Fairport Convention
Liege & Lief
Originally released December 1969
Reissued 2002, Island Records
Fairport Convention is one of my favorite bands, and this is by most accounts their [i]magnum opus[/i]. All of their albums up through the mid-70's are worth having, but this one stands out as a milestone for a variety of reasons. There is an interesting and tragic background story to the making of this album: after a horrible auto accident with the touring van robbed the band of their original drummer (and Richard Thompson's girlfriend) the band contemplated throwing in the towel. Instead, they retreated to the English countryside to revaluate their lives and revamp their sound... emerging with this phenomenal album at the end of it all. While the first three Fairport albums found them indulging their flirtations with West Coast folk-rock and featuring heavy doses of Bob Dylan covers, this album comes forth as distinctly, undeniably [i]English[/i] in its choice of material and it's approach. Sandy Denny, who would sadly leave the band after this album (along with founding member Ashley Hutchings), puts in some of the most affecting vocal performances of her career on this album -- and the band plays with a ferocity and conviction that was only hinted at in earlier efforts. This is record is truly a singular phenomenon, not only in the Fairport catalog but in the history of popular music. With all the great music that came out of the English folk-rock movement of the mid-60's, this album occupies a space all of its own -- and that is saying quite a bit.
01 - Come All Ye
02 - Reynardine
03 - Matty Groves
04 - Farewell, Farewell
05 - The Deserter
06 - Medley- The Lark in the Morning,Rakish Paddy,Foxhunters' Jig,Toss the Feathers.
07 - Tam Lin
08 - Crazy Man Michael
---non-album Bonus Tracks
09 - Sir Patrick Spens
10 - Quiet Joys of Brotherhood
Review by Bruce Eder & Richie Unterberger
For their fourth album, Fairport Convention released what is regarded by many as not only the best record in their history but also one of the seminal English folk-rock albums of all time. This was also the album that marked the transformation of the group from, essentially, a rock band that utilized folk music (in tandem with modern singer/songwriter material) as a source for part of their sound, and an inspiration for their own songwriting, into a group specializing in reinterpreting traditional English songs. There's only one original number here, the soaring "Come All Ye," the rest being adaptations of old English folk songs; at the time, however, very few groups were doing this with any success, or mixing acoustic and electric sounds quite as adeptly, with the result that Liege and Lief was practically a consciousness-raising album for a lot of listeners. "Farewell Farewell," "Matty Groves," "Reynardine," and "Tam-Lin" were highlights of an LP filled with gems in this style, ornamented with gorgeous harmonies and striking instrumental virtuosity. Sadly, this lineup was in the process of splitting up virtually as the record was being made -- after Sandy Denny's and Ashley Hutchings' exits, it would be remembered with a tone of nostalgia that was somewhat unfair to the equally impressive lineup that followed.
The 2002 CD reissue adds a previously unreleased version of "Sir Patrick Spens" with Sandy Denny on lead vocals (she was out of the band when the version that appears on Full House was recorded) and a previously unreleased cover of Richard Fariņa's "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood." (Although take 4 of "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" was released on the Sandy Denny box Who Knows Where the Time Goes, this version is the previously unavailable take 1.) It also has new liner notes by both Ashley Hutchings and producer Joe Boyd.
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