Fairport Convention Come All Ye – The First 10 Years (1968-78)
UMC – 28th July 2017
Fairport Convention (particularly the first ten years) have been packaged, re-released, repackaged, with multifarious bonus tracks, demos, radio sessions and live recordings unearthed for deluxe editions and box sets. And most of the key players – Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Pegg and Judy Dyble – have each had their own archive material released including Fairport era tracks. So it’s surprising that Andrew Batt, who compiled this release and who has also worked on Sandy Denny re-issues, has managed to dig up 55 more rarities. And something of an unexpected delight for Fairport fans.
However, this release is a little bit confusing as 22 tracks are from their first thirteen albums, yet there’s nothing taken from their penultimate studio release, The Bonny Bunch of Roses (although it is represented in live tracks such as those recorded for the BBC’s A World of Music: Anne Lorne Gillies). There’s also nothing from the last live album before the split, Farewell, Farewell (1979), presumably because it’s outside the 10-year window, but so, technically, is Tippler Tales (1968-1977 is ten years counting fans). A strange choice to make that the cutoff point, rather than a year later when they disbanded (before, as we all know, they reformed permanently in 1985). Maybe they just liked the ‘First Ten Years’ title.
So, let’s take it as it is, a decade-long journey. The inclusion of so many tracks straight from their albums (admittedly sounding pristine) alongside 12 sessions straight from Fairport Convention Live at the BBC Boxset released a decade ago, 30 more from various re-releases and box sets means that a Fairport completist (hello me) will already have most if not all of these.
So it is neither an exhaustive ‘best of the first ten years’, nor is it a collection of rarities, rather it falls somewhere between the two. If you want the former, it will be a strange beast with such variable quality in both audio and the material. For me, no ‘best of’ from this era would be complete without Now Be Thankful or Hanging Song for example. Their omission is particularly strange when you consider there are three versions of Down in the Flood included – all essentially from the same Fairport lineup, and two each of the relatively obscure Cell Song and That’ll Be The Day.
So I’ll follow the form of the release and take you through chronologically. Disk one is early west-coast covers-based semi-psychedelic Fairport morphing into singer-songwriters with an ear for British folk. The self-titled debut through to Unhalfbricking. There are four ‘new’ tracks here and, while it’s great to hear alternate takes of Autopsy and particularly Who Knows Where the Time Goes?, the other two appear to be original tracks with bits mixed out. No one can fault Sandy’s singing on Eastern Rain but I miss Iain Matthew’s accompaniment – the only singer apart from Linda Thompson to compliment her vocals so completely. And it’s a bit of a slight on Matthews to include that and the previously-released Sandy-only Mr Lacey when their intertwined vocals are one of the joys of this era Fairport (and were sadly short-lived). Vindication comes with the vocal-only mix of Nottamun Town, where Matthews shines alongside Denny, and the removal of the instruments highlights an early outstanding vocal from Richard Thompson. The standout track here is the BBC radio session take of Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne, a track well known to Fairporters but still gorgeous after all these years. If only Thompson’s guitar solo coda went on for another five minutes instead of fading after a few seconds…
CD 2 charts Fairport making their mark in history by inventing British Folk Rock, launching countless bands and performers, and still inspiring people to this day, and doubtless many more to come. But before that, there’s a clutch of Dylan covers to uncover their roots. Surprisingly the Liege and Lief material kicks off with an out-take of The Deserter, rather than the calling on song Come All Yea (where this collection gets its name). The Deserter appears to be the only brand spanking original here, so not much in the way of mouth-watering obscurities but these are such towering seminal songs it’s hard to make a complaint. Still, it’s strange to end the disc with an 11-minute Bonny Bunch of Roses (not one of their best tracks, if you ask me, particularly as it’s a readily available version), and because it features the Full House lineup…
Speaking of which CD three bursts open with that meaty all-male and much-loved Fairport incarnation. The approach is heavier, the jigs and reels set at an alarming pace. You can smell the fags perched on Pegg and Swarbrick’s lips as they blast through Fairport staples such as Walk Awhile, Dirty Linen and Sir B.McKenzie. The first seven tracks are all newly unearthed live outings and, while the Full House band are well documented in concert, I frankly can’t get enough. It would have been nice if there were some more obscure song selections, but I’m happy to hear this band of virtuosos once again on a 12-minute Sloth (unlike Bonny Bunch, time doesn’t drag here). The first five are ‘Live in Concert on Pop’ and, while the sound quality is variable, it’s great to hear Thompson’s edgy guitar on Journeyman’s Grace, as he didn’t stick around to commit it to vinyl on Fairport’s next release, Angel Delight. The final two rare live cuts are listed as just ‘Live in 1970’, and there’s an audible improvement in sound quality.
From the aforementioned Angel Delight is an alternative paired down Bonnie Black Hare, with Swarb’s vocals to the fore. After a couple of tracks from that album, it’s straight into an extended Babbacombe Lee interlude. I once got into an argument with a mate when I said it was possibly my favourite Fairport album, when he pitched for the earlier classics, I replied, ‘I didn’t say it was their best album, I said it was my favourite.’ And it still has enormous charm.
The album version of Breakfast in Mayfair is followed by six live versions taken from the 1975 BBC TV documentary The Man They Could Not Hang. Apart from the previously released Farewell to a Poor Man’s Son (which seems to be from a better recording source), these are all officially available for the first time since the TV broadcast. It’s an unusual Fairport lineup as Simon Nicol had left by ‘75, but he’s back as a ‘guest’ here alongside Trevor Lucas (I believe, although I can’t hear his vocals) and Jerry Donahue, who adds a bit of American country twang to this Devonshire tale. It’s another odd choice not to finish with Hanging Song because, as a folk rock opera, even cut down it’s easy to follow the story. So concluding with Time Is Near (Lee in his cell waiting for the executioner) and then Farewell to a Poor Man’s Son makes it seem like they executed him after all. The Man They Could hang doesn’t make quite as good a story…
read on…