Fairport Convention: Discography 1968 - 1971 + Meet On The Ledge | Urbanaspirines

 Wow this is incredibly flattering name checked an all and Kostas pulls out all the stops here with a profile of Fairport Convention dedicated to yours truly this is indispensable if you don’t have anything or even that much. 

I think I first bought the single Si Tu Dois De Partir by them as a single and we loved it, playing it at house parties and the local youth club until mine wore thin! We scarcely knew it was a Bob Dylan number sold or pushed through Tin Pan Alley of the day. We simply didn’t care (then!) 

I think I followed them avidly ever since and certainly Unhalfbricking and What We did On Our Holidays fell into the vaults collection upon their first release. I caught up with Richard solo work around the time of Across a Crowded Room and Daring Adventures his solo outing thanks to fine artist Graham Dean who sang his praises and I have bought everything ever since. Cropredy is just a few miles away from where I live and we have been across a few times to the little (sic) festival there . . . . . . . Kostas tells us:

Widely accepted as being the first great English electric folk group, Fairport Convention is that and far more. It would be safer to say they are simply one of the greatest English groups of all. They began their career with a repertoire of traditional material, some originals and a veritable jukebox of American new folk, they soon developed their own niche as interpreters of murder ballads, sly tales of yore and deeply thought out, planned and executed concept pieces. . . . . . read on

Seven (count ‘em!) official first albums and the compilation double album Meet On The Ledge!  THE CLASSIC YEARS 1967 - 1975 released in 1999

Superb effort from Kostas here and once again I have no idea how he masters such output so fast and so thoroughly frequently daily! This is most welcome and doubtless sorts my playlist for the next few months!

Here . . . . . .

Urbanaspirines :: JUDY DYBLE (3 Albums)

Trader Horne: Morning Way... Plus 1970 + Judy Dyble: Talking With Strangers 2009 + Anthology Part 1  2015

The earliest of Fairport Convention with Judy and Richard and Ian Matthews (back centre) and Ashley Hutchings before the terrible car crash which killed drummer Martin Lamble (at Richard’s shoulder here) and Richard’s then girlfriend, seamstress stylist and fashionista Jeannie Franklyn

now this is really interesting from Kostas this morning. I knew of Judy Dyble of course but only through her work with Fairport Convention (she was an early vocalist with the band) and of course it takes someone living in Athens to sort out my ignorance! (Kostas is ALWAYS doing this; teaching us about music from all around the globe to be fair but I especially enjoy his works on the British music scene many of which I have said to him I have never heard of!) 😉 So here from her earliest incarnations with fellow folkie Jackie McAuley former keyboard player from Them, here as Trader Horne to her solo effort later on [read what Kostas says about the name Trader Horne and John Peel]

Judy passed away from lung cancer in 2020 aged 71

Fairport Convention Chronicles 1967-69 - Big O

 FAIRPORT CONVENTION

A CHRONICLE of sorts 1967-1969

Well in the weeks we see Richard Thompson release his first volume (sic) of his memoirs, here's an odd one in support of that early period Fairport from Big O no less!

Fairport Convention - Chronicles 1967-69- Big O

Not entirely sure about this although it does contain some gems not least 'Si Tu Dois de Partir' which I bought as a single when it came out and caused a stir amongst my small group of pals back then who couldn't stop listening to it when we realised it was Fairport's version of Bob Dylan's ''If You Gotta Go, Go Now'' . Its version of the later Doors' song 'Light My Fire' written by Robby Kreiger  is a sardonic and seemingly cynical almost naive take, mocking the Doors west coast peon to love and the hippy dream and the lyrics are changed accordingly but the whole collection is more than a curio and whilst Richard is yet to open up his pipes (well mostly!) as lead singer it has Ian Matthews on lead vocals backed by Judy Dyble and then Sandy Denny Denny on tracks 18-20 and ending as it does in '69 still features drummer Martin Lamble as it precedes the dreadful car crash which saw his death along with that of Richard's then girlfriend the previously mentioned Jeannie Franklyn. Being of mixed sources the quality is mixed but generally listenable and is of interest to more than mere Fairport fans maybe. It also ends with a track (23) of Joni Mitchell's Clouds album 'Both Sides Now' which came much later and isn't even listed but hey, its still worth checking