TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere but tonight (29 March) Radio 2 will be broadcasting Fairport at 50 at 10.00pm

Thanks for the heads up.

Jude has mentioned it on f book but there seems to have been little pre publicity, ie ads on radio 2.

Apart from Simon Nicol on the Breakfast programmes "On This Day" slot this morning.

 Thanks Andy missed that but I have just sent e mails to Jeremy Vine and Simon Mayo. Will probably make no difference but hey ho!

Yes I mentioned it here on the Radio Times bit. Where no-one looks obviously  ::)
http://www.talkawhile.co.uk/yabbse/index.php?topic=44227.0

Sorry Jude didn't see your earlier post but at least some of us are now informed  ;)

That would seem to be the case. Whoops!😱

Radcliffe has just given it a good heads up and played Mariners All off 50/50 @50

Thanks for all the reminders. I got a couple by text too. And still forgot to listen to it!  :-[

A nice little piece,obviously sketchy in less than an hour but I enjoyed it. [;-)

Yep I agree. Lots I could say ......but I won't.
45 mins on the band 67 to 71, no mention of 71 to 78, jump from Expletive Delighted to 97 , sums up Bobs view of the band I think but some nice bits re Chris's songwriting from Mc Tell.
The trouble is most of us know that history so well..........I enjoyed it but not sure what I was expecting.
You came across really well Jude!

on here but not the wider general audience... I thought it was OK if not a little underplayed?

We (TalkAWhilers, other Fairport followers and anyone familiar with the band) weren't the intended audience, that was clear. As such, a nice little piece.

Completely agree Andy.
I think I was expecting  Fairport at 50, ie a view of where they are now .

"Oh the bus rolls on" is where they are now!

The fact that the first 45 mins only got us as far as 1971 mirrors a lot of the recent discussions on this board.
I was disappointed that there was nothing on the Nine lineup, but I enjoyed the programme for what it was

Lots of inaccuracies, and it's Ric Sanders not Saunders (a schoolboy error from Whispering Bob).  I know they only had an hour, and I'm glad the programme was made, but the 45th anniversary TV documentary (for all its faults) narrated by Frank Skinner served the band far better.

Funny, you'd think it would be the other way round - 45th anniversary gets a radio show, 50th anniversary gets a TV show, must be something to do with austerity  ;)

Well, quite. If you're going to make a three quarter of an hour programme which rounds up the group's history up to 1971, why not call it 'Fairport at Five' and then spend 15 minutes talking about the new album?

I've just listened to it again (Get_iPlayer is your friend) and I'm even more puzzled as to the intended audience for this programme. It can't be for the old fans, we know all that 1967-71 stuff, don't we? No stunning revelations there. Would any newbie want to hear about 1967-71 to the exclusion of most of 1971-1997?

It starts off with "Meet On The Ledge", segues into "Interstellar Overdrive" by Pink Floyd and flounders thereafter. The interviewees are occasionally cogent and relevant (our Jude for instance) but others appear to be there for reasons of fame (Percy). Gerry Conway merely got a passing comment (and no interview) despite his great contribution over the years, Maart was glossed over in several ways and not interviewed, there's plenty of Swarb interviews in the vault that could have been sampled. Even Simon was, I felt, featured sparingly (the recording was a bit odd, or was that my ears?). Ashley hasn't been in the band ofr 45 years, so getting him to pronounce on their future at the end of the programme - which it was said several times will never feature personnel changes again - was bizarre.

It was, I'm afraid, stunningly incomplete and lightweight.

Was that Ashley's opinion, or backed up by band members? So if one (God forbid!) follows Jerry D's medical episode, that'll be it?

 Many Floyd books have a similar slant. About a third of the pages are dedicated to the Syd Years, out of proportion to his time in the group, and most albums get a brief mention or get missed completely until Dark Side Of The Moon.
 I guess the formative years are important obviously, but it would turn into 'and then they did another album, went on tour, somebody left, they did another album, went on tour again, everybody left...they didn't do another album for ages, but then did and went on tour again and nobody left for quite a while...'
 Too much history for an hour, so they chopped out the repetitive bits.

I guess Ashley was asked about the future of the band because it was his band in the beginning.

Andy - it was a Whisperin' Bob production for the BBC, so probably had no access to those Swarb interviews.

As with history @ school , I found it quite interesting, but I just don't have the sort of mind to remember a lot of facts. So it was ideal for me - -I'm a fan, but a lot of the stuff wasn't overfamiliar.

Not backed by band members AFAIR, but Ralph McTell and Chris While said it too and possibly Percy. I'd have to check again

You could well be right, but still, sad, eh?

Well, Simon's 1971 departure and subsequent 5 year absence were ignored, I would have thought that was significant enough to note.

Hey, like I said, if the audience for this was identified and satisfied, then that's dandy. I just found it a bit fluffy.

Incidentally I still have the 2004 Radio 4 programme about Fairport and Cropredy and it's really quite good! Input from fans, too.

Well I enjoyed the programme anyway!

On a slightly different subject, is anyone going to the Royal Albert Hall next week for the Radio 2 Folk Awards?  I'll be there again and very much looking forward to it

Yep, I 'm going to have another listen.
However I think there is little point in criting it,so I will, it was a bit like the book ,a lot of inaccuracies.
Timescales were odd, it seemed to imply that Chris. joined the band when Ric cut a tendon!
As Bill said, no mention of 9 line up and more importantly , for me, no mention of John Babbacombe Lee  , which in some ways is more of a milestone than Liege and Lief ( Discuss.......ok don't ;D)
Did Sandy die? Did Trevor ever exist.? What happened to DM? Why did Marrtt ( who is apparently a multi instrumentalist, cos they told me 5 times, ( it`s a guess don't check!)) leave. Why did DM leave etc.
There was brief mention of the deliberate (?) change in style when Chris joined, I would have like more on that etc etc
I am sure I am perceived as one of those who favour early versions of the band but even I found it odd that 67 to 69 took 40 minutes ( focussed on a lineup that lasted 6 months) while a lineup that has lasted for 20 years got 5 minutes and part of that was Cropredy based.
Anyway it was Bobs view of the band and he is probably still happiest in 67 to 69.
It was light, it had to get a lot into an hour but Andy L has made me think who the audience was?
Glad I listened though.

Would love to. Tickets still available according to Radcliffe last night. Unfortunately I am just not mobile enough yet!

Hi Dave shame but it will be broadcast live online (not sure if it is on the red button as well though). Will be well worth a listen with Ry Cooder and Al Stewart amongst others playing live

Dave...I think I love you.  :-*

That's ,some ways...... ::) ;D

Chris, it's on red button.

I'll be there

"Chris [Leslie] proved to be the final piece in the Fairport Jigsaw...Ralph McTell agrees that this is the lineup that'll take them into the future" says Bob.
Really ? After nearly 20 years together ?

Agree with Chris and Andy, is this it, then, if something happens to one of them or someone leaves ?

And me....

Sorry, curmudgeon alert. Can the Folk Awards have its own thread, please ?
This is about Fairport at 50 on Radio 2

I think it already has....splitting/merging when some Mod has the time

*the phone rings at Broadcasting House*
Whisperin' Bob; Hey, I can do you an hour on Fairport Convention
Radio 2 Commissioning Editor: Who?
WB: Fairport - you remember, big in the Sixties, folk-rock, all that stuff.
R2CE; The British Jefferson Airplane..?
WB: That's them.
R2CE; I don't know - I mean is there any interest beyond the Summer of Love nostalgists? Is there a big anniversary coming up or anything?
WB; We could throw it into Folk Week?
R2CE; Oh, go on then - usual rates?
WB; Sure.
R2CE; Have the flash drive on my desk next week
WB: Oh god - it won't take that long...
*fade*

Not even flash drive?....upload down the wire onto BBC drive....

God I know everyone has their right to comment but this site is rapidly turning into a moaners paradise

Chris, take it from a 10 year veteran, it has always been a moaners' paradise! That's why we come here.  ;)

Altogether now:

Been spending most my life
Posting in a moaners' paradise...

I see what you are doing here.
It's just for sheer badness isnt it

Ha Ha glad you've put me straight so I'll put my moaner head on  ;D but Coolio (if memory serves me correctly)?

Coolio sampling Stevie Wonder's glorious Pastime Paradise

Ah right thank you my learned friend  :)

Except that they referred to the Byrds instead of Airplane. Which is odd.


I realise you're quite new here, but topic drift is quite annoying sometimes as it tends to spread over multiple strings and makes the conversation difficult to follow. As to "turning into a moaners paradise", well, it's been that for 13 years to my knowledge! ;D

Chris, I'll go off topic while no one's looking.
I have only been on this site or 10 yrs but you may have hit a thread where people like me, Andy and Jim are making 'light hearted and whimsical' positive criticism ( moaning to some) Dan is a mere child and cannot be accused of such ramblings!
We have reached an age where we are helped in to our reclining Zimmer frames early in the morning , plugged in to a mix tape if early Dylan, Byrds, incredible String Band, Fairport Convention and Gong and left to tan gently on the rolling hills of yesterday.
Treat us gently . :o ;D
Go on, just suggest you can't have too much mandolin on the new FC album and see what happens!

Yes Dan, I know it's the wrong thread. Where is the irony and gentle sarcasm thread?😘

Moaning about moaning?

I realise you're quite new here, but topic drift is quite annoying sometimes as it tends to spread over multiple strings and makes the conversation difficult to follow. As to "turning into a moaners paradise", well, it's been that for 13 years to my knowledge! ;D
[/quote]

OK everyone I'll shut up now and try to stick to topics in future (especially when I start them like this one  :-* )

For what its worth, I revisited the BBC documentary narrated by Frank Skinner yesterday and I have to say as an explanation of the bands history, personnel changes and change in musical style, it was excellent. Frank goes to Cropredy and is a real fan, so happy he narrated it. Perhaps a short addition to catch up on recent years would have done (They do that all the time with Pink Floyd, you just have to skip the first hour about Syd).

if its no moaning you want i'm sure there are sites out there that will keep you happy.
We moan because we care.

Moaning about moaning about moaning now....

I was on a Fairport mailing list a long long time ago, and there also always was a lot of moaning.
(You think "Wood and the Wire is a good album? You don't know what you are talking about.... " etc.)

I think it is because Fairport during their history were practically several different bands and different people discovered them at different times and what they are doing now is very different from the band people learnt to love.

It always  reminds me a bit of Nick Hornby's novel "Juliet, Naked" where the new people on the mailing list liked the new album because the songs are so upbeat.

Got to be a tag line for something Jim.
A Cropredy Escort Agency?! 'We moan because we care!'

hahaha ... love it.

"She's Like the Swallow"  :o

[/quote]Except that they referred to the Byrds instead of Airplane. Which is odd.

Actually not odd really, if you think about the lyrics at the start of Ashley's biographical song "Wings", which opened the mammoth reunion sets at Cropredy in 1997. (First song on the Cropredy Box CD set.) This was supposed to be all about the early days of Fairport and the opening two lines are:

"When the Byrds flew in then the dance began
We all were lifted up on Californian wings"

(Full lyrics here:https://mainlynorfolk.info/guvnor/songs/wings.html)

For years the Airplane were spoken of as inspiration. Now, the Byrds.Just an observation

Tum-ti-tum-ti-tum ti-tum...
You might have something there Andy. What are the chords again?  [;-)

I don't think the Airplane were ever quoted by Fairport themselves as being an inspiration.. the Tommy Vance quote calling us the English (British?) Airplane as a throwaway soundbite stuck like glue, but yes the Byrds were much more of an inspiration at that time.
Perhaps time to set the record straight?
 :)

Sounds good to me, Jude. Thanks for the correction.

And was it yourself, Jude,  who said in the programme that songwriters were a big influence? Cohen etc. ?

possibly (I can't remember what I said now  ;D )

Iain Matthews' voice is undeniably similar to Marty Balin's, but I'm not sure I can identify much further similarity between early FC and the Airplane.  Did the Airplane singers ever perform such close harmonies?

Absolutely. Listen to "My Best Friend", "How Do You Feel", "Martha", even "Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil"

I think the comparison to the Airplane was more to do with the arrangement of the lineup; male/female vocalist, two guitarists, bass & drums. Both bands were six strong.

Yep! :)

Or, bearing in mind that glib comments were just as prevalent as they are now, the band names, both being two words, 5 syllables, and no articles and conjunctions.

Was at Radio 2 folk awards last night....brilliant evening so check it out on radio 2 website and BBC4 on Sunday night....and before anyone says that this is off topic, I've put it on here as Simon Nicol made an eloquent speech as he presented one of the awards (thereby making it Fairport on Radio 2)  ;D

The Young Folk Award - so completing the Cropredy line-up.