Leige and Lief

Fairport Convention

album cover

The Reimagining of British Folk

To appreciate how far Fairport Convention took British folk, cue up its version of the traditional murder ballad "Matty Groves," one of several groundbreaking reworkings of old tunes on the band's exquisite Liege and Lief. It starts as a relatively conventional yarn, with vocalist Sandy Denny retelling how a cheating wife met a violent end. As the tale winds down, guitarist Richard Thompson steps out of the shadows. He doesn't immediately assert himself; instead, he picks up Denny's sense of tragedy and incorporates it into what becomes a guitar epic. What follows, over the next four minutes, is not folk and not rock; it's more like an instrumental treatise on honor and betrayal offered by a shrewd student of human nature.

Liege and Lief, the group's fourth album, was substantially different from its earlier folk-rock efforts; the band started out emulating American folk-pop combos such as the Mamas and the Papas, and its previous album, Unhalfbricking, contains spirited Dylan covers. Here, the band seems fully engaged in all that 1969 had to offer, from prog-rock to Celtic jousting to those substantially reimagined murder ballads. Historical accounts of Fairport suggest that the band was imploding during these sessions—Denny and bassist Ashley Hutchings would depart immediately after its completion. But it's impossible to tell that from the music, which exhibits an almost telepathic group cohesion.

Genre: Folk
Released: 1969, A&M
Key Tracks: "Matty Groves," "Tam-Lin," "Come All Ye"
Catalog Choice: Unhalfbricking
Next Stop: Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick: Byker Hill
After That: Richard and Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights
Book Pages: 268–269

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#1 from Bill Whitaker - 11/16/2008 9:20

I’ve listened to this album with pleasure for almost 40 years. It’s truly extraordinary--a revelation. I exclaimed to my wife as we were listening to it (again) recently, “They were so TIGHT!”

Personally, I think it’s worth mentioning that the continuing underground success of this one album and its inclusion on so many “best” lists lead directly to their reunion in 1974, which produced both the excellent “Rising of the Moon” and “Live” albums.

The other place I part company with you is in your description of their career before this album. “How We Spent Our Holidays” is, while a great album, admittedly all over the place. “Unhalfbricking,” however, deserves a mention at least. While it lacks the “Childe-Ballads-for-the-20th-Century” cohesion of “Liege and Lief,” every track--with the possible exception of “Percy’s Song,” but how could you fault them for not excluding an unreleased Dylan composition?--is an amazing expression of an incredible virtuoso ensemble.

The other thing you failed to mention was the influence Jefferson Airplane had on them, but that’s a minor exclusion.

The true miracle is that all of these incredible musicians came together and, imploding or not, produced this masterpiece.

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About 1,000 Recordings

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