#Fairport Convention

[britrockaholic2]

Judy Dyble - See Emily Play (Unreleased Demo 1982)

Judith Aileen Dyble (13 February 1949 – 12 July 2020)

[thefugitivesaint]

Jill Karla Schwarz, 'Tam Lin', ''Fairies and Elves'', 1984 Source I'm going to use this post as the perfect opportunity to direct you to my favorite song from the folk band Fairport Convention from their 1969 album 'Liege & Lief', Tam Lin (which, I'm sure, I've posted about at some point)

[woodencup]

Sounds From The Undergrowth

[British Folk from the late sixties & early seventies]

Bridget St John - Hello Again (Of Course) Small Faces - The Autumn Stone (Acoustic) Marian Segal - GOLD DUST AND DIRT (SONG FOR LEONARD COHEN) (DEMO) Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Pentangle - John Renbourn Vashti Bunyan - Diamond Day Nick Drake - River Man [Cambridge Version] John Martyn - Go Easy (take 3) Bert Jansch - The Time Has Come Anne Briggs - Blackwater Side Donovan - The Song of Wandering Aengus Beverley Martyn - Tomorrow Time Bridget St John – Ask Me No Questions

[kingeyesore]

Sandy Denny and Robert Plant at the Melody Maker Poll Awards, Savoy Hotel in London, 1970

[dollarbin]

Sandy Saturdays #28:

Fairport Convention's The Plainsman

Sometimes I think I'm too hard on Trevor Lucas.

Being married to Sandy Denny can't have been easy, I remind myself. She had her struggles.

But then I sit down to listen to the never-let-your-husband-be-your-producer train wreck that is Rendezvous, and I start to seethe. Who, on God's green earth, thinks they know better than Sandy Denny what belongs on one of her records?

And then, when I remember that Lucas literally abandoned a postpartum depression saddled and deeply concussed Denny, kidnapping their child in the process, and left her to die alone, my seething turns to rage.

Trevor Lucas, I then declare, you deserve a fate worse than Stephen Stills! You deserve to be banned from the Dollar Bin.

But then I catch myself and reconsider. I remember The Plainsman.

It doesn't take a Sandy Denny ace to understand why Swarbrick and Co invited Lucas and the six guitar chords he was capable of into Fairport's 278th iteration in 1973: they wanted Sandy Denny back in the band and putting up with her towering numskull of a husband was their best bet.

But Lucas forever justified his inclusion right off the bat by gifting Fairport this remarkable song. Not only does Trevor bring a warm and sensitive baritone to the simple but magestic piece, he also wrote it.

So maybe I am too tough on him…

Then again, Lucas never demonstrated a songwriting capacity anywhere else in his career. His songs on Fotheringay, which Joe Boyd immediately acknowledged as filler, are, with one exception, covers or are cowritten with Denny. And I suspect that she was a generous bestower of credit.

And Lucas's only other Fairport songs include one about being a British truck driver and another that quickly evolves into a Swarbrick instrumental which Lucas could have played no conceivable role with.

But it only takes one great song to be considered a worthwhile musician. Just ask Eric Clapton. And so I've always felt like I needed to give Lucas a tiny touch of credit.

Until now!

Okay, here's the deal: The Plainsman has a co-writer. The internet can't really make up its mind about the guy, Pete Roche. His name is inconsistently spelled and you can find nerd club level discussions in long ago chatrooms which argue that Pete Roche is simply a nom de guerre for Sandy Denny.

The odds seem good, however, that Roche was a real dude, a minor poet around London at the time. So, even if he isn't solely responsible for The Plainsman, we can't, yet, take back all of the credit we've come to bestow on Trevor when it comes to the song. He may not have written the lyrics but he came up with the tune. Right?

Wrong. Listen to what I just found from 1964:

That's right, kids: Lucas stole a song from The Dubliners (who, in turn, surely stole it from someone else who surely stole it from the Middle Ages), found a poet to write him new lyrics, then showed up at his first Fairport gig and said, "look, mateys, what I done gone and wrote all by meself without any help from the Mrs!”

Lucas's crime here is akin to me reading my famous brother's musical musings for 20+ years on the internet and then showing up on the internet myself one day to do essentially the same thing and act like it was all my brilliant idea.

Um, Uh-oh!

Nevertheless, let's make the expulsion official: Trevor Lucas, I hereby ban thee from the Bin for crimes against Sandy, The Dubliners and me.

Be Gone!

[jt1674]

[wouldyourecognizethisperson-poll]

[thetimestheyarea-changin]

Sandy Denny

[oldmanpeace]

Fairport Convention in 1969.

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Unearthed, Vol. 19 :: Valentine's Day

It's been awhile, but I've re-booted my bootleg mix series — UNEARTHED — over on Aquarium Drunkard. As the title subtly suggests, this new one is made up entirely of live recordings from various Valentines Days from over the decades. A lotta the usual suspects: The Feelies, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, etc. There are a few love songs, yeah, but I'm not sure if it's something you're going to want to have soundtrack your romantic date night this Friday. But then again, maybe you and your paramour think a hazy audience tape of Fairport Convention playing "Flowers of the Forest" is the ultimate slo-jam ... I'm not going to kink-shame here!

Leonard Cohen, “God Is Alive, Magic Is A Foot” (2/14/66) ++ Fairport Convention, “Flowers Of The Forest” (2/14/70) ++ The Feelies, “Loveless Love” (2/14/80) ++ Mission of Burma, “Einstein Day” (2/14/82) ++ Elvis Costello & The Attractions, “Watching The Detectives” (2/14/79) ++ Neil Young, “Train of Love” (2/14/92) ++ Bob Dylan, “Simple Twist of Fate” (2/14/98) ++ Jerry Garcia Band, “Moonlight Mile” (2/14/76)

[victusinveritas]

Robert Plant and Sandy Denny

[vonfleissig]

The History Of Rock 1969 Fairport Convention, page 52-53.

[swallow-wind]

[musickickztoo]

Richard Thompson  *April 3, 1949

[dollarbin]

Sandy Saturdays #29:

Sandy’s Song

My daughter is getting married today. There are no metaphors or words to describe the wonderful enormity of such an event.

I don’t know what music she and her fantastic partner have in mind for the day, but I suspect Adrianne Lenker, or maybe Simon & Garfunkel or Joni Mitchell are involved. They have good taste.

But here's what I've been humming all day.

Sandy Song exists only as a demo. Sure, Dave Swarbrick issued a deeply regrettable version on his late 70s solo record which had the Fairport label slapped on it at the last moment.

But Sandy’s Song is only worth experiencing by Sandy herself, alone at the piano. Listen as she pleads with, and devotes herself to, us, herself, and the spiritual and natural worlds we live in.

My daughter grew up with this song. I’d sing it as I walked her to sleep in my arms. 23 years later, I recognize that, even then, she was busy caring for me as much as the other way around.

So, here's to my daughter. And here’s to her marriage. I’m forever grateful she chose me as her dad.