Fairport Convention

[hendo (Dave)]

Interesting thread.
We are back in to the......'
Do audiences go to a fest to hear a band do their 'popular' songs in the way they were done on the album?
I think at Cropredy they do. Not a place for experimentation.

[Bingers (Chris)]

Interesting thread.
We are back in to the......'
Do audiences go to a fest to hear a band do their 'popular' songs in the way they were done on the album?
I think at Cropredy they do. Not a place for experimentation.

I suppose that’s partly the reason why the Levellers have been getting some abuse although the style they adopted for Friday was the style of their last album ‘We the Collective’ so can that be called experimentation?

[GubGub (Al)]

Interesting thread.
We are back in to the......'
Do audiences go to a fest to hear a band do their 'popular' songs in the way they were done on the album?
I think at Cropredy they do. Not a place for experimentation.

I'm not sure that is entirely the case. They just don't want songs maimed and mangled, which is what many people felt Fish did to Solo.

Metal Matty is a good example of a complete reworking of a song which has been embraced by much of the audience so it is not a perfect science.

[John From Austin]

Interesting thread.
We are back in to the......'
Do audiences go to a fest to hear a band do their 'popular' songs in the way they were done on the album?
I think at Cropredy they do. Not a place for experimentation.

...or an Eagles concert.  

[hendo (Dave)]

Interesting thread.
We are back in to the......'
Do audiences go to a fest to hear a band do their 'popular' songs in the way they were done on the album?
I think at Cropredy they do. Not a place for experimentation.

I'm not sure that is entirely the case. They just don't want songs maimed and mangled, which is what many people felt Fish did to Solo.

Metal Matty is a good example of a complete reworking of a song which has been embraced by much of the audience so it is not a perfect science.

Completely take your point Al but Metal Matty has been around for almost 30 years now.......people know Matty gets done differently. I am talking of response to the Levellers set for example, Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.
We could cite Dylan of course...this is Blowing in the wind....but I have changed the words and the tune!7

[Tony Pim]

Interesting thread.
We are back in to the......'
Do audiences go to a fest to hear a band do their 'popular' songs in the way they were done on the album?
I think at Cropredy they do. Not a place for experimentation.

Not just Cropredy - for instance I love James but when I go to see them I know it’s 50/50 that they’ll play sit down and if they do they may tweak it.  They don’t go for the nostalgia fest yet they are being slated for not playing it at a festival last weekend.  

[GubGub (Al)]

Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.

I never quite understood this. If one listens to live recordings, Sandy rarely sang it the same way twice and certainly did not preserve the Fairport arrangement (which was not in any case the original arrangement) in live performance.

I ralose that this is a hypocritical position for me to take as I was one of those who hated what Fish did to Solo.  

[Will S]

Well, I enjoyed most of the set.  Maybe I'm not as picky as some.  The only songs I didn't like were Song for Sandy and Bushes and Briars, which suffered from weak vocals in a way which Fish's Solo didn't.  Maybe he didn't always sing in tune, but he had more feeling than either of the others.*

Maart's part was very moving, as so many have said.


*And for those who complain about that given the line 'I never sing out of tune', just remember the context, which is obviously ironic:
I've always lived in a mansion
On the other side of the moon
I've always kept a unicorn
And I never sing out of tune

[David W]

As a distant listnener via Radio Oxford

Great start with Ye Mariners All,

Then increasingly downhill until Gallivant

With a fabulous final section Spens onwards.

All in all I was glad to hear it but not sure I would have stayed if I was in the field.

DW

[GubGub (Al)]

Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.

I never quite understood this. If one listens to live recordings, Sandy rarely sang it the same way twice and certainly did not preserve the Fairport arrangement (which was not in any case the original arrangement) in live performance.

I ralose that this is a hypocritical position for me to take as I was one of those who hated what Fish did to Solo.  

Or indeed realise. I must learn to proof read before hitting Post.

[Will S]

First videos now posted on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzMcRsGBw4h6wIR8WYLW_g/videos.

Just watched Solo and am happy to say that my initial view was not wrong.  Fish made a good job of it.  No it wasn't Sandy, nor did he sound like her, but it was a perfectly good rendition, and didn't deserve the opprobrium that has been heaped upon it.

Now for Meet on the Ledge - hanky at the ready!

[Amethyst (Jenny)]

So glad to be able to see these... just watched Matty and Meet...

So incredibly special...

[Pugwash]

First videos now posted on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzMcRsGBw4h6wIR8WYLW_g/videos.

Just watched Solo and am happy to say that my initial view was not wrong.  Fish made a good job of it.  No it wasn't Sandy, nor did he sound like her, but it was a perfectly good rendition, and didn't deserve the opprobrium that has been heaped upon it.

Now for Meet on the Ledge - hanky at the ready!

Well said Will. New interpretations keeps music alive, otherwise we might just as well sit in a field listening to a large ghetto blaster.

[hendo (Dave)]

Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.

I never quite understood this. If one listens to live recordings, Sandy rarely sang it the same way twice and certainly did not preserve the Fairport arrangement (which was not in any case the original arrangement) in live performance.

I ralose that this is a hypocritical position for me to take as I was one of those who hated what Fish did to Solo.  

I think that's the point Al. People hear a recording and think that's the definitive version and expect to hear that churned out/ performed at a festival. You and I know Sandy sang it differently, there are other recordings of her singing it differently but the Fairport version n is the one people expect.
It is an obvious truth that people go to fests for many reasons ,people haven't researched the line up before they go.
Perhaps people don't go to many gigs.
So you go and see a band in a field and hey want to hear their hits done as they were 20 years ago.

[Sue & Chris]

Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.

I never quite understood this. If one listens to live recordings, Sandy rarely sang it the same way twice and certainly did not preserve the Fairport arrangement (which was not in any case the original arrangement) in live performance.

I ralose that this is a hypocritical position for me to take as I was one of those who hated what Fish did to Solo.  

I think that's the point Al. People hear a recording and think that's the definitive version and expect to hear that churned out/ performed at a festival. You and I know Sandy sang it differently, there are other recordings of her singing it differently but the Fairport version n is the one people expect.
It is an obvious truth that people go to fests for many reasons ,people haven't researched the line up before they go.
Perhaps people don't go to many gigs.
So you go and see a band in a field and hey want to hear their hits done as they were 20 years ago.

But surely it is permissible to dislike the version being performed? I love to hear different versions of songs during live performance (the various Matty Groves's are are a prime example of this.) My feeling about Sally Barker's version of WKWTTG was not that she shouldn't have done it, but that I didn't think it was very good.

[bassline (Mike)]

Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.

I never quite understood this. If one listens to live recordings, Sandy rarely sang it the same way twice and certainly did not preserve the Fairport arrangement (which was not in any case the original arrangement) in live performance.

I ralose that this is a hypocritical position for me to take as I was one of those who hated what Fish did to Solo.  

I think that's the point Al. People hear a recording and think that's the definitive version and expect to hear that churned out/ performed at a festival. You and I know Sandy sang it differently, there are other recordings of her singing it differently but the Fairport version n is the one people expect.
It is an obvious truth that people go to fests for many reasons ,people haven't researched the line up before they go.
Perhaps people don't go to many gigs.
So you go and see a band in a field and hey want to hear their hits done as they were 20 years ago.

A major part of the problem with that particular performance, was that she invited the audience to sing along, and then sang a different tune to the version everybody knew.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Sally Barker changing the emphasis on Wkkwttg to a considerable negative reaction.

I never quite understood this. If one listens to live recordings, Sandy rarely sang it the same way twice and certainly did not preserve the Fairport arrangement (which was not in any case the original arrangement) in live performance.

I ralose that this is a hypocritical position for me to take as I was one of those who hated what Fish did to Solo.  

I think that's the point Al. People hear a recording and think that's the definitive version and expect to hear that churned out/ performed at a festival. You and I know Sandy sang it differently, there are other recordings of her singing it differently but the Fairport version n is the one people expect.
It is an obvious truth that people go to fests for many reasons ,people haven't researched the line up before they go.
Perhaps people don't go to many gigs.
So you go and see a band in a field and hey want to hear their hits done as they were 20 years ago.

A major part of the problem with that particular performance, was that she invited the audience to sing along, and then sang a different tune to the version everybody knew.

She'd been on Strictly X-factor on The Beach Out of Here or whatever it was called (The Voice) and her vocal style could be politely described as having a modern styling. I like Sally's work but I'm not sure it fitted the bill that night.

[StephenB]

She stormed it with Rising for the Moon last year...

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

She stormed it with Rising for the Moon last year...

I agree. The song completely suits her voice.

[hendo (Dave)]

She stormed it with Rising for the Moon last year...

I agree. The song completely suits her voice.

Slightly off topic but have a listen to Sally singing Pete Morton's song...Another Train.
A song that got me through bad times many, many years ago. Still makes me tear up!

I'm sure I shouldn't do this...but here you go!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uEocCZALGWg