buying albums as I could afford them and when they were available. It took years but what a wonderful journey of discovery it was!  I don't have any compilations - it didn't seem worth it - I knew I was going to own them all one day.  I'm now collecting the Cropredy programmes (just 4 to go for a full set) and Tour programmes (just one to find!) so the discovery goes on.

The history is great, but don't neglect to go and see the current line-up live, Ady. 8)

  

Even though I bought L&L in 69 and got the following albums as they were released, I recognize this "hunters" feeling I've had when I've tried to track down other artists or groups.It's a special feeling that I miss sometimes with the availability over the net.  :D You know me with my music archeology...  :D
I would also recommend the chronological way of meeting the bands music and different faces.As KM discovered, try your local library and it's CD (LP´s must be thrown out of British libraries today, I guess) dept. Borrow and then buy the albums that you find irresistible.Many albums will be irresistible!!  8)

You know, asking that question here is asking for trouble as everyone of us started from different angles. You'll end up getting tons of well meant left field suggestions and end up with an endless list of titles without really knowing what to make of it all.

My advice to you in general when it comes to investigating a band is to go for the classics. There is usually a reason why they became classics. In Fairports case the classics are usually regarded as being:

Unhalfbricking
Liege & Lief
Full House

and to a certain extent What We Did on Our Holidays.

I'd start with some of those. And if you like them, then you can start dipping your toe in the ocean of other releases. There's tons of great stuff elsewhere. Good luck.

You are correct about the problems inherent in asking this question on this board. I started a similar topic a while ago about The Albion Band and ultimately had pretty much every one of their albums recommended to me! It did point me in the direction of a couple of hidden treasures though.

I take your point about starting with the classics but I think it is a flawed approach. Classic albums often come with a weight of reputation and expectation that is hard to live up to. I know I have bought supposedly classic albums over the years (not by Fairport I hasten to add) and have ultimately been disappointed and only one of the three albums you name would be in my personal Fairport top 5, though WWDOOH would probably be in there.

On reflection, if Ady already has some compilations, the best approach may be to identify the albums from which his favourite tracks on those originate and investigate those albums first. I would still heartily recommend The Cropredy Box though, as a starting point. Everybody is right at the top of their game and it could act as a catalyst for investigating more deeply as suggested above.

GubGub - this depends EXTREMELY much on what compilations he has. Think of all the **** compilation cd's that have flooded the market in recent years with 80's and later trax. Issued with a cover featuring photos of the 60's/70's line-ups. Totally misleading, totally pointless and without a single track from any of the albums I mentioned.

If he has a good collection from the Island era, I would see your point to a certain extent. But only then.

But my advice is still, and always will be, to start with the classics I mentioned.

Ady, have you got Spotify? There are loads of FC albums on there for you to have a listen to and decide which you would like best. I think GubGub's idea of finding the source of your favourite tracks from the compilations that you have is a good place to start. Then I'd go for the classic albums. FC have always been a folk-rock group and have never really been very folky without having lots of rock in there as well. The first 3 albums aren't very folky at all, they're very West Coast influenced and are completely different to any of FCs other output. Have a search around, I'm sure you'll find something you like.  :)

Yes, Spotify would be good place to investigate if you have access to it. Agreed!

Probably best to leave  Gottle O' Geer for a while though. Rather an acquired taste according to my husband [I like it, he hates it]

Heyday is a brilliant way of hearing how they develop from rock to folk-rock in an amazingly short space of time. Then do what someone said further up and listen in order (first album definitely included).

It has to be Fairport Convention on Polydor 68, start at the beginning and work your way through ;)

C & M x

a big thankyou to all who have posted on here......shows you as a nice enthuseastic bunch like in my mind, which is a great thing........i've downloaded that "live at bbc" as it was over 50 tracks for 4 quid and someone told me here thats a silly bargain,practically law breaking!  and i'm just about to get a copy of Liege and lief for a couple of quid from me local indie shop...wander what i'll be listening to this eve  :)


hopefully this post wont just help me but others like me who although i know and like a fair bit of folk,just not much about fairport,but at least i'm trying to expand me musical mind eh  :)

just bring along loads of munny for buying beer next time were in oxfordcesterceshire, whenever that might be ::)

Coming at this from a slightly different angle, I've been listening for 3 or 4 years now, have some of the obvious earlier stuff - L&L, FH, UHB, WWDOOH, BBL - plus the 4-CD "Live At The BBC" (which I love), but.....

.....which are the gems in the recent output?

That is a slightly less fertile crop. Personally I am quite fond of Gladys' Leap (apart from one track), The Five Seasons, most of Jewel In The Crown and Who Knows Where The Time Goes. I couldn't wholeheartedly recommend any of the more recent albums, though they all have moments. One exception, the very recent Live At Cropredy 08 is quite wonderful from start to finish.

Gladys Leap...24 years ago.  Recent?  Discuss....   ;D

He's right about Cropredy 08 though..excellent live album....

I was taking MisterKeith's underlining of the word recent to imply a very broad interpretation.  ;D

You're quite right of course.  To me 'recent' Fairport means anything after Tipplers Tales (ie not recorded in the first decade of the band's existence)!  It's like recent Stones....you know from It's Only RocknRoll onwards...  ;D

As a relative newbie myself Ade, I kinda started with the more recent stuff (Dad got me The Wood & The Wire one Christmas and I went from there).  I have to admit I'm still struggling with most of the studio albums that have been mentioned previously in this thread.  I think as much as anything it's the production - too tinny and thin-sounding for my tastes, but that's probably because I'm of the MegaBass generation...  There are some good songs on the early albums though - several of the last half-dozen or so of the newest albums have contained self-covers (as it were) and they sound GREAT with a bit of reinterpretation (and bass!!)

I think my very favourite albums are from the Maart era and arounds - Red & Gold, to name just one (cos my mind's gone blank!) - he really brought a fuller, rounder sound to the band.

What I'm saying basically is, don't forget the "really" recent stuff - it's what you'd mostly hear if you were going to see the band, after all; and it's nice to know the words! ;)

Oh, and ignore most of what anyone says in this thread (including me!) and just go out and get whatever's available whenever you can afford it - there's bound to be something you like on any given album. :)

Agreed, as well.............Glady's does seem to be the great "vowel shift."

Recent? I like XXXV.

(hoping that wasn't tounge in cheek) So do I.

Me too!

and me  :D

Jewel In The Crown and The Wood And The Wire are the two "recent" studio albums I return to most often. Although the oldest one already is a teenager!  ;D

Ah.  When I said "recent", I meant in the last 10 years or so!  Partly because Chris' vocals always remind me of Geddy Lee and I'm partial to a bit of Rush....

And, yes, "Cropredy 08" is superb.  If only because it makes me think of the moment when Hanuman and I were leaning on the crash barriers going "Robert Plant, yeah, right......****ING 'ELL, IT'S ROBERT PLANT!!!".

Well, there have only been four studio albums in the last 10 years. The Wood & The Wire (2000), XXXV (2002) Over The Next Hill (2004) and A Sense Of Occasion (2007). None of them are classics but they all have a few nice tracks. I would still maintain the Who Knows Where The Time Goes from 1997 is a pretty consistent record. It was Chris's first album with the band and contains plenty of his vocals and some of his best writing.

First Fairport album I ever heard and the only one I owned when I went to my first Cropredy.

Not that you really need any more suggestions, but I just can't help being moved to add a few complementary observations.

I, too, am very fond of THE CROPREDY BOX (1997) for its great coverage of FC's song catalog well-played, Ashley's narration, and the great opening song "Wings" which tells of the inspiration of FC and the English folk rock movement.  Also added near the end is a great studio version of "Seventeen Come Sunday".  I thought that and "Wings" would have made great "A" and "B" sides of a single.  I won't say what's at the very end; that's a surprise for you to find!  And it seems to be available for a quite reasonable price.

BUT--you really should also get LIEGE AND LIEF (which I think you said you plan to do).  The first remastered edition is fine (or even the original CD edition if money is really tight); you don't really need the latest deluxe edition.  You need it to hear Sandy's voice soaring like an angel's, and to hear the verse of "Matty Groves" that is missing from the version on THE CROPREDY BOX.

Ten years back when I used to do cassette tapes, I made a few C-60s for friends that included the whole of LIEGE AND LIEF (original CD edition) plus "A Sailor's Life" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" from UNHALFBRICKING.  That just about filled the cassette and arguably covered the pinnacle of Sandy's work with FC.  "A Sailor's Life" is really the first step to what became more fully developed on L & L.  Besides Sandy's singing, it is a great instrumental workout for the other band members, and it may be the last recorded work of Martin Lamble (drummer) before he was taken away from us.  But, since we don't do cassettes any more, you might as well give in & add UNHALFBRICKING to your collection.  It's certainly a worthy addition, and some folks even prefer it over L & L.  Unless you've got a friend who could make you a CD version of what I used to do with the cassette.

Good luck & ENJOY!!!  
Cheers ///  Tom M.***