An Albion Band Beginner

[Simon Withers]

I certainly will purchase a copy of 'light shining'; I was rather fond of that LP (many years ago)...I never owned a copy of it (although my brother has a copy on vinyl) I especially liked the title track..I believe DM is on this LP...which is always a bonus...did the Light Shining line up perform at Cropredy one year?

[RobertD]

I see that Light Shining is receiving its first ever CD release through Talking Elephant if anyone is interested.

Any chance of reissues of Give Me A Saddle & 1990 anytime soon?

Odd that those should be hard to fiind Al. Would have thought them being on Topic there were maybe a few more pressings (if that is appropriate for cd's!) than on some of the smaller labels. Happily I have both but if you find your way to getting Light Shining I will look forward to your thoughts

[GubGub (Al)]

I managed to find a copy of Give Me A Saddle today for under £10 to upgrade my vinyl copy but it is the first time I have seen it for that sort of price for a long time and it was just one copy. All the others on offer were more than twice that amount and 1990 is even scarcer. After Rise Up and perhaps Prospect they are my two favourite Albions albums so I have been keen to find them on CD for some time. I will have to keep searching for 1990.

I listened to Light Shining today, digitalised from my vinyl copy to see if it was worth upgrading to the new CD. We have discussed before my general antipathy towards Cathy LeSurf's voice and how that influences my views on that era of the band's work. There is only one track on the album that approaches their best work imho and at least a couple that are horribly twee and irritating. Suffice to say it is not an album that I am likely to listen to regularly so I won't be rushing to buy the new release.

[RobertD]

Good to know....I think I will pass on it based on what you say.

[PaulT]

I like "Light Shining"

I vaguely remember the band performing (more likely miming?) "Love is Like A Railway Station" on a BBC prime time Sat evening light entertainment show. Can't remember which show though. Don't think it was Noel Edmonds - Mr Nicol may remember...

"Under The Rose" - now there's reissue I'd like to see.  (IMHO) the title track has one of the most beautiful tunes I've ever heard.

[StephenGiles]

I remember seeing the Light Shining line up in Borehamwood - possibly at the old comunity centre, and the procedings were interrupted by a bomb hoax!

[Keith E Rice]

WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?

No mention of 'BATTLE OF THE FIELD'???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??

The album the original Albion (Country) Band recorded but took 3 years to get released due to the band folding after recording, followed by a long and vociferous public campaign to get it released. Hutchings, Carthy, Kirkpatrick, Nicol, Harris and Richard Thompson songs mixed in with the very Trad arr. What's not to like?

Like 'HARK! THE VILLAGE WAIT' is a  beguiling step back into a more pastoral idiom before the unmitigated electricity of 'PLEASE TO SEE THE KING', so 'FIELD' is a more genteel precursor to 'RISE UP LIKE THE SUN'.
'LIEGE & LIEF', 'KING' and 'RISE' are albums awesome in their genre-challenging brilliance. But when you just want to be and have your musical muscles tickled gently, then 'HARK!' and 'FIELD' do it for me every time.

Having said that, Carthy venomously snarling Thompson's 'New Saint George' is so inspiring I really could jettison my neo-Toryism and become a communard manning the barricades!

'FIELD's importance was undermined by its delayed release and the underwhelming, holding-action 'PROSPECT BEFORE US' was already on its way...but 'FIELD', to my mind, is one of Ashley's definitive albums - and such a shame it was almost an irrelevance by the time it crept into the public domain. Fortunately Ashley got a second bite of the cherry with 'RISE' - but the Hutchings-Tams split effectively drained the energy and momentum from that.

What a history of blown opportunities!

[Jules Gray]

WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?

No mention of 'BATTLE OF THE FIELD'???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??

It's probably mentioned right near the start of this very long thread somewhere!

Jules

[Polly Oxford (Andie)]

Deffo all time favourite - my first intro to 'Battle of the Somme' which for many reasons will be on my personal Desert Island!

[StephenGiles]

But the Albion energy has been surely brought back to life with the current line up of the Albion Band.

[GubGub (Al)]

I have just noticed, in the unlikely event that anyone here does not already have a copy, that the seminal Rise Up Like The Sun which has been out of print for a while is being reissued on CD on 4 November.

It is imho the greatest folk rock album of them all. Sadly this looks like a vanilla reissue without the bonus tracks that were on the previous version but it is promising that it has been digitally remastered.

[Jules Gray]

Sadly this looks like a vanilla reissue without the bonus tracks that were on the previous version but it is promising that it has been digitally remastered.

A vanilla reissue?!  First time I've come across this term.

Jules

[GubGub (Al)]

Sadly this looks like a vanilla reissue without the bonus tracks that were on the previous version but it is promising that it has been digitally remastered.

A vanilla reissue?!  First time I've come across this term.

Jules

Usually applied to DVDs that have no extras.

[Jim]

I have just noticed, in the unlikely event that anyone here does not already have a copy, that the seminal Rise Up Like The Sun which has been out of print for a while is being reissued on CD on 4 November.

It is imho the greatest folk rock album of them all. Sadly this looks like a vanilla reissue without the bonus tracks that were on the previous version but it is promising that it has been digitally remastered.

Sounds like talking heffalump

[GubGub (Al)]

I have just noticed, in the unlikely event that anyone here does not already have a copy, that the seminal Rise Up Like The Sun which has been out of print for a while is being reissued on CD on 4 November.

It is imho the greatest folk rock album of them all. Sadly this looks like a vanilla reissue without the bonus tracks that were on the previous version but it is promising that it has been digitally remastered.

Sounds like talking heffalump

No, surprisingly not. BGO on this occasion unless Amazon are mistaken.

[Thor-Rune]

Have to say I couldn't possibly disagree more with Als view on "Light shining". I can see how Cathys voice is an acquired taste (though I have little problems with it). But there are four songs on that album that I think are among the best they ever did after the Home Service split. They are "Beware of blue", "Swift Nick", "Wolfe" and the title track. It even has a nice little pop song in there with "(Love is like a) Railway station". Forgetting Cathy, three of the remaining five are classic Fairport names (Ashley, Simon and DM). Simons electric work on the record again reminds mw how I wish he'd bring it out again when I see Fairport in Oslo in two weeks' time. I saw this line-up at Cropredy and enjoyed every second of it. An early live version of "The rose and the rock" being a highlight (featured on the "A weekend in the country" video release).

[Will S]

Finally picked up a copy of Best of 89/90 the other day, and I've Got New Shoes - Revisited is on its way to me.  So I'm now only missing The Wild Side of Town, Albion Heart and Before Us Stands Yesterday of the Albion Band labelled albums.  There are a few other Ashley albums, like the live By Gloucester Docks... and As You Like It which are still on my list...

[Shane (Skirky)]

I think I've got a copy of Albion Heart at the back of the cupboard at home, Will. Do you want me to see if I can dig it out for you?

[Will S]

If you really don't want it and are looking to declutter, feel free to declutter it my way!

(If you're serious, send me a PM and I'll let you have my address)

[Shane (Skirky)]

You've got mail...