TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fairport-Convention-ACETATE-alt-take-Sailors-Life-1_W0QQitemZ280368906527QQihZ018QQcategoryZ306QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m183QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DCRX%26its%3DI%252BC%252BS%252BIA%26itu%3DSI%252BUS-BWR%252BLM%252BLA%252BUCI%252BUCC%26otn%3D12%26ps%3D52

A seller on Ebay is offering a unique acetate:

The A side, an early take of A Sailor’s Life pre-Swarb, was released on RT’s Watching The Dark compilation. As for the B side, a late (?) take of Autopsy, the seller says:

"The b-side of the acetate has never been released in any form except for this acetate. The song starts off with Sandy saying "agaaiinnn..." before the band sets to playing. It is a take that is very similar to the lp version and while I have been listening to this song for years, I cannot distinguish much difference between the two versions."

I presume, then, A Sailor's Life was transferred and released because it's different from the LP version, whereas Autopsy was ignored because it's "very similar". Do we have to spend $350 to check that assertion?

I wish we could launch a rescue mission in case this artifact disappears for good.

"Some of the books on Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings have mentioned this rarity but none of the band members or Joe Boyd, the producer, have any memory of having done this pre-"Unhalfbricking" recording. If I hadn't come across it and alerted Richard, et al. this would never have seen the light of day.

This is a 12" metal acetate on the Emidisc label with hand written song titles. This is the only known recording of "A Sailor's Life" without the fiddle playing of Dave Swarbrick. It is now believed by some that the acetate recording may have occurred when the group was playing the song for Swarb so he could learn it."

Very interesting insight by the seller. Would love to keep an eye on the bidding for this one !

Fascinating. It should be saved for the nation. If I had the wherewithall, I'd bid, but alas....

Well, it's only got 1 day to go and there are no bids, so maybe nobody thinks it's worth the asking price.  An e-mail to the seller with a sensible offer is in order methinks...

If only I had the cash, I would buy it then get it in the hands of the relevant people (either Thompson/Nicol/Hutchings/Hurtt-Lucas/Boyd) . This is a true one-off and it's vital that it doesn't vanish after eBay.

J

If anyone could let Richard or Ashley know, they may well want to get in touch with the seller.

Jules

You can always email 'em, Jules.

It should sell.I think potential bidders are waiting so the price doesn't get driven up to high so they will bid at the last moment of the auction.

Looks like prime pickings for a Hard Rock Cafe interment above the hostess podium.......probably in Myrtle Beach.  :'(

 

I may just have mislaid their email addies, Andy.   ;D

I guess we could let RT know via beesweb.

Jules

It’s a bit of a puzzle, this. I wrote to the seller, because I’m anxious that this item go to a good home, even if I doubt I can afford to bid myself. I pointed out to them that their version of the object’s history is totally different from the one given in Hinton & Wall’s biog of Ashley. Hinton & Wall say this disc was rescued from a garbage bin behind a recording studio in the US, sold at a garage sale, then sent to the Friends of Fairport fan club, who arranged for it to be remastered at a studio in England owned by Simon Stable. The seller replied that the Ashley biog is “wrong in all almost all details”. I’ve also emailed the engineer who is named as having made the transfer, to ask if he transferred the B side as well as the A. I assume he would have done. Providing the content has been saved it’s not the end of the world if this thing disappears into some reclusive collector’s attic.

Of course, the other explanation of the discrepant stories is that there are actually two discs floating around. Is that likely?

I am quite categorically NOT passing aspersions about this seller's story, but the world is awash (that's a massive exaggeration) with superly rare acetates.  They are the easiest thing in the world to produce (if you have a friendly record printing plant!), and many acetates that have been sold for large sums of money (particularly Beatles related) have later turned out to be false, produced by people wanting to make a quick buck in the 70's and 80's especially.  You pays your money, you take your choice.  I wouldn't spend my hard earned on this without a lot more provenance than is being offered in this case....  Having said that I'm sure it will sell.

Errr I would just like to say that Simon Stable was my late husband and never did we have a remastering studio, let alone remaster that particular disc. We were, however involved with the manufacturing of the Hey Day cassettes..

I wonder if it was Simon Heyworth that was meant.  He certainly does a lot of remastering...

Details of this version of A Sailor's Life from RT's site:

A Sailor's Life (traditional, arranged Denny, Thompson, Nicol, Hutchings, Lamble) published by Warlock Music Ltd.
Fairport Convention:
S. Denny: vocals
R. Thompson: electric guitar
S. Nicol: electric guitar
A. Hutchings: bass
M. Lamble: drums
Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, 1969
Engineer: J. Wood
NoNoise restoration by Scott Levitin at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California February 1993
Previously unreleased recording remastered from acetate courtesy A. Dawson, with thanks to F. Kornelussen
Produced by J. Boyd
song originally released on Unhalfbricking, 1969

Well, it now has a bid.  Someone wants it  ;)

512$ all told...Now, I wonder what the Fairport acetate I had last year to clean up for Judy's anthology would have been worth....(its back with its esteemed owner now) and the box of reel to reel tapes that currently reside in my garage (carefully dry stored in bubble wrap!) might be worth! And no you can't have my address.....

That seller has some pretty cool stuff.I wish I would of won this...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fotheringay-Nick-Drake-Sandy-Denny-Fairport-1970-progam_W0QQitemZ280367973172QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_Other_Formats?hash=item41473bc334&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A13%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

I’ve had an email from the seller of this item, reassuring us that it has gone to a good home. The seller writes:

“You and the other folks at talkawhile can rest assured that it was won by someone very deserving - a longtime fan, who frequently met Sandy and RT.”

Good-oh. A story with a happy ending.
 :)

Why no pic of Jerry D on the cover - had he left the band?

No clue as to why his pic wasn't included but he was still with the band at that point.

This was in the days before digital photography, where it took 2 or 3 days to get prints developed. In that time the Fairport lineup could have changed a couple of times.  ;D

Paul

This was a program for Fotheringay.As far as I know,that line-up never changed.

Not strictly true. The original guitarist was Albert Lee. Jerry, who replaced him, must have been the last person to join the band. Since they were booked for dates practically before they'd got their act together, it's possible they didn't have a photo of Jerry ready for inclusion in the programme for a March tour.

Looks as though there wasn't much competition for this oddly!

I stand corrected,though wasn't Albert's stint in the band so short that they never did any live gigs with him?

There were no live gigs but some photos were taken of them in Parsons Green, when they were known for a few days as Tiger's Eye before changing their name to Fotheringay.

J

did you get it Chris?  :P

After a Hogan´s Heroes gig, I tried to ask Albert Lee about his cooperation with Sandy and his short stint with Fotheringay but his answer was very appreciative and polite but not inviting me to further questions on the subject at this occasion. Humphries writes only a sentence or two about Lees time in the band, if I remember correctly.

There's a photo of Fairport at The Troubadour in 1974 (in the original CD sleeve for Live Convention) with Albert Lee playing keyboards.