TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Cropredy 2010 on Sky Arts 9pm tonight :)

Thanks for the reminder...  :)

Haven't got Sky Arts, so must get our Sue to record it for me.  Thanks for the reminder Viv!  :-*

as long as it's finished by the time match of the day is on, i hate it when programmes i want to watch clash.

Just checked and I'm not subscribed. So who can record it?

I don't have any way of recording or I'd offer to do it for you :(

I'd like a copy too - willing to provide DVD plus p&P....

I can't wait!!!

Me too!
Simon.

I added it to my Sky package via the remote control just now, and it's only £1 extra per month!!!  [;-)

Well I get Sky through my rental agreement.  I have Sky+ but the recording function doesn't work at the moment.  I have absolutely no idea how to record direct to the laptop but if anyone wants to tell me I'll give it a go.

Btw, bootlegging.  Its ok when the boss says it is, then?   ;D

One of the more accurate self-analytical comments I've ever seen (from the interview between Rick, Francis and Whispering Bob backstage):

Francis Rossi:  "We've been coasting for 40 years".

Bit harsh, Francis...35?

I'm watching my recording on my Virgin V+ box and dumping to DVD for my personal viewing pleasure ;) No commercials either!

watching little feat at the mo - isn't "Spanish Moon" Zappa-like!  ;D

They wuz great, eh!

Heeeeeere's Johnny!! ;D

Have just been listening to Fairport on SKY and terrible sound quality for Walkawhile. Much better having been there!
 Now suffering again from a sample of that middle hour of 'Excalibur'.  It just reminds me that inside every folk rocker there is rocker trying to get out.

no Swarb then....  >:( :( :o

the sound quality/mix is awful
the programme has been a huge disappointment
bloody ukulele central

Not much Fairport at all...Other than the Excalibur segment (which was excruciating) the only 'proper' FC stuff they played was Walk Awhile, that Ukelele song (yawn), and a fine MotL.

Other stuff...Little Feat's Spanish Moon was exquisite, whilst Dixie Chicken was strangely subdued, Breabach were fab, I liked the Thea Gilmore song, Dixie Bee-Liners were excellent, Status Quo weren't, and I was quite surprised to enjoy the song they played by The Tindalls.  Oh and Ahab...very good.

Another thumbs down for every intro and link by Mr Harris being about him.  Its SO embarrassing.  Can somebody have a word?

Agreed. I like Bob, but he betrayed a complete lack oif understanding of a number of aspects of Crops.

As to the song selection, Martyn Joseph was ok for one number, the second was terrible. Tyndalls doing Stevie Nicks was a disappointment  - why have a faux american accident? "Landslide" is a beatiful song, no american accent needed.

SQ were worse than I remembered. Wendy and I both cringed.

Ukelele ****** central? Jesus Christ. Where was Sir Pat?


and no Bellowhead? WTF?

Didn't do the atmosphere/vibe festival as much Justice as I thought it would  (the Fairport@Forty DVD is the best thing for that) but musically it was very good.

One Dig I would have to give at the Programme was that so many of the best artists from over the weekend were missed out (Leatherat, LJE, 3 Daft Monkeys, Bellowhead, Swarb!)

Whoops.  *looks embarrassed*  That's why I liked it!  

And whilst one song by MJ may indeed be enough, I'll take the second.  ;D

And playing 'spot the regular/TAWer' was quite good fun in the boring bits....

I thought the sound quality was awful, specially for Fairport. Excalibur was cringeworthy and so was Bob Harris. Can't believe they left out Bellowhead.
Very disappointing.

I imagine this (and other omissions) was down to the band/management?

Well, SQ and Little Feat share management, I know.

Enjoyed most of it, particularly Little Feat.
Pity there was no LJE or Leatherat.
Thank Cliff none of the dreaded.
I really enjoyed Matyn Joseph apart from the haircut.
Why didnt they use any of the footage shot around the site apart from stage and backstage? Might have given more of an impression of the atmosphere etc. What about the village too?

You could hear Leatherat while Quo were being interviewed.  :)  

Waiting all day for this and hitting the brandy in preparation, I turned on the tv only to find I hadn't subscribed to this channel.Funny, thought I had.Last March! I spent just over an hour on the phone to various call centre folk working for Virgin trying to find out why I couldn't receive Skyarts1, being transferred to various other folks and being cut off and ringing back again, some told me it wasn't included in my package,some told me it was.Some silly woman said 'I've checked twice and it isn't included in your package, here's an Email with the proof', which actually quite clearly proved it WAS included  >:( so I spoke to someone else and he rebooted my box and I finally got to watch it after missing the first five minutes.
So...I didn't get the chance to set up the recorder,so if there's anyone who recorded it I would happily join the blank DVD and postge crew for a copy.
As for the content - loved the Dixie's,Feats,Tindalls and Ahab.Quo were very flat, and the boys were good, not a great selection from the repetoire.I liked the Excalibur set at the festival, but it didn't leave enough time for Swarb on the tv (although I'm sure if anyone knew he was going to play in advance he would have been on there.)It was ok, slightly disappointing, but at least it was on.

No Wakeman.  >:(

Digance!   :D

Excalibur.  :-[

The sound was dreadful.   ???

Spotted us in the crowd during Martyn Joseph, singing along.  8)

Sitting in a field in the pouring rain listening to Richard Digance - what fun.

As publicity for our festival, brilliant.  Thank you Sky Arts.

This captured Cropredy for me, I felt as if I was back there in that blessed field field.

Having watched this I have now changed my opinion of Thea's gig, Tindalls superb, Ahab well done boys. Little feat Jim and Andy will say enough.  Quo,s**t Hot! even better second time around.  Sorry but I still cannot take to Martyn Joesph, possibly another setting and I may change my mind.  (I got that bored I left my favourite spot by the stage and went to back up to the bar in search of 6X)

TAW spotting:-
Adam and Kas
Ancient and Bridget
Robin
Young Dennis (At least twice) (Jack was at he bar drinking Cider, trust me I know!  ;))
Dan
I swear blind they caught me and Addie bouncing about to Quo. ( ;D)

And so to Fairport.  
Sky buggered up the sound for Walkawhile, that is not how I remember hearing it.  Improved for Excauliber, If anything needs to  be done on the winter tour then that is the one, proper FC folk Rock, which confirms my opinion that this is brilliant stuff, Ric's fiddle contribution to this was stunning.  Uke was fun, even our Sue said they are having fun (and she knows nowt about Fairport)
Simon looked absolutley knackered by the time we got to Meet on the Ledge (and I don't blame him!)  no wonder I left the field not feeling my usual emotional high.

All in all, good stuff.  Thanks Bob for giving us a glowing report and thanks to Simon, Peggy and the boys for doing this for us every year!  

(Where did Jaquie get that witchy frock from?  ;D)

ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome on stage FAIRPORT CONVENTION!

on the wall of non-fame shall be inscribed the following names of those ignored by this programme:

Keith Donnelly & Flossie Malavialle
Leatherat
Pauline Black
Mabon
Martin Taylor’s Spirit of Django
3 Daft Monkeys
Little Johnny England
Bellowhead
Easy Star All Stars
Rick Wakeman

Little Feat's "Spanish Moon" was still great, though.

The sound quality was awful, not at all like what we got on the day! I have it on good authority that Sky used their own sound track for this and didn't take it from FC mixing board even though their chap was on the credits for them.Shame that, FC's own sound is far better.

Would have liked to have seen Keith and Flossie on the programme and I thought the blurb in the paper had mentioned Rick Wakeman but he wasn't shown either >:(

Really? Where?!

Its on again Today - twice.

Sky Arts' own advance blurb showed Rick W. I suppose todays programmes are repeats, not additional material?

Wasn't it just...but do you agree that Dixie Chicken was strangely subdued?  

Paul Barrere didn't seem that engaged with it, I felt.  I saw Paul and Fred in Kendal a couple of years back and their acoustic version was awesome.  Still, must have been tough for them doing the gig at all after Richie's death...

I found it better on the night.

Let's face it, we should be glad that they turned up at all.

Weren't Quo marvellous, showed how the younger element at the front really got into it. Fairport's vocals were unfortunately dodgy at best esp Simon's.

I think you may find that there's a wide spectrum of opinion on this matter, for example, on such a scale, mine is diametrically opposite to yours.

Their vocals were dreadful. As Rossi said in the interview - "We've been coasting for 40 years". Which rather summed them up.

That first girl was brilliant been playing it again and again.

Dan O!

Thea Gilmore? Changed my mind about her after seeing her on the telly as opposed to be a bit ambivalent at the gig.  ;)

Oohh great ! I'm due to see a recording of this programme tomorrow, so I shall also play spot the TAW-er...

quote from Bellowhead sound man:

"We actually gave Sky full permission to record our show and use it but they chose not to."

Nice to see Cropredy recognised at last but what a shame that so much was missed out.  Okay I know you're never going to get 3 days worth of material condensed into 90 minutes and please everyone but I was so sorry that so many acts were not shown at all and others got 2 songs. And why not show the Digance Morris dancing - that's the main tradition during his set now and most of the crowd get involved. :-\

Perhaps a series of programmes would be better: Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  That gives ample time to get at least one song from each performer plus scenes of the fringe and the village (weather permitting).

Yes, totally agree regarding the sound qualility, and your Excalibur comment.  I was listening through my hi fi and couldn't improve it greatly . Also, annoyingly they included that blasted Ukelele song!  :-\

Maybe Sky Arts will show a separate programme just featuring Bellowhead, or giving a "younger" slant on the Cropredy WE all went to!

(Where are the pigs flying icons when I want one?)

Wasn't this made by Bob Harris's company? I'd really have hoped for a more sympathetic selection from the FC set, given the material available.

Bear in mind that it wasn't[/b] made as a souvenir for us fans, but rather for the vast majority that weren't there....

Having just watched it, that makes it all the more unfortunate :-\

Yes , first time i've seen (or heard) of her.I will definitely be investigating her music ! Not often something hits me straight away.

and



doesn't compute.... 8) ;)

oh yes it does
it wont enhance cropredy's reputation or put any more numbers on the gate

But it wasn't financed by FC and therefore no one can complain that it hasn't become a promo film....

I wasn't expecting a promo film - I bought that when it came out. But if all I knew about FC was this programme I'd think they were five guys with ukuleles who can't sing. Which I think is a fair point of discussion on a forum principally dedicated to Fairport Convention and their works.

I was responding to Jim's post....it wasn't (necessarliy) designed to do that.....the 'history of' doc has also been made, I bought that as well.

It was about the festival 2010, as stated by the title.

How many more numbers can be put on the gate ? I thought it had sold out for the last few years.......

loud buzzing noise: sorry, you failed to spot the blatant irony

NOt many this year - it was close to a sell-out. The licenced limit is 20,000

qué?

it's the same old story. the world of folk music never gets much good press at all. that's why i get so many funny looks when i say i like folk (it could also be because of being prematurely bald at 21 years old, and wearing silly clothes).

live music doesn't always transfer that well to tele in my opinion.

Watching it now.  :o  Excalibur parts are now on, and I seem to recall it was raining.  Just wish they had shown the Digence Morris dancing part though.  Lorraines depressed as Acorn Fayre is over , but this is apparently  making her happy ;D.  Uke song is about to start, i may have to go and lay down.

Well, I missed the festival this year, so was delighted to see that it would be on Sky Arts.
Now, I'm a big fan of much that Fairport Convention have done over the years, and have seen them several times in the last few, and I've never really had a complaint.
But, regardless of the poor mix, and even the less than brilliant sound quality, it's hard to avoid the fact that Fairport's singing, especially on 'Walk Awhile', was terrible. Simon and Peggy were very much out of tune. Simon's vocal on MOTL was equally poor, I felt that he was really struggling with it. Unfortunately, out of tune singing can't be blamed on poor sound quality or a bad mix. And why give Ric a solo line or two during the Ukelele song? I for one already knew he couldn't sing! And as much as I love Jacqui Mcshee, I found it hard to enjoy her performance during 'Excalibur'.
Now, I'm not of the auto-tune generation, I love real music, and wouldn't have it any other way. Not only that, I understand the need to see our own heroes/heroines perform, and it's so good to see the 'old' names still doing their thing. Nevertheless there must come a time when they can't do it any more, and when that happens, surely it's time to give up.
The band's instrumental performance I couldn't fault, not that I wanted to either, and long may it continue. I do feel though that the time has arrived for Fairport to enlist a couple of vocalists, a male and a female, and leave the singing to them.
Yes, I didn't hear the rest of the set, and it may have been flawless for all I know (I haven't checked dimeadozen yet!), but from what I did see, I say time for a change!

Staedy on!  I must be honest though, and say that it was pretty dire vocally.  

Watching again;
H; We know him - there, in the audience!
Me; Which one?
H; The guy with the beard!
Me; Um...
 ;D

Send me your adress Colin & I'll send you a copy.

Singing out of tune can in my experience result from poor monitor mix - which shouldn't happen at this level of course - but we know that FC can, and usually do, sing in tune so perhaps something was amiss on stage.
A live recording is, by definition, warts and all and doesn't necessarily do the performers any favours, I bet there's a certain element of discontent in the FC camp following the screening.

what Shane said

Further to my earlier post, I forgot to add that I thought Chris Leslie's singing was beautiful.

I did consider that, and wondered if maybe they just couldn't hear themselves on stage, maybe the monitors weren't doing what they should have? I don't know.
As I said, I wasn't there, so truthfully, how did the vocals sound at the time, from the arena?

from the arena it all sounded ok and i didnt notice the out-of-tunefulness
i didnt particularly notice it on the recording that surfaced
quo sounded good on the night and i could hear the guitars of little feat, none of this is the case on the sky recording

And what I said in response to Shane....let's not go round and round....

Strange one this isn't it?  Ahab sounded in perfect harmony to me at Croppers, on TV, and at the Brasenose(where there was next to no mixing facilities at all)

Just seen it - had it recorded on Sky+.

Brought back lots of good memories, then the recording conked out when Excalibur started.

Quite poor sound wasn't it!?  I don't remember it being like that, thank goodness.

The best bit is when Martyn Joseph's shot fades out and Front Row Fred and Katie are faded in!  We've replayed it a dozen times!  Oh the childishness!  What fun!

X

agreed, quite a few people commenting elsewhere that judging by that representation they would definitely not want to go. Bob Harris, if it was he who chose what to show, has sadly really shown the festival in a bad light.

I wouldn't expect a promo film but a balanced representation of the festival would have been nice.  The sound quality was very poor and the parts Bob chose to show weren't, in my opinion, the highlights of each set.  Two numbers from both Little Feat and Quo were unecessary (although if I was a neutral I would have noticed that the crowd were enjoying themselves during Quo's set whilst Little Feat were a bit boring).  I'm not sure that it would put many on the gate but, then, who actually watches Sky Arts unless they have a good reason?!  I'm sure that most of the viewers were at or aware of the festival anyway.  A few shots of activities in the village would have rounded it off a little as Bob himself alluded to the fact that that the village is part of it.  It was nice to see Cropredy getting some further recognition but the film was a poor image of the event and not one I would be likely to show to anyone interested in attending the festival for the first time.

At the risk of simply saying ditto I thought the programme makers missed a major trick in not showing anything other than some of the acts on the stage.
As Bob Harris said at one point the festival extends out into the village so why not show some of it! I know there were interviews done with Festival goers, shame all of them ended up on the cutting room floor.
So well done to Sky for actually making the programme, shame it was such a poor reflection of a cracking weekend.

I did sort of chortle a little when Bob referred to "a number of pubs in the village". Yes Bob, that number is 2! :-)

I'm in the camp that thinks sound quality this year on the field was better than ever. Great pity that Sky messed it up and managed to select mostly lowlights. Where was Bellowhead, one of the undoubted successes judging by previous postings? Even at the time I was pretty mortified that this was the year the cameras came.  And I've now gone right off Bob Harris!
As to FC vocals, I'm reluctant to bring this up, but SN  sometimes does have tuning "issues" at Croppers. You can hear it on several of the live recordings. And this year Peggy had his cloth ears on as well which didn't help. It might be a monitor issue, but most numbers are ok, so I doubt it. It's a very big occasion, so perhaps it a matter of trying too hard and forcing things a bit?
Let's forget about this programme, and spread the word about how special the festival and FC can be.

That rather did tickle me as well Andy! The boy neds to get out and about more.  ;D

Most folk cant count the number of pubs when they've been to one too many. ;D ;)

There are a lot of good reasons to watch Sky Arts. Mind you if you thought Little Feat were boring perhaps you ought to stick to the mainstream channels, theres always X Factor or Neighbours. ;D

Having watched both yesterday evening, I can confirm that X-Factor was rather more entertaining. I thought they'd confused Dixie Chicken with Sloth at one point.

 ;) Good spot Laura... "Altruistic Hedonist" I believe :D

I will admit that selfishly, I was dissapointed not to see Leatherat on the show but I will also echo what others have said... no Bellowhead, no 3 Daft Monkeys, no Mabon, no LJE... no good if you ask me!  :P Ahab and Little Feat were good to see. Bob Harris should not be an ambassador of FCC as I don't think he 'gets it'.

I personally don't think it portrayed the festival at all like it really is - and for the worse overall. Still, if that keeps it less commercial in years moving forward then all the better says I :)

I will maintain though that in my opinion, the Excaliber set was great! Only really let down by Jaquie McShee's performance...  :-\ It was painful then, and it's still painful now! That 'chubby' dude in the black leather waistcoat was awesome on the guitar... Really cool stuff. I think that maybe in the right setting, with the stage show and hearing the whole story unfurl (as opposed to selected bits) a lot more people might enjoy it.

..... and another thing!

I think Simon Nicol would have been a better person to 'present' that show. I think it would have suited him and he'd have done a better job making it something special :)

The sound quality on field was better this year. This was (I'm lead to believe) down to a complete new PA rig that FC chose to use in an effort to overcome the wind-effect ( ??? ). Worked well from my point of view.

Now again, this is only what I'm lead to believe... but the sound on the shockumentary was only 'poor' because it's not the 'live' sound we all hear when we're there on the field. I think (can't stress highly enough) that the sound was straight from the sound tower desk and as such it's been mixed to sound great in a big field, not on a TV show.

And finally - I still have "Unconventionally Fairport" recorded off the TV on VHS... Now THAT was a great representation of the festival. I used to watch that every year about a week beforehand just to get me in the spirit. Brilliant :D

I've been told that Sky did their own mix of the feed, and didn't take trhe live mix we heard on the field....

We're not the only ones then ;D

Pat O'May - well known Breton guitarist.

he was stopping in our hotel, nice bloke as well
we seemed to meet up for brekkie most days ::)

yeah, little feat were really boring, and status quo are the greatest band to have graced the cropredy stage.

Oh dear, I believe you are in a minority...

Well I enjoyed both which must make me a total outcast from both camps.

I did a quick straw poll at work today (all graduates from all fields) and not one watches Sky Arts so were very unlikely to come across the programme by accident.  I would be interested to know how many on here are regular viewers.  My opinions of Quo and Little Feat were hypothetical comments based on someone watching the film with no prior knowledge.  In my opinion Quo looked to be giving the audience a good time while Little Feat came across as musical Mogadon.  That may not be a true reflection of the festival but on that showing I wouldn't be going out of my way to attend a festival where Little Feat are headlining.

As for sticking to mainstream channels, I assume that was a tongue firmly in cheek comment.  In 40 years of folk music and festival going I don't need to be told who is hot and who is not.  One of the joys of growing up is you can make your own mind up.  Just for the record I don't watch Neighbours or X Factor.

I watch it several times a week, they have some good and varied stuff, minimal adverts and it's nowhere near as irritating as the likes of MTV, VH1 etc.

(Sky Arts) or BBC3 tends to be my default channel to check to see if there's anything on worth watching purely because they do include a lot of music-based programming, whether it be coverage of the festival season or exhumations of stuff from the vaults. Last week we watched a very nice Terry Gilliam interview over supper, which certainly beat another episode of Come Dine With Me. It happened to be included in one of the packages we signed up for when the evil empire started supplying our phone line and broadband, and the more I talk to friends about what I watched over the weekend while they were stuck in front of Strictly Come Dancing, the more there are who raise interested eyebrows and look into investigating - especially if they find out they've missed an advert-free Elvis Costello gig featuring Allain Toussaint's horn arrangements, The Who at the Isle of Wight or Springsteen in Hyde Park. One of the boons (as we have seen this weekend) is that they tend to repeat things for a short period and so there's usually time to catch something if you missed it the first time round. Many's the happy early shift I've spent with my ten-month old in front of a 1969 Led Zeppelin TV appearance with a cup of tea and a rice cake.    

Having finally got to watch the programme today, it's not the total nightmare hatchet job described in the previous posts, even though it is flawed in many ways, the very least of which is the absence of Mr Wakeman from the final cut (would've been great to have his thoughts on the festival). Too much emphasis placed on Quo, no vox pops from the punters, no view of the involvement of the village as described by WBH, Digance played better songs than the one selected. Thea Gilmore and Martyn Joseph accredited themselves well too, as did Ahab and the Dixie Bee Liners, and this show gave The Tindalls the sort of exposure they'll treasure for a long time.There are many reasons for the final cut being what it was : permission from the artists involved to show their slot may not always be granted, there may not have been usable footage of some artists, time constraints of the show, WBH's choice, etc.
FC themselves didn't really come across very well on the final cut, but, this is how I remember it from the front row on the night (they did seem to take a while to warm up and get going on the night, so Walkawhile wasn't a great opening number to show compared to how good they became later on). Jacqui Mcshee's song from the Excalibur segment was as majestic as I remembered it, and Martin Barre and Pat O' May looked as if they were having great fun. Am I imagining things or did the editors chop out the entire second verse of MOTL ? May have to watch it another time to make sure.
As I've said, it's not a complete catastrophe, I'm very thankful that the programme was made at all, but as such would mainly appeal to the converted. I don't have Sky myself, hence having to watch the show on a friend's Sky Plus today, but I'm with Ewen on this one, the listings on Sky Arts would be a bit of a selling point for me were I to consider installing Sky TV.
And yes, I did spot the TAW-ers on BD's list, myself included (kascade kid can be seen during Martyn Joseph's set)

I'm with you all the way on this, there's some great archive stuff. Recent good ones from memory being James Taylor/Carol King circa '75, Queen, Status Quo from Montreux (yes, it was identical in almost every detail to their Cropredy appearance) The British Invasion series - Dusty Sprigfield, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Hermans Hermits - The Isle Of Wight 1970 The Who, Tull, Hendrix, Moodys ...... and so it goes on. Good stuff indeed

This channel appeared in front of us in the same way - it came with SKY Phone/B Band/Sky+ HD package, all for a much lower cost than our previous set up with basic SKY/ BT phone and B Band. This of course lead us into a new flatscreen telly but I have to say that despite reservations at the time the viewing experience especially for music programmes is hugely better and if broadcast in HD, WOW.

We haven't got Sky Arts, so have yet to see this...  Delphini, Tarda and myself are most likely on the cutting room floor I imagine...  but funnily enough when the interview was over I said to the lady asking the qyuestions 'I haven't got Sky Arts'... she grinned and said 'Neither have I!'

Yes, I watch it regularly too, for many of the reasons stated above. They also permiered the first season of the fantastic HBO series In Treatment with Gabriel Byrne and I believe will shortly start showing the second.

Most of their music coverage is very good. I haven't watched the Cropredy show yet but if it was poor I suspect it was the exception rather than the rule. Whispering Bob's production company may have to shoulder the blame for that but you do have to wonder, if he hadn't decided to cover the festival, would anybody else have bothered?

Tonights got Stones in the Park, Donovan's Sunshine Superman, Gil Scott Heron and Hermans Hermits British Invasion . I've seen the latter, and whilst not a fan of the music, enjoyed the documentary, which included recent interviews. The British Invasion series is very good, loved the Small Faces one.

Perhaps I should try to watch Sky Arts more often.  Unfortunately I have to take my place in the televisual pecking order behind two teenage daughters and a wife who loves anything with NCIS in the title.   :'(

Get a Sky Plus box or multiroom. ;D

On the main box we can record 2 programs at the same time, you have to have to be watching one of them or at least have the TV set to one of them, whilst doing this you can if you wish watch a third already recorded program. In addition we can watch another channel upstairs. ;D

if I go down that road there won't be room in the house where I can get away from the one eyed monster.  I would have to live in the shed.  This is fine in summer (I know) but in winter it's perishing even with a little heater.  The only consolation is it's where I keep the real ale.  So I gain my soul but lose my liver.  

this is correct

Same here :)

I think (hope) he was being ironic

yes i was. little feat actually play more than three chords. i think it's called music.  ^-^

It'll never catch on.

Don't forget the key change.

so how many chords does a song need before it becomes worthy of the term 'music'

I enjoyed (IIRC) Simon Nicol's comment that Matty Groves has two chords and seventeen verses, which is exactly the opposite of your typical Steely Dan song.  :)

The general feeling seems to be that I didn't miss much then.  I was away at the weekend getting "all steamed up" (Old Warden) and forgot to record the programme !

However a friend at work saw it and loved it and is determined to come to Croppers next year !

Well John Cage managed 4 min 33s with no chords at all does that count?

What, like Westlife? ;D

And me - I check it daily. There's always something good coming up.  :)

millions, there can never be enough. i am hungry for chords, om nom nom nom.

My mate Martin says his wife doesn't like any music with more than no chords in it.

Its just her and her Throbbing Gristle CDs then, I suppose.

and Metal Machine Music.

We were at Old Warden yesterday (at the Falconry Centre), the last of the steamers were leaving as we arrived - I did remark to Bex what a tidy lot you seem to be, there wasn't a scrap of litter or rubbish in evidence at all.

DC

Chords? Chords??? That's rather extravagant, isn't it?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2728595.stm

And then everybody got back on topic in order to strike the correct chord, now should I look for a copy of this or not?

Sam has put a lot of it onto Youtube (sorry if this has already been said)

I would just add that I too check Sky Arts on an almost daily basis and, generally, find something of interest frequently.

But why do they have such a fixation with Queen (Live at Montreux; with Paul Rogers in London; Freddie Tribute: Live in Largs; Opening new Branch of Ryman in Pitlochry.....sorry!)?

Thought the programme was OK but was wondering how the artists were selected to be shown. Only IMO the four best performances Leatherat, Bellowhead, Rick Wakeman and Little Johnny England were not even mentioned. Although you could hear Leatherat playing during the Quo interview.

Watched it last night expecting a disaster.
It wasn't.
Sound quality was fine through my surround sound system.
Didn't think the harmony vocals of FC, indeed any of the vocals, were particularly bad, try seeing Tull these days!
Agrre there could have been...more bands, village scenes, interviews with the crowd and so on, but 90 minutes is a short time.

Not being rude but I think you may need your ears syringed!!  FC vocals, apart from Mr Leslie's - on that awful ukelele song - were, to my lugholes, dire.  :(

The really, really bizarre thing is they only showed the artists I wasn't on the main field for, right up until the Excalibur set. I still maintain that was the high point of the festival anyway.
After watching all the stuff I managed to miss on the main field, I can't say I'm overcome with regrets. Richard Digance & Status Quo both surprised me only by being even more awful than my low expectations! Honestly, I'm the last person to deny that we all have different tastes, but how anyone could find Digance even remotely amusing/entertaining is just totally beyond me!
Most of the other stuff I like on record, but none of it sounded all that exciting live (at least not exciting enough to suffer standing in the pouring rain to watch, although I suspect they they all sounded more exciting from in front of the stage than they did on the TV).
As for the artists who were left out. I suspect they were divided into not very well known band, who were skipped infavour of the bigger names & big names who chose not to give their permission for their sets to be used for whatever reason.
If this was the case, I would like to extend my thanks to Rick Wakeman for avoiding joining the list of artists who were even worse than I expected. LOL

For those who missed it & can't catch one of the many repeat showings either, it has been torrented in HD if you know where to look.

I better not tell the D*g*nce at C*al Ast*n story!  "I don't normally play village halls"  ::)

Funnily enough, I think Mr Leslie has a rather thin, reedy voice.

Ed,
Shush now or you'll get me in trouble - and we'll be seeing him at Skeggy in December !
And anyway, it wasn't a real North/South divide !

I've always thought he sounds a bit like Geddy Lee from Rush.

Your expectations were only low because as you iterate later you don't like either. It doesn't matter and is therefore irrelevant how anyone can find Digance amusing/entertaining safe to say they do. I've long thought there is no point in anyone other than somebody who appreciates an artist actually reviewing them. They at least can give a performance a review based on some knowledge of the band, their past history, great or bad gigs they've seen etc.

It gets up my nose all these sniffy, musically holier than thou types with their 'i was in my sleeping bag by the time they got to their third song' 'confirmed how bad they are...' etc when in fact  all they're actually saying is I don't get off on what they do, much as there are plenty of folks who don't get off on Fairport or indeed any other artist.

To see if Digance did a good gig just look at the the thousands who came away smiling at the end and look at the beaming faces on the folks (young and old) at the front when Quo were on and try telling them they were awful.

We've tried, we've tried.  And do they bloody listen?  ;D  ;D

 I love the fact that there is such a variety of music. I might not find it all to my taste, but I always make a point of keeping an open mind and giving everyone a listen. I've made some fantastic discoveries this way. I don't leave the field at all during the day .I don't want to miss a moment! Good  beer ,  lovely atmosphere, great friends and more good food than I can manage -what more could anyone want? I have never felt the need to be angry when an act has not been to my liking - because I can see that others are enjoying them , and life's too short to bear a grudge against someone I don't even know. Not the Cropredy spirit either!

Congratulations on your appearance on the programme, Paula!

Fair point about only reviewing a band if you know or like them.
Being a Tull fan in the seventies, I had to put up with constant sniping review from 'hacks' telling me/us/them how awful they were, whereas when someone like, say, Chris Welch, who loved Tull, does his infamous Passion Play review, then you sit up and think.
I'm not saying disliking a band totally removes the ability to review them, but you're never going to come away with an unbiased account of the night/gig/album.

So, the same as if you love them, then...!

A review is, by definition, subjective.  That's just the way it is.  Its only an opinion - nothing to be frightened of.

I really like Neil Young, but like many others seem to dislike and complain about his new albums .

You could apply the same logic to reviewing a performance by looking at the post-gig faces of a Peter Andre or Daniel O'Donnell audience. It's not 'holier than thou' to point out that Richard Digance's featured song on the TV programme was about Friends Reunited, which is about as relevant to 2010 as betamax is. If they'd shown that bloody awful number about history, at least I'd be going "Doop, doo be doop, doo be doop doop be dooby dooby do" afterwards - much as I have been, on and off, for the last three or four years...  I think it's perfectly valid to have a show reviewed - or simply commented on - by anyone with previous experience of a turn, good or bad, even as much as it is by someone coming to them with fresh ears which, let's face it, we all had to do at one point.    

I wish I had fresh ears..... but unfortunately everything gets filtered by my experience. So when I hear out-of-tune on the tv, that's what I hear. Lots of people jumped up and down for Quo, and that's great, but it doesn't mean that Rick Parfitt can necessarily hold a tune - because he didn't at Crops. That's not sniping at the band or the audience, just stating a fact. I enjoyed a couple of the Quo numbers on the night, but the poor tv mix appeared to expose some serious shortcomings.

I think that the generally accepted criticism of this show is three-fold, one is the choice of material shown (eg the f****** uke song!), two is the (lack of) number of artistes shown and thirdly that Sky's sound mix was woeful.

I hope Sky'll be back in 2011 and take some notice of the criticism offered and respond in a positive way.

if last weeks show is the best sky can manage then i dont want the buggers back

The BBC, now THEY can handle a music documentary!!

To a point. I always watch their Glastonbury coverage, but I get a bit frustrated that they miss out so much of the less known stuff - for example The Avalon stage. That said, I'm pretty sure a BBC documentary would have included i/vs with Cropredy-goers, footage of the village and a few aerial shots at least.
 {:-)

Watching the BBC's coverage of Glastonbury in the last couple of years has made me grateful for Cropredy in so many ways.

The size of the crowds terrfies me, and surely folk go to see the bands, not other people's flags ?
Watching Bruce Springsteen, you could hardly see the stage for flags, people right down the front had huge ones.

Maybe I'm just turning into a Grumpy Old Hector.

people right down the front had huge ones.  Oooerrr missus!!!!   :D

just watched to see my daughter swirling her poi around to martin Joseph ;D ;D ;D

Ummm......can you translate that for me, Tasha? Thanks awfully.

I think Poi is one of the presenters of Show me Show me (http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/06_june/22/show.shtml) on Cbeebies  :-\

Cheers

Nick

http://www.hawkin.com/20670-09821-HBSALE-3/sale/yoho-poi
something like the above...hers are much nicer though! she can clearly be seen when he is singing -On my way- she's in a multicolured poncho twirling away..... ;D ;D ;D

I was thinking along the lines of steak and kidney or apple.
But that's only if you say it in a gypsy, sorry, Brummie accent.

The 2010 Bob Harris prog. was repeated a few times last week. Did anyone watch it again?

I recorded it and watched it last night. Slightly disappointed as I hadn't read any of the comments on this thread beforehand, but it did give me a flavour of what Cropredy might be like. It was actually bigger than I thought it would be! Does it feel very big and crowded when you're there.

I don't get out much, can you tell?!!  :D

No Ruth it certainly isn't large and doesn't feel big at all. It is rarely crowded. There are occasions when it does get full- liege and lief year being an example but it never feels overbearing. I wouldn't be there if it did!

I missed it.. didn't know it was on... missed it first time round too  :(

It feels a comfortable size (to me)...  gets more crowded as the weekend goes on.. but that depends who is on on Thursday and friday.

It's a lovely happy, friendly festival... Ruth do come!

I'd love to go to Cropredy, Jenny, and it's lovely to feel we'd be welcomed, but it's just not possible at the moment. But it is definitely on my list for that mythical time in the future when we're not working all hours!

See you there one of these days then Ruth  :)

Work can wait!  You'll regret it if you don't make it.

Not as much as next year though....

is that just because its 45 years?

Quite likely! Will we get a chance to celebrate the big 5-0?

Of course we will... (I hope!!)

With the current line-up?

As Simon has said on more than one occasion: (& I'm paraphrasing)
Fairport is more than a sum of the parts. The spirit of the band has survived many changes of members and I hope still will for 5, 10 +++ years.
Some of us here feel that the band will never be as good as the Sandy years.
Some of us Liked the Rocky feel of RT & later Maart.
Some (I hope) will look back in years to come & remember with affection the Jazzy Swing feel Ric brought to the band.

BUT in the end Fairport is a way of life for many people (not just the band) & I am sure it will continue in whatever form so that we can, in our dotage still  meet in that field.

I have seen on sky an advert with Zoe Ball advertising a number of festivals that Sky Art channel are covering this year & I am pretty sure Cropredy is one of them, lets hope they cover more than just the support acts!!

Take a gander at their coverage from last year which airs regularly

it isnt great tv

Not bad to watch, really horrible sound.