New Fairport CD

[hendo (Dave)]

Gerry just has so much feel , a great supportive/ drummer percussionist . I love watching Gerry play.
Gerry's feel for a song, to play the song , means he can't play as a rock drummer in the present line up . Without Simon playing strong electric ,he would just swamp it. They are almost an acoustic band now, hence his cajon playing on the spring tours..His playing with Jethro Tull shows he has power when he needs it

Totally agree about Gerry. His soft touches, and blasts when required are perfection. The style of Fc at present don't do him justice or allow him to explore his full capability. I do think he is more of a percussionist than pure out and out drummer, but he can straddle the range (one of my favourites is Neil Peart who also has the full range). Yes, I am putting Gerry in the same sentence as the God Mr Peart.
I like Rics embellishments, and when he and Chris duel its heaven (John Gaudy). Ric on Hiring Fair always takes me to a new place where everything is good, and Gerry compliments the whole audio picture with perfection. Hiring Fair at 2015 Cropredy was the highlight of the weekend for me.

Yep , I loved Hiring Fair that yr too cos I can remember commenting , Ric is playing it straight.

[Poor Will (Bill)]

For me the change from folk/rock to "adult acoustic" (for want of a better description) began while both DM and Maart were still both on board with the Five Seasons album.
The production became smoother but somehow the magic was lost and has never really returned.
I realise I am probably alone in thinking this.

[hendo (Dave)]

For me the change from folk/rock to "adult acoustic" (for want of a better description) began while both DM and Maart were still both on board with the Five Seasons album.
The production became smoother but somehow the magic was lost and has never really returned.
I realise I am probably alone in thinking this.

I wouldn't hugely disagree Bill. I think it is a weak album but I have huge love for the wounded whale. Overblown. Over the top. Self indulgent........and wonderful.
I think , 85 to 97 , they didn't have  a songwriter and didn't want to delve in to Cecil Sharp territory as folk was hugely uncool in the late 80's.( Discuss!) so they went down a singer songwriter route and some great writers at that.
Arrangements became overblown, they were a technically excellent live band , who could play with passion and fire ,who have never captured that effectively enough in the studio,
It works when they play organically w, all in the same room ,rather then overdubs.........but this is of course just my opinion!

[hendo (Dave)]

So we think of Gerry Conway as Fotheringay, Cat Stevens and his lyrical playing with Fairports......but he could also do this.
If you want to skip some keyboards(!) go to 1.43
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hZnys72xhuc

[Tony Mc]

Lets not forget real lows such as Gold or London River. These were never going to be classics, and in 16 years of following FC I have never heard them played live. The new album doesn't sink that low.

[Peter H-K]

One more thing: Summer by the Cherwell.  As somebody who lived on the banks of that lovely river in Oxford for two years (it actually was right outside my front door), I've never really understood why Fairport don't seem to be able to pronounce its name.

[Jim]

For me the change from folk/rock to "adult acoustic" (for want of a better description) began while both DM and Maart were still both on board with the Five Seasons album.
The production became smoother but somehow the magic was lost and has never really returned.
I realise I am probably alone in thinking this.

You aren't

One more thing: Summer by the Cherwell.  As somebody who lived on the banks of that lovely river in Oxford for two years (it actually was right outside my front door), I've never really understood why Fairport don't seem to be able to pronounce its name.

ok i'll bite. How's it pronounced?

[GubGub (Al)]

For me the change from folk/rock to "adult acoustic" (for want of a better description) began while both DM and Maart were still both on board with the Five Seasons album.
The production became smoother but somehow the magic was lost and has never really returned.
I realise I am probably alone in thinking this.

I wouldn't hugely disagree Bill.

I think I would and not just because I like the album (it being their first studio release after I first saw them live). I also adore The Wounded Whale but the bigger defence is the inclusion of the great Claudy Banks and the two instrumentals. Plenty of electric guitar in evidence on all three, a traditional song (from Sussex no less) and a Morris homage. There is folk and rock or indeed, folk rock right there and between them those four songs make up nearly half the album. I sort of agree that the production is too slick though.

Lets not forget real lows such as Gold or London River. These were never going to be classics, and in 16 years of following FC I have never heard them played live. The new album doesn't sink that low.

Gold was regularly played live on the 1991 Wintour. I don't actually think it is a bad song but it is not a "Fairport" song. There were a few songs in that era that should have been on Simon's solo albums and there have been a few recent ones that make me think he should do another one to get this stuff out of his system. And that is not to diss his solo albums which, to a large extent, I like.

The following album, which most people seem to like but which I am not so fond of really does drop the folk element and goes the adult contemporary route in terms of material but retains some electricity. The Wood & the Wire is the album where the sound really softens to where it has remained ever since.

[Jim]

I think I would and not just because I like the album (it being their first studio release after I first saw them live). I also adore The Wounded Whale but the bigger defence is the inclusion of the great Claudy Banks and the two instrumentals. Plenty of electric guitar in evidence on all three, a traditional song (from Sussex no less) and a Morris homage. There is folk and rock or indeed, folk rock right there and between them those four songs make up nearly half the album. I sort of agree that the production is too slick though.

i wont disagree about The Claudy Banks only to say that it isnt a patch on The "No Roses" version which will probably have been familiar to most of the old timey FC fans. Still the record as a whole just feels flat and unappealing.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Anyway, what we all seem agreed on is that some time around 1996 or 97, possibly for a combination of reasons, Fairport lost the rock. What is interesting is that when that happened they did not become a folk band, they became a kind of acoustic adult contemporary band. So they lost the folk too. And the new album is what results.

I have enjoyed them on many occasions in the last 20 years but I do feel an ambivalence that was not there previously and that stems from the loss of exhilaration that came from their electric performances.

I totally agree with this, but frustratingly my favourite ever live performance of theirs was the acoustic band at the 100 Club in London, around the time Over The Next Hill was released! Chris and Ric having a violin-off to I'm Already There was epic. Mind you, I only saw them once with Maart, but I played the Maart albums and videos a lot.

Anyway, whatever we say, they are what they are. We take them or leave them.

[GubGub (Al)]

I think I would and not just because I like the album (it being their first studio release after I first saw them live). I also adore The Wounded Whale but the bigger defence is the inclusion of the great Claudy Banks and the two instrumentals. Plenty of electric guitar in evidence on all three, a traditional song (from Sussex no less) and a Morris homage. There is folk and rock or indeed, folk rock right there and between them those four songs make up nearly half the album. I sort of agree that the production is too slick though.

i wont disagree about The Claudy Banks only to say that it isnt a patch on The "No Roses" version which will probably have been familiar to most of the old timey FC fans. Still the record as a whole just feels flat and unappealing.

Quite right Jim. I had forgotten about the No Roses version. I was not familiar with it when I first heard the Fairport rendition and I am not especially fond of No Roses (I know I am speaking heresy but I have never warmed to Shirley Collins's voice. There is something about it that reminds me of whoever sang nursery rhymes on Listen With Mother for the BBC on the wireless when I was small) so the Fairport version is definitive for me.

[Peter H-K]

One more thing: Summer by the Cherwell.  As somebody who lived on the banks of that lovely river in Oxford for two years (it actually was right outside my front door), I've never really understood why Fairport don't seem to be able to pronounce its name.

ok i'll bite. How's it pronounced?

Char-well.

[hendo (Dave)]

Al , you were absolutely right about Claudy Banks , I had forgotten!

[PaulT]

Al, I've been trying to put my finger on what Shirley's voice reminded me of... And you've nailed it!

I do quite like Shirley's singing, though...

[davidmjs]

If my memory is right, they did one Winter tour with DM and Chris - 1997 (or maybe two)?  I saw this lineup with some excitement at Swansea...and remember feeling really relieved at how good it all was.  

I've never liked The Five Seasons.  

I do like the description (if not the sound) of Acoustic Adult Contemporary.  Hit's the nail on the spot.  

I think maybe 'our' point would be Fairport could be Folk, they could be Rock, we'd love them to be Folk-Rock, but this sounds like none of those things......

It's the 1980's Radio 2-ness of it all that I don't like.  And yet, peversely, I sort of like Simon's solo albums....maybe because it's all upfront.  It's a strange thing.

[David W]

If my memory is right, they did one Winter tour with DM and Chris - 1997 (or maybe two)?  I saw this lineup with some excitement at Swansea...and remember feeling really relieved at how good it all was.  

With Chris adding some oomph with a red electric guitar and possibly the batocaster as well - certainly he played lead electric on the '97 tour.

DW

[GubGub (Al)]

If my memory is right, they did one Winter tour with DM and Chris - 1997 (or maybe two)?  I saw this lineup with some excitement at Swansea...and remember feeling really relieved at how good it all was.  

With Chris adding some oomph with a red electric guitar and possibly the batocaster as well - certainly he played lead electric on the '97 tour.

DW

Yes I saw that tour too, featuring a blistering version of Spanish Main. The change of direction was obviously a conscious decision after that tour. Presumably Chris felt that this role was not playing to his strengths.

It's the 1980's Radio 2-ness of it all that I don't like.  And yet, peversely, I sort of like Simon's solo albums....maybe because it's all upfront.  It's a strange thing.

Indeed and indeed. Solo albums should be distinct from those of the parent band so Simon's approach on his records seems entirely reasonable but the distinction became blurred, possibly not helped by the band playing his solo material on tour and at Cropredy for a number of years around their release.

[JJ (Joanna)]

One more thing: Summer by the Cherwell.  As somebody who lived on the banks of that lovely river in Oxford for two years (it actually was right outside my front door), I've never really understood why Fairport don't seem to be able to pronounce its name.

ok i'll bite. How's it pronounced?

Char-well.

Off topic but.......Isn't this a bit like 'Shrews bury....-v- Shrowsbury'.... pronounciation?  

As for the cd....I always go to the WinTour but very much doubt I shall buy the cd. The last few albums for me fall in to the category of 'some great songs on there but not enough to want the cd.'

[mickf]

One more thing: Summer by the Cherwell.  As somebody who lived on the banks of that lovely river in Oxford for two years (it actually was right outside my front door), I've never really understood why Fairport don't seem to be able to pronounce its name.

ok i'll bite. How's it pronounced?

Char-well.

Off topic but.......Isn't this a bit like 'Shrews bury....-v- Shrowsbury'.... pronounciation?  

As for the cd....I always go to the WinTour but very much doubt I shall buy the cd. The last few albums for me fall in to the category of 'some great songs on there but not enough to want the cd.'

I lived in Oxfordshire for 10 years and it was pronounced Charwell by some and Cherwell by others, I recall asking a real local how to pronounce it and he told me it was 'Cherwell', so I've always said it that way.

OK, back to the topic!

[Jim]

Right i've listened to the new cd so i can now have an informed view of it.
The live tracks are all pretty superfluous,not adding anything to the
versions already out there. The Plant track is ok but not much more.
     Chris's original songs are, still i think' more suited to his solo work
varying as they do from toe curling (devils work,our bus, summer by the cherwell) to decent (Eleanors dream)
 it smacks of a rush job, they needed a new record out for the wintour so padded a few new songs out with
old material.
  Yes its well played, we are all aware of their musical chops but it just feels empty
sorry that's as positive as i can be about it.
Yet again i feel disappointed by another FC release, i really want them to do a great record again but it just
isn't happening for me anymore.