TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Mike's thread about the 1967 Saville Theatre gig, where FC are billed as "The Fairport Convention", got me wondering - how official was the "The"?

Was it indeed the original intention that the band be called "The Fairport Convention", or was it something that just got added by others in the style of the times? That said, as revealed in Fairportfolio, the band's self-produced flyer for their first gig includes the phrase "a mass conversion to the Fairport Convention"...

Yep...just like The Mive, The Jam or The Beatles

Which raises the question of why they dropped it before they'd even released their first record - or was If I Had A Ribbon Bow credited to "The Fairport Convention"?

As far as I can tell from looking up pictures, 'Ribbon Bow' was simply credited to Fairport Convention (no 'the'). Perhaps Jude can be of service here?  ;)

Gig posters referred for quite a while to 'The...'

I can't really remember, I think it was conceived as 'Fairport Convention', because we 'convened' at Fairport, the fashion was at that time was for all bands to be prefaced with 'The'. I know Martin only had 'Fairport Convention' on his bass drum, but you're right, the ticket did say 'The Fairport Convention' and I designed and wrote that.... so who knows  ??? It was the heady days of 1967 we were young and dizzy and it was a time of fluctuation and jolliness...  ;D

Jude - what a lovely expression: 'a time of fluctuation and jolliness...'  :)

Weren't Pink Floyd also referred to as The.. back in the day?

I remember Annie Lennox reminding journalists that it was Eurythmics, not The Eurythmics.

Remember the band The The? The The The, anyone?  ::)

I seem to remember that there was once a band called The The.  :o

Having said that, I am always up for a bit of fluctuation and jolliness.  {:-)

What did they call that band in Yorkshire? Was it t't'?

 ;D  ;D  ;D

Indeed they were.

The converse are the bands who don't officially have a "The", but end up getting one anyway: Eagles; Meat Puppets; Minutemen; etc.

Jules

The Who?

Buzzcocks

Yes

To add two more -- Pixies & Talking Heads.

Editors are another

As there have been so many FC line-ups, I think they should more properly be referred to as "A Fairport Convention" as in one of a number of Conventions.   Indeed, I'm sure I used to take a subscription to "What Fairport Convention" magazine.

Likewise, Cropredy could well be referred to, not as a music festival, but a "Convention Centre". ;)

Like this line of thinking....but I'm now stuck on what would be the collective noun for a number of Conventions.

Also, I'm having trouble trying to work out how to say 'Bangles are another group who don't have a the, but are given one' and not have it sound wrong.
Similarly, 'I'm going to see Bangles tonight ' almost demands a the. 'I'm going to see Steeleye Span,' doesn't. 'I am going to the Bangles concert tonight' let's you sneak one in without upsetting anyone. Good....I can rest easy now.

I didn't even know that Bangles weren't The Bangles.  I was watching the video of their version of Going Down To Liverpool the other day - now that's a class record!

Jules

The one with Spock?
Yeah...pity it wasn't one of their own compositions.
I've been playing some of my Bangles vinyl (see - if they were THE Bangles - you'd drop it there anyway, and not say my The Bangles records...) and ripping all the rare, unreleased,and live 'b' sides and album tracks to the PC....a nice remix of If She Knew What She Wants was scratched goddam it.....and rediscovered Live For Life - a charity album that also has a live version of Ages Of You by R.E.M on it amongst others.

I always meant to get that record for the REM track, but never got around to it.

And, yeah, the one with Spock.  It's the only video I know in which a Californian girl band sings about unemployment in the North West of England whilst being chauffeur driven by a Vulcan.   8)

Jules

There were a few bands in the late 60s who began as "The..." but dropped the definite article early on: The Pink Floyd. The Slade.

Slade were Ambrose Slade, no?

Jules

The N Betweens. Then Ambrose Slade. Then The Slade. Then Slade.

http://hitparade.ch/song/Slade/Wild-Winds-Are-Blowing-157694

To be fair "The Slade" was only ever used on one single and like "The Fairport" it was unlikely to have been a band decision

Who can ever forget Van Morrison and The Them.

Conversely, "Guess Who?" morphed into "The Guess Who" after much confusion and gnashing of teeth.

The van Morrison

Misuse of the definitive article has been rampant in popular music. It is even open to the sarcasm, yes they were a little know band from Bolton.

Neil

I thought he is properly called Van The Man!

The Van The Man.   ;D

Jules

The Strawbs? Weren't they once The-less? I ought to know, having all of their stuff. This is getting worse.  ???

Just reading Beverley Martyn's autobiography, Sweet Honesty. Reproduced in there is a flyer for a 'Christmas Festival' at The Roundhouse in 1967. Saturday 23 December promised Beverley alongside 'The Fairport Convention' and 'compered by Jimi Hendrix' (!)

Shouldn't that be The Jimi Hendrix?   ;D

Jules

Or Jimi the Hendrix?

Was Hendrix not Mr Experience's middle name?

It was the second of his two middle names, the first of them being Jimi.  His first name was The.   ;D

Jules

In a BBC World Service interview from 1972, Sandy Denny says "I like The Deserter, on Liege and Lief. That's a beautiful tune...I just like the way we did it. I think it's the best track on that album. That was with The Fairport Convention".

Joe Boyd refers to FC as The Fairport several times in this clip where he rummages John Peel's record collection:

http://www.johnpeelarchive.com/joe-boyd/#D102