TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

......as i'm fairly new to FC's music.....as mentioned in a thread a few weeks back......just wandered which is your fave FC album....and why?
i imagine most of you have got pretty much all their stuff........sorry if this has been done before.

out of the 3 albums and downloaded BBC sesions i would have to say i'm really into "full house"

For me, "Full House" just about wins over "What we Did on Our Holidays"
I think it's the short lived writing partnership of Thompson/Swarbrick that does it.

Not an album, but if I could only have one FC offering it would be the Cropredy Capers box.

That could be a cop out!
For me it's Gladys' Leap, not for the songs, just because it was the album that introduced me to Fairport.
Oh and In Real Time because I'm on the cover. ;D

sorry Goaty my bad......i should've said no box sets!   but i'll let ya have that as it was my fault at the start for not being clear....... :)

As the band has evolved through different lineups and age (oops) I prefer to choose Liege & Lief from the conception period, Nine from the mixed up period, Jewel in the Crown from the resurgence with Maart and Ric and Over the next Hill from the latest with Chris.

There that ought to keep you going for a morning!

I think Liege & Lief is their finest album, but as a CD with those special bonus tracks, my personal favourite has become Full House.  The band sounds punchy yet melodic, and Richard and Swarb's songwriting partnership was at its apex.

Jules

Oh no.  :(  I agree with the pirate, which can't be a good thing.

I was going to list exactly the same albums.

The album that got me into FC was The Wood and The Wire, and it's still very high in my affections.  But I think if I could take only one album to a Desert Island, it'd be Jewel in the Crown.  I love the breadth/depth of sound that Ric and Maart's various electronica bring to the band's overall sound (and Simon plays electric guitar quite a lot as I recall on this album).  The songwriting and arranging are great too.

Having said that, Red and Gold and The Five Seasons are well worth checking out too...

So was I.
Are we of the same age and have come into Fairport at the same time? ;)

My first Fairport album was L&L so it will always be something special.The other three, I'm not sure I can give my reasons for choosing.

I would also like to add "Old- New- Borrowed - Blue" from the acoustic lineup. Even though I haven't been able to hear any FAC incarnation live, that album sums up for me a lot of what Fairport is about, most importantly: their musicianship!
Secondly: the fun! How they enjoy music....

Ah, clearly my learned influence is rubbin orf  ;D

Dear me - I too agree with Puggs 100% !
I'm glad I read this thread through before putting them down.

There you are, Ady, use those three as the basis for your FC collection and we'll soon have you on the DVDs and box sets  ;)

ONBB..  I love partly because I was at the recording on that freeeeeeeeezing night...

Who else was there?

U2?  ;D

It's the Wood and the Wire for me.  This was the first tour I saw Fairport and fell in love with the band.  I am listening to earlier stuff now and liking it very much, but Wood and the Wire is my favorite.

My heart says "Babbacombe" Lee but my mind says liege and lief. Babbacombe Lee has swarbs stamp all over it and to me he is at the heart of what makes Fairport great, but Liege and Lief, has the whole band at the top of their game, Richards writing and playing, Sandys singing, Ashleys Bass, Mattacks drumming, Simons SImoning and Swarbs fiddling and it has a great balance between traditional and self penned, it is a work of art, what puts it beyond Full House for me is that the production lets full house down, vocals too far back etc...

I agree with Puggggggz too, but would add that my selection does change from day to day. I like XXXV quite a lot as my re-introduction to the band after many years away.

The album I listen to most frequently is Nine, I wonder what would have happened if Sandy had not rejoined at that period and if they had been able to continue as a band, the Nine lineup is also my best Cropredy half memory as well. Nine is followed closely by Bonny Bunch of Roses which always brings back good memories as this was the first lineup I saw in a small venue in the 80's.

Mine would be Unhalfbricking.They seem to really stretch out as musicians.Especially Richard and Swarb.
I like L&L but Richard's guitar playings seems more contained.I like it when he gets to explore his world.... :)

Full House, really great musicianship and not a bad track.

Love lots of albums, but particularly Angel Delight and Nine. The 1st album has a charm all of its own too.

if i could only have one FC lp  for the rest of my time then it would be liege and leif but if i didnt have a choice and one was picked for me i wouldnt mind if it was anything pre angel delight

Full House for me.

Great Musicanship and great Swarbrick-Thompson compositions.
And to go against my usual 'albums are best appreciated in their original form' approach, I would add that I came to Full House as the remaster which included the restored 'Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman' as well as Bonny Bunch of Roses and Now be Thankful by the same line-up, all of which I think really augment the album.

Got to admit I am surprised at the amount of responses that are not Liege and Lief, always be hands down my favorite FC album, and very possibly my favorite album period even after 40 years, or probably more like 39 in my case. Their compilation albums, still short of a box set, are well worthwhile, my first was the double vinyl Fairport Chronicles. Other than that a fairly predictable assortment, save one, of Full House, House Full, Unhalfbricking, Nine, Red and Gold, whatever that live one from 87 is called mentioned earlier in the thread, Old New Borrowed and Blue, XXXV has several fine moments but I probably should not include amongst best, but one I certainly would, from the Maart lineup that I adore is From Cropredy to Portmeiron. Probably forgetting one or two.

What We Did On Our Holidays - it starts with Fotheringay, ends with Meet On The Ledge (plus a nifty Simon Nicol acoustic number), and has a bunch of amazing songs in between.

I'm also a fan of Iain's and Sandy's blended voices, which makes Live at the BBC/Heyday particular favorites as well.  That said, I listen to everything, all the time.

The Angel Delight/Babbacombe Lee pairing have long been favourites of mine.  I love Simon's guitar playing.  But every album up to Rising For The Moon I could listen to for hours to be honest!  

Tipplers/Bonny Bunch I love the songs on but I tend to prefer live versions rather than the actual recordings.  Love Jewel In The Crown and Over The Next Hill as well.

That said, if I was pushed to pick one: House Full.  Utterly brilliant.

Nine

Its not the 'best' fairport album, but its my favourite and the one I listen to the most.

It carries too much weight with it for me.  It's a momentous and wondrous work, but I' not entirely sure I can enjoy it anymore.  But every note of it is in my sub-conscious playing away each and every day. And, although I play it considerably less than each of the other in the 'first 5', I still put it on every few months.

For me - Unhalfbricking is the one - great cover, great mix of serious and fun, and probably has three of my favourite Fairport tracks on it (Autopsy, Who Knows & Sailor's Life).



J

Yes indeed.  In fact I'd go so far as to say that Full House with those extra tracks may well be the most essential Fairport CD.  Without those tracks, ie in its original guise, I'd have felt short-changed.

Jules

If push comes to shove I'm with you on Full House Ady but it would be closely followed by Angel Delight and Babbacombe Lee, as indeed it was chronologically!

But there are albums I love either side of that triptych from 67 to 97.

I'd go for Unhalfbricking, with Liege & Lief coming up strongly on the rails.

Unhalfbricking because it's a bunch of young people producing flashes of lightning which come from lots of directions - Dylan, the English tradition, who knows where? Hits you from track one - Genesis Hall - how could you get better than Richard Thompson composing, Sandy Denny singing, Martin Lamble on drums? As for A Sailor's Life and Percy's Song......  

And that lovely back cover shot with those same nicely brought up kids sitting round a table after lunch. I'm looking at my vinyl copy now, and there's something about that picture which I don't pretend to understand. Magic? Hindsight? Sadness? I dunno. But hopefully, it all comes round again.

Though Unhalfbricking never made that strong impression on me, even though I love several tracks, I can fully understand what you mean about that back cover shot. It has haunted me for decades. As you say, hopefully it all comes round again.

Unhalfbricking.

But then it was the first one I bought. I'd only vaguely heard of the band, and I couldn't believe what I heard. The first time I saw the band was Autumn 1970, and I bought Full House immediately afterwards. So I guess that's my next favourite.

Most of the above posts seem to relate back to peoples' first experiences of the band.

wow cheers for replys good people.......yeah i guess the first time you hear an album by a certain band that can be the one that does it for ya.....i've got a few fave bands whose albums i change with favortism often. :)

I'd go for Babbacombe Lee.  Definitely not the first FC album I heard, but it is a good'n.  Almost like prog-folk, sort of... (it's folk Jim, but not as we know it)  :P

Cause and effect cause and effect... I had to get the 25th Anniversary Pack to check out Nine before posting and have enjoyed listening to Rising For The Moon and Rosie.

I realise we don't actually play stuff from this period very often, shame!

It is a hard question, but requires a simple answer:

A nonhomogeneous system, that is, a particular band line up, which is linear apart from the presence of a function of independent variables, as can be defined by particular albums, is nonlinear according to a strict definition, but such systems are usually studied alongside linear systems, such as Liege & Leif with Wood & Wire, because they can be transformed to a linear system of multiple variables.

Therefore, one can only conclude that the perfect album has to be What We Did On Our Holidays........or its nonlinear counterpart, Nine.