TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Whilst some of his songs can be a bit twee and the man himself said that he didn't see himself as a songwriter, I think that he has composed some great songs. My personal top 5 would be:
Mercy Bay
Over the falls
I'm already there
John Gaudie
North Dakota to Manchester

I'd be interested in what you fine folks think are his best moments as a songwriter?

I'd have to go with "My Love Is In America"

"I'm Already There" is a fairly good song made transcendent by its execution and I love "The Fossil Hunter". "My Love is in America" is wonderful. When he hits the mark he really can knock it out of the park, to mix metaphors.

I really liked him in Whippersnapper.

Whippersnapper was a brilliant band!

John Gaudie is always fab.

Me too.  Played to his strengths.  What a great fiddler he is.

John Gaudie
Spanish Main
Mercy Bay
The Light of Day
Close To You/I'm Already There

Pretty much in that order. Sorry, can't decide between the last two.

Like Button.

 Btw it's 20 years since the start of the Chris Leslie era (with the WKWTTG-album). A good opportunity to thank him for his great contributions to the band. Hard to pick just five songs so here's a somewhat longer list.
John Gaudie
Spanis Main (written with Maart of course)
My Love is in America
The Light of Day
I'm Already There
Over the Falls
Spring Song
Edge of the World
Mercy Bay
Grace and Favour (a somewhat overlooked gem, I think)
and I do like Eleanor's Dream on the new album

Definitely John Gaudie.  I also love Lalla Rookh (another Maart co-write!).  Mercy Bay is a good one.  So are The Fossil Hunter, The Game Pieces, Don't Leave Too Soon...

Perhaps a slight tangent but in those times I need some meditative, reflective music I return to Chris's album, the FLOW.
2 of his instrumental pieces.
The Flow, arranged by Ric Sanders with just the 2 of them dueting and...
Tune For the land of Snows, beautiful meditative piece with Chris playing fiddle and a bunch of esoteric instruments!

Thirded. Along with John Gaudie and many of his contributions to the Wood & The Wire album. I'll also add Rui's Guitar to the mix.

I have to admit one of the other things he is involved in that I really love, is Beryl Marriotts Weave the Mirror album. I don't know why, certainly along way from "Folk Rock" but in my mind it is musicians really getting to the heart of those traditional tracks.

Agreed - 100%

I love that album too (which may surprise some).

A few years after that album Chris and Beryl Marriott produced an album together, called The Gift, which is worth looking out for.  I don't rate it quite as highly as Weave The Mirror, but it is still pretty good for those quiet moments.

My love is in america is imho a fairport classic irrespective of era. I really love that song.

Like button.

Love the man , absolute genius musician , stunning voice, amazing fiddle and mandolin player, but sadly for me I am not a fan of many of his compositons.

 Having said that John Gaudie is a cracker , but my favourite bits are the fiddle tunes in the middle which I seem to remember hearing we're not Chris's composition. I also like Banbury Fair and  Keep on Turning the Wheel but I am afraid most of the rest leave me unmoved.

My vote would go to:

John Gaudie
My Love is in America
Light of Day
Edge of the World
Mercy Bay
Eleanor's Dream

I've been giving the new album quite a few plays over the last week & I reckon that two of Chris' songs on the album - Eleanor's Dream & (particularly for me) Step By Step - are as good as any he has contributed to the band's repertoire.

Eleanor's Dream is yet another (with I'm Already There & Mercy Bay) song about the ill fated Franklin expedition to find the North-West Passage which has been a rich vein for Chris - all three are fine songs.  As others have said above John Gaudie & My Love is in America are also right up there - not just as Chris' best songs but Fairport classics too.

He does take some stick for the 'tweeness' of his contribution & yes sometimes this criticism is justified but, in my view anyway, he's contributed some great songs to the band.

My own criticism of Chris's writing is that it can sound a bit samey but that may be more down to the arrangements and instrumentation than the songwriting.

The twee factor that I have complained about of Fairport albums over the last 20 years has more often been supplied by other writers and poor choices of outside material imo.

My Love Is In America-a very well written song
John Gaudie-my mate Tony still loves the Whippersnapper version, I like that and the FC versions
Mercy Bay-strong writing, impact made even stronger by the music
Banbury Fair-probably not on most people's list, but what might pass for twee by some, is very evocative to me.
Close To You-also very evocative.

I think the goal was 5 only, which of course leaves out I'm Already There, Wandering Man, Grace & Favour, Myths & Heroes, and maybe a few more. In addition, although I know its not his song, I have come to think of I Wandered By A Brookside as his song.

I remember just loving that when I first saw him perform it with Fairport in Gosport in 1992 and again a few weeks later at Cropredy. This was the post Ric broken window incident, temporary Chris & Maart line up.

I have never thought that the later studio recording really does it justice.

Fair enough. It is a beautiful song and really fits his singing style. Another one he brought from Whippersnapper

When thinking of my favourite CL songs, I found out that my top two are both collaborations and from his early years in the band. His collaborations with Maart have also been mentioned. Maybe these collaborations sharpen the writing tools?

1. The Wood and The Wire
2. Don' t leave too soon
3. I' m already there
4. Close to you
5. My Love is in America

The Light of Day remains my favorite song from Chris Leslie's oeuvre thus far.  I've long been curious why that one little bit features Simon singing lead while Mr. Leslie belts out all the other vocals.  The rollicking instrumental outro of Light of Day is its own little masterpiece, and something about the lyrics building up to that point appeal to me -- the imagery of faces "reflected in the candle flames" and a path lit by the moon always fire up my imagination -- and how many tales have fiddler protagonists?

I'm also quite fond of I'm Already There and Over the Falls -- both feature mesmerizing vocal performances from Chris with the rest of the band doing what they do so very well - weaving breathtaking patterns of notes that gel into pleasing earworms.  Ric's violin in I'm Already There is especially "cosmic" and brilliant.  I've been a fan of the Pegg/Conway rhythm section ever since I enjoyed Jethro Tull's Broadsword & The Beast CD for the first time in the 1980s, and both Dave and Gerry propel I'm already There through its clever chord structure with the level of musicianship that some longtime Fairport fans might take for granted, having grown accustomed to the quality of this tight bass/drum duo.  Simon's singular guitar sound, unobtrusive but essential, keeps the music centered.  Over the Falls -- again, entrancing lyrics/vocals with the rest of the band making sonic waves that suit this particular song and sound innovative but somehow familiar... fresh but played with the current Fairport instrumentation, five chaps who know the styles of one another perhaps better than they know their own, infusing the recordings with surprising musical choices that somehow always work.

Eleanor's Dream struck me as an instant classic when I first heard it, and I've only grown more fond of it with repeat listens.  

Mercy Bay -- a masterpiece with Simon's voice better than ever, lyrics again dense with imagination-spurring imagery, and Ric & Gerry & Dave & Chris making marvelous noise behind the man who, when I first heard FC (via In Real Time on cassette and Gladys' Leap on CD), was pretty much THE vocalist of the band and famously the only original member in the fold.

So: Light of Day (my favorite) and in no particular order I'm Already There, Over the Falls, Eleanor's Dream, and Mercy Bay -- those are my "top 5" picks for examples of Chris Leslie's evolving and diverse skills as a songwriter.

I don't usually go in for fave song lists So here goes

Close to You
The Wood and the Wire
Banbury Fair
John Gaudie
Rui's Guitar

However tomorrow?? well they could change I am already recounting and adding in Chris's individual work ..  These are all from the Fairport range  ;)