Fairport Chatter

[PaulT]

Like David, I'll be buying it; I saw one of the warmups at Hook Norton, and thought the Full House segment was pretty good (apart from Flowers of the Forest - harmonies seemed a bit "off") - I did enjoy the Cropredy performance - again, apart from "Flowers".

[GubGub (Al)]

Like David, I'll be buying it; I saw one of the warmups at Hook Norton, and thought the Full House segment was pretty good (apart from Flowers of the Forest - harmonies seemed a bit "off") - I did enjoy the Cropredy performance - again, apart from "Flowers".

Cover design is nice.

This morning I am listening to Fairport Live At The BBC as a soundtrack to reading Gonna See All My Friends.

Gotta say I am not very impressed by all these people boasting they have seen Fairport 15 or 20 times since 1969 or 1970. I saw them 20 times within 5 years of my first concert in 1990 and have probably seen them 50 or 60 times by now. 😂 I am however expecting March to probably be my last.

[Nick Reg]

Like David, I'll be buying it; I saw one of the warmups at Hook Norton, and thought the Full House segment was pretty good (apart from Flowers of the Forest - harmonies seemed a bit "off") - I did enjoy the Cropredy performance - again, apart from "Flowers".

Gotta say I am not very impressed by all these people boasting they have seen Fairport 15 or 20 times since 1969 or 1970. I saw them 20 times within 5 years of my first concert in 1990 and have probably seen them 50 or 60 times by now. 😂 I am however expecting March to probably be my last.

Part timer  

[davidmjs]

Ashley 'Tyger' Hutchings, the old boy of the band is 78 today....

[Thom]

Thinking a bit about the drummer situation, it occurred to me that what would benefit the band at this juncture (other than offering me the drum stool) would be to bring in someone who isn’t just a drummer. Aside from DM and Bruce having the odd turn at playing keyboards and bass, there’s not really been an opportunity (whether by design or personal choice) for them to do much more as singers, songwriters or even just playing other instruments.

If Fairport can find a drummer equivalent of Chris Leslie who would be able to add another voice, contribute acoustically beyond just bashing a tambourine and compose a few songs (or conversely a singer songwriter who had a good grasp of how to play drums), it would be a shot in the arm for them. It’s not unusual in rock music these days for a drummer to be more than just the drummer (think Roger Taylor in Queen who wrote songs, sang them and occasionally played guitar or bass in the studio), so it could work for Fairport

Of course it’s entirely likely that this sort of musician is the unicorn of the folk world, so it could just be fully out of the question.

[Andy]

Thinking a bit about the drummer situation, it occurred to me that what would benefit the band at this juncture (other than offering me the drum stool) would be to bring in someone who isn’t just a drummer. Aside from DM and Bruce having the odd turn at playing keyboards and bass, there’s not really been an opportunity (whether by design or personal choice) for them to do much more as singers, songwriters or even just playing other instruments.

If Fairport can find a drummer equivalent of Chris Leslie who would be able to add another voice, contribute acoustically beyond just bashing a tambourine and compose a few songs (or conversely a singer songwriter who had a good grasp of how to play drums), it would be a shot in the arm for them. It’s not unusual in rock music these days for a drummer to be more than just the drummer (think Roger Taylor in Queen who wrote songs, sang them and occasionally played guitar or bass in the studio), so it could work for Fairport

Of course it’s entirely likely that this sort of musician is the unicorn of the folk world, so it could just be fully out of the question.

Dave Grohl?

[Thom]

Well, if he’s free…

[Andy]

After seeing him with KT Tunstall the other night, I venture to suggest Andy Burrows of Razorlight.

[Alan2]

After seeing him with KT Tunstall the other night, I venture to suggest Andy Burrows of Razorlight.

How was KTT Andy?   The 2 times I've seen her she had great stage presence and the music was mostly good.

[davidmjs]

After seeing him with KT Tunstall the other night, I venture to suggest Andy Burrows of Razorlight.

How was KTT Andy?   The 2 times I've seen her she had great stage presence and the music was mostly good.

I think we have a new benchmark for damning with faint praise...  

[Andy]

She was in very good form, extremely lively and we really enjoyed her set. Far to the rock side of folk-rock and all the better for that.

[PaulT]

A mate has just sent me a link - FC and Seth Lakeman playing at Hampton pool (SW London) Fri 21 July:

https://www.hamptonpooltrust.org.uk/concerts/index.php

Concert tickets include a free swim; hmm, a few lengths might pose more of a challenge than the broad millstream for Lord Darnell's servant...

[Andy]

That's the old Upper Deck pool, that I swam in many times.

[Bernie]

Well Dave Grohl would definitely do for me!! Would rock 'em up a bit and be a handsome addition to the band....but it seems FC only go for Jazz Drummers... no idea,  ....me the difference  .....a drummer is a drummer to me ...., he is a bit handsome and a big Beatles fan like me..... but would be nice to see  Mr Grohl.....just saying.....just to lighten a snowy day up x

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Well Dave Grohl would definitely do for me!! Would rock 'em up a bit and be a handsome addition to the band....but it seems FC only go for Jazz Drummers... no idea,  ....me the difference  .....a drummer is a drummer to me ...., he is a bit handsome and a big Beatles fan like me..... but would be nice to see  Mr Grohl.....just saying.....just to lighten a snowy day up x

Dave Grohl could just stand on the stage grinning for 2 hours and I’d be happy  

Could someone arrange that please?

[davidmjs]

For collectors of Fairport memorabilia, this (on the Oxfam website) is an (arguably) pretty good deal... https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/fairport-convention-7-tour-brochures-1988-2007-plus-4-programmes-for-cropredy-festival-2000-2009/product/HD_301469116?sku=HD_301469116

[davidmjs]

So...you know the constantly repeated ad nauseum 'truth' that Fairport released 3 albums in 1969?  This got touched upon on a Nick Drake page (Richard Morton Jack, author of the new biog has long been bursting this particular bubble).  The following explanation (from Neil Storey) provides all the information you need to conclude that WWDOOH was indeed released in 1968, not 1969.  And yet, still the books will keep publishing the falsehood...

It seems bizarre that the release date of Holidays is still being debated. It was issued on December 13, 1968 and absolutely not during the first week of January '69. The marketing campaign began with the first teaser ads which ran in Melody Maker (October 26 issue) and NME (November 9 issue). The first full page ad for the album (the pre-order version if you prefer) ran in Record Retailer dated November 27, 1968. Record Retailer was the industry magazine of the time, thus used as the industry staple by all record shops which pre-dated Music Week by some years. The second full page Record Retailer ad ran in the issue dated December 11 in which, splashed across the bottom diagonally in red capital letters, it stated: LP Release Dec 13. The Melody Maker full page ad ran week ending December 14. There was also a full page Witchseason ad in OZ, dated December 17 which includes a quote from the Time Out review. That presumes the Time Out review would have run earlier in December. The were two further ads for Holidays. The back page of Melody Maker dated March 8 which also featured Spooky Two and Free's Tons of Sobs. The same ad ran as a follow-up half-page in issue dated March 15. In the March 12 issue of Record Retailer there was a further full page ad which featured Holidays (top right) alongside Tons of Sobs, Spooky Two, Tramline's Moves of Vegetable Centuries and the first volume of the religious compilation The Unfolding of the Book of Life. All under the banner of 'Big Winners for March.'
Hope that helps.

[Nick Reg]

So...you know the constantly repeated ad nauseum 'truth' that Fairport released 3 albums in 1969?  This got touched upon on a Nick Drake page (Richard Morton Jack, author of the new biog has long been bursting this particular bubble).  The following explanation (from Neil Storey) provides all the information you need to conclude that WWDOOH was indeed released in 1968, not 1969.  And yet, still the books will keep publishing the falsehood...

It seems bizarre that the release date of Holidays is still being debated. It was issued on December 13, 1968 and absolutely not during the first week of January '69. The marketing campaign began with the first teaser ads which ran in Melody Maker (October 26 issue) and NME (November 9 issue). The first full page ad for the album (the pre-order version if you prefer) ran in Record Retailer dated November 27, 1968. Record Retailer was the industry magazine of the time, thus used as the industry staple by all record shops which pre-dated Music Week by some years. The second full page Record Retailer ad ran in the issue dated December 11 in which, splashed across the bottom diagonally in red capital letters, it stated: LP Release Dec 13. The Melody Maker full page ad ran week ending December 14. There was also a full page Witchseason ad in OZ, dated December 17 which includes a quote from the Time Out review. That presumes the Time Out review would have run earlier in December. The were two further ads for Holidays. The back page of Melody Maker dated March 8 which also featured Spooky Two and Free's Tons of Sobs. The same ad ran as a follow-up half-page in issue dated March 15. In the March 12 issue of Record Retailer there was a further full page ad which featured Holidays (top right) alongside Tons of Sobs, Spooky Two, Tramline's Moves of Vegetable Centuries and the first volume of the religious compilation The Unfolding of the Book of Life. All under the banner of 'Big Winners for March.'
Hope that helps.

If I remember correctly I had it for Christmas from my Mum and dad.

[davidmjs]

So...you know the constantly repeated ad nauseum 'truth' that Fairport released 3 albums in 1969?  This got touched upon on a Nick Drake page (Richard Morton Jack, author of the new biog has long been bursting this particular bubble).  The following explanation (from Neil Storey) provides all the information you need to conclude that WWDOOH was indeed released in 1968, not 1969.  And yet, still the books will keep publishing the falsehood...

It seems bizarre that the release date of Holidays is still being debated. It was issued on December 13, 1968 and absolutely not during the first week of January '69. The marketing campaign began with the first teaser ads which ran in Melody Maker (October 26 issue) and NME (November 9 issue). The first full page ad for the album (the pre-order version if you prefer) ran in Record Retailer dated November 27, 1968. Record Retailer was the industry magazine of the time, thus used as the industry staple by all record shops which pre-dated Music Week by some years. The second full page Record Retailer ad ran in the issue dated December 11 in which, splashed across the bottom diagonally in red capital letters, it stated: LP Release Dec 13. The Melody Maker full page ad ran week ending December 14. There was also a full page Witchseason ad in OZ, dated December 17 which includes a quote from the Time Out review. That presumes the Time Out review would have run earlier in December. The were two further ads for Holidays. The back page of Melody Maker dated March 8 which also featured Spooky Two and Free's Tons of Sobs. The same ad ran as a follow-up half-page in issue dated March 15. In the March 12 issue of Record Retailer there was a further full page ad which featured Holidays (top right) alongside Tons of Sobs, Spooky Two, Tramline's Moves of Vegetable Centuries and the first volume of the religious compilation The Unfolding of the Book of Life. All under the banner of 'Big Winners for March.'
Hope that helps.

If I remember correctly I had it for Christmas from my Mum and dad.

The general consensus seems to be that they did actually release 3 albums in a year (just) but that it wasn't the calendar year 1969 as always stated.

[davidmjs]

Not really Fairport related other than to say that Fairport were well ahead of the game here in having no original members by late '71 (for 4 or 5 years anyway)!

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/04/meet-the-bands-with-no-original-members-left-yes-soft-machine-odyssey-molly-hatchet?fbclid=IwAR3ICxI2Eg3Nu1Ob8xVMmLGAMnELv--R8-KMIUj7Gfu-aI2wAYz37pJyYOY