Clinton Heylin Fairport Biography

[davidmjs]

Incidentally, re: the freebie advertised above.  There has been healthy interest both from Talkawhilers and from Fairporters so i'll be closing the books at Midnight tonight - and will try and find a random number way of selecting the lucky recipient sometime tomorrow....  

[David W]

... the band are effectively barred from touring America ...

Really? By whom and why, not something I was ever aware of.

DW

[blagden]

Incidentally, re: the freebie advertised above.  There has been healthy interest both from Talkawhilers and from Fairporters so i'll be closing the books at Midnight tonight - and will try and find a random number way of selecting the lucky recipient sometime tomorrow....  

"Last call for anyone that wants the tickets to the HRH Prog Festival that I've won.  Looks like I'm getting back to them with a "thanks, but no thanks" which is a pity with £600's worth of tickets...."

... been here before and for whatever reason nobody finished up with anything?  

[Shane (Skirky)]

... the band are effectively barred from touring America ...

Really? By whom and why, not something I was ever aware of.

DW

https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/pegg-rests-in-the-usa-after-bust-up-1-587305

As I recall, they weren’t invited back. However, I suspect that nobody really wants to revisit all that malarkey while they’re still sharing a van. And, to be fair, even the official blurb reads: So, fifty years on, now seems like the right time to tell the full story: to collect all the family lore that surrounds Fairport and its surrogates, and to disentangle the many highs and lows from those first fifteen years of Fotheringport Confusion.

My emphasis on the bold.

[Shane (Skirky)]

It’s an inconsequential aside on a forgotten sleevenote, but I’d really like to hear more about Simon Nicol telling Martin Carthy to “Do it again”, or about the Three Desperate Mortgages. ‘The Pebble Mill Years’,  I like to call them.  

[Bob Barrows]

... the band are effectively barred from touring America ...

Really? By whom and why, not something I was ever aware of.

DW

https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/pegg-rests-in-the-usa-after-bust-up-1-587305

As I recall, they weren’t invited back. However, I suspect that nobody really wants to revisit all that malarkey while they’re still sharing a van. And, to be fair, even the official blurb reads: So, fifty years on, now seems like the right time to tell the full story: to collect all the family lore that surrounds Fairport and its surrogates, and to disentangle the many highs and lows from those first fifteen years of Fotheringport Confusion.

My emphasis on the bold.

Two years after that, this happened. I'm not sure Simon and Chris have been back but Peggy and PJ played the New Bedfor Summerfest the following year.

[Jim]

I agree with many of the points raised by m’learned friends, however I would very much be interested in the era when a presumed mainstay of the band leaves in a huff, the band are effectively barred from touring America, the principal festival backer sells up and moves to France, the drummer swears he’ll never set foot on the Cropredy stage again, and the replacement fiddle player puts his hand through a plate glass window leading to his temporary replacement with a potential replacement. And that’s without the labyrinthine series of record deals involved.

Lol.  The Woodworm Years really is rubbish, isn't it?  

On so many levels

[davidmjs]

Ok, so 19 people (on TAW and Fairporters on FB) wanted the book.  I gave everyone a number roughly based on when they got in touch.  I then asked the landlady (with no explanation of why) to pick a number between 1 and 19.  No.12 was chosen.  Yvonne Bennett (of Fairporters) was the winner.  Thanks for playing everyone...sorry to the rest of you.

[Jules Gray]

 

Jules

[Hans Valk]

The dust has settled on this topic for some time, but here I am with my review on the book.

I think Heylin has produced quite a tour-de-force.
The book not only tells the story of Fairport, but also what members who left the band did afterwards.
I have never read the RT- biography by Patrick Humphries, but Heylin covers his pre-1982 history in good detail. Same for Ashley Hutchings (I did read the book about him by Brian Hinton, but found it unreadable) and Iain Matthews.
The writing stye is a little to jolly at times, but as someone mentioned earlier: Heylin's research is second to none and he tells the full story, including the nitty gritty. All sorts of interesting and funny details are included, such as James Burton (Elvis' guitarist) hearing RT doing 'The angels took my racehorse away' and asking Linda Thompson: "what is that language?"
 
The book ends at the right moment. What Fairport did after 1982 may be very enjoyable, but the times that made FC a beacon in British music were past then.

I know some of you have quite strong and negative opinions on Heylin, but evidently we still need someone like him to produce a history of FC that could be the definitive story on the band. I enjoyed it a lot more than 'Fairport on Fairport' to be honest.
And, perhaps to add insult to injury: I think his biography of Sandy Denny is better than the one Mick Houghton produced a few years ago.

--
Hans Valk

[Jules Gray]

Same for Ashley Hutchings (I did read the book about him by Brian Hinton, but found it unreadable)

To dream
The impossible dream
To read
The unreadable book

Jules

[Hans Valk]

Same for Ashley Hutchings (I did read the book about him by Brian Hinton, but found it unreadable)

To dream
The impossible dream
To read
The unreadable book

Jules

Yes, never shy of a contradictio in terminus.

[davidmjs]

The dust has settled on this topic for some time, but here I am with my review on the book.

I think Heylin has produced quite a tour-de-force.
The book not only tells the story of Fairport, but also what members who left the band did afterwards.
I have never read the RT- biography by Patrick Humphries, but Heylin covers his pre-1982 history in good detail. Same for Ashley Hutchings (I did read the book about him by Brian Hinton, but found it unreadable) and Iain Matthews.
The writing stye is a little to jolly at times, but as someone mentioned earlier: Heylin's research is second to none and he tells the full story, including the nitty gritty. All sorts of interesting and funny details are included, such as James Burton (Elvis' guitarist) hearing RT doing 'The angels took my racehorse away' and asking Linda Thompson: "what is that language?"
 
The book ends at the right moment. What Fairport did after 1982 may be very enjoyable, but the times that made FC a beacon in British music were past then.

I know some of you have quite strong and negative opinions on Heylin, but evidently we still need someone like him to produce a history of FC that could be the definitive story on the band. I enjoyed it a lot more than 'Fairport on Fairport' to be honest.
And, perhaps to add insult to injury: I think his biography of Sandy Denny is better than the one Mick Houghton produced a few years ago.

--
Hans Valk

For all its failings - and there are many - it's by far the best book about Fairport around.  Never has such a major band had such awful literature produced about it....(The Humphries book is not bad, but most of the rest...)

[Hans Valk]

Never has such a major band had such awful literature produced about it....(The Humphries book is not bad, but most of the rest...)

As far as quality is concerned; what can you expect?
The averidge quality of rock and pop literature is not very high, in my opinion. I have read lots of the stuff, and although I found all sorts of interesting facts, the literary quality (structure, style etc.) is often quite mediocre. Not to speak of books of which the author regards his subject in blind adoration. But as long as the general tone is passable and the research is good, it will have to do. I does not get any better than that, in many cases.

I have read the Humphries book on FC long ago, but in comparison with Heylin's book, I think it only skims the surface.

--
Hans Valk

[fstix (Michael)]

I got the Kindle version of the book just a couple of days ago.  I have some concerns when the very first sentence of the intro is palpable bovine excrement - saying "... every Fairport Convention incarnation has burned bright but ne'er long."  Every?  The current line-up has lasted over 20 years!  I know the book covers a limited timespan but I think it's an early indication of hyperbole and dismissal of reality that doesn't suit the author's narrative.

Likewise the previously noted "opinions stated as facts" eg dismissal of Sgt Pepper.

But going by other reviews here, I shall persevere and try to ignore the arrogance while I get to the worthy parts of the book, that are obviously there.

[Krinoid]

I agree with many of the points raised by m’learned friends, however I would very much be interested in the era when a presumed mainstay of the band leaves in a huff, the band are effectively barred from touring America, the principal festival backer sells up and moves to France, the drummer swears he’ll never set foot on the Cropredy stage again, and the replacement fiddle player puts his hand through a plate glass window leading to his temporary replacement with a potential replacement. And that’s without the labyrinthine series of record deals involved.

They were looking to tour the states in 2009.

[arie]

"... every Fairport Convention incarnation has burned bright but ne'er long."  Every?  The current line-up has lasted over 20 years!

And some will say that it didn't burn bright either.....

[Phil Perry]

Well, nearly finished at last!  I'd say it's well worth reading for its insight into the relationship between FC and its spin-offs and the contrasting lifestyles of Sandy and the Thompsons in the mid-70's. Two major complaints, however :
- He doesn't even mention the Pegg / Swarbrick / Ar Bras / Burridge etc line-up!
- I don't know why he seems to have it in for poor Jerry Donahue as regards the more recent Fotheringay "product" - I have the "Nothing More" box and it seems to be very professionally done.

[GubGub (Al)]

I had actually entirely forgotten about this. I bought a copy for someone as a birthday present when it wads first published but have never got around to picking one up for myself. I must rectify that.