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Fairport Convention — 50:50@50

Fairport Convention — 50:50@50UK flag             Fairport Convention — 50:50@50 (June 9, 2017) 
Fairport Convention — 50:50@50 (June 9, 2017)
•★•   Fairport Convention, nejvlivnější folk~rocková skupina všech dob, oslavuje 50. výročí svého založení v roce 2017 albem 50:50 @ 50.  Debutové album Fairport Convention je nyní velmi ceněno.
•★•   Kombinací nového materiálu se sedmi starými klasikami z deseti skladeb na tomto vinylovém vydání bylo nahráno ve studiu a tři živě.
•★•   Robert Plant a Jacqui McShee z Pentangle přispívají sólovými vokály ke dvěma písním alba, Plant v přidělené písni Jesus On The Mainline také harmonikou.
•★•   Když Fairport Convention začali s tímto albem, byli považováni za jakýsi britský Jefferson Airplane. Vokalistkou byla Judy Dyble, ne Sandy Denny.
•★•   Moje kopie debutu Fairport Convention je v nádherném, vynikajícím stavu. Je to vzácnější mono verze a jako taková je v současné době oceňována na ohromujících £350 (liber) anebo €208.40 (euro). Potřebujete sleeve, který má být laminován — to je znamení, že je to původní kopie.
•★•   Fairport Convention, the most influential Folk Rock band of all time, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017 with 50:50@50.
•★•   Combining new material with old classics, seven of the ten tracks on this vinyl edition were recorded in the studio and three live.
•★•   Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Pentangle’s Jacqui McShee contribute lead vocals to two of the album’s tracks.
•★•   LP edition in gatefold cover. This 10 track LP comes in top quality 180g heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve. Sumptuous Gold on Black printing!
•★•   Fairport Convention's debut album is now valued very highly.
•★•   When Fairport started out with this album, they were seen as a kind of British Jefferson Airplane. Judy Dyble was on vocals, not Sandy Denny.
•★•   My copy of Fairport’s debut record is in superb condition. It’s the more rare mono version and as such is currently valued at a staggering £350 (or €208.40). You need the sleeve to be laminated — that’s the sign it’s an early copy.
Location: London, UK
Origin released: June 1968; 1970 in the US
Recorded: November 1967
Studio: Sound Techniques, London
Genre: Folk rock
Length: 37:46 (original release) / 57:51 (2003 reissue)
Label: UK: Polydor 582035 (mono), 583035 (stereo); US: Cotillion SD 9024
Producer: Joe Boyd, Tod Lloyd for Witchseason Productions
New album release: June 9, 2017
Record Label: Matty Grooves Records
Duration:
Tracks:
Side 1:
1) Eleanor’s Dream
2) Mercy Bay (Live)
3) Our Bus Rolls On
4) Jesus On The Mainline (Live) (featuring Robert Plant)
5) Step By Step
 Side 2:
1) Danny Jack’s Reward (Expensive Version)
2) Devil’s Work
3) The Lady Of Carlisle (featuring Jacqui McShee)
4) Summer By The Cherwel
5) John Condon (Live)
••   Simon John Breckenridge Nicol notable instruments: Santa Cruz Tony Rice Dreadnought, 1962 Fender Stratocaster, Rickenbacker Capri
CD
Editorial Reviews
••   Fairport Convention, the UK’s most influential folk~rock band, celebrates its 50th anniversary with 50:50@50. Half the fourteen tracks were recorded at recent concerts and half in the studio. With nine compositions by members of Fairport, the album presents a mix of brand new songs and favourites from Fairport’s repertoire. Two tracks feature guest lead vocals: one from Robert Plant and one from Pentangle’s Jacqui McShee. The band was formed by Ashley Hutchings in 1967’s ‘summer of love’ and became one of the most influential UK bands in popular music nurturing the careers of, among others, Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny and Dave Swarbrick. Fairport Convention has attracted critical acclaim throughout its 50~year career and its influence has touched artists as diverse as Led Zeppelin and Seth Lakeman. The band’s seminal albums Unhalfbricking and Liege & Lief (both released in 1969) originated the British folk~rock genre and Liege & Lief was later awarded a Gold Disc. The band has won a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award and Radio 2 listeners voted Liege & Lief ‘The Most Influential Folk Album of All Time’. In the words of bassist Dave Pegg: This album shows Fairport is nothing if not versatile. The tracks range from new folk~rock (Eleanor’s Dream for instance) to lively instrumentals (as in Danny Jack's Reward, a Ric Sanders tune augmented in this recording by Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Ensemble) to Chris Leslie’s lovely lyrical songs (such as Our Bus Rolls On).The album also demonstrates Fairport’s chameleon~like aptitude for collaboration. We become Robert Plant’s backing band for Jesus On The Mainline (recorded live after a single run~through at The Mill theatre in Banbury) and we are joined by Pentangle vocalist Jacqui McShee on Lady of Carlisle.       01 Eleanor’s Dream     3:12
02 Ye Mariners All (Live)     4:37
03 Step By Step     4:36
04 The Naked Highwayman (Live)     4:46
05 Danny Jack’s Reward (Expensive Version!)     4:36
06 Jesus On The Mainline (Live, Lead Vocals, Harmonica — Robert Plant)     3:43
07 Devil’s Work     3:33
08 Mercy Bay (Live)     7:02
09 Our Bus Rolls On     4:53
10 Portmeirion (Live)     5:38
11 The Lady Of Carlisle (Lead Vocals — Jacqui McShee)     4:55
12 Lord Marlborough (Live)     3:25
13 Summer By The Cherwell     3:10
14 John Condon (Live)     6:05
Credits:
••   Dave Pegg: Bass [5 String Bass], Mandolin, Double Bass
••   Gerry Conway: Drums, Percussion
••   Nick Watson: Mastered
••   Fairport Convention: Producer
••   John Gale: Producer, Edited, Mixed
••   Ric Sanders: Violin [Electric Violin], Keyboards [on track 5]
••   Simon Nicol: Vocals, Guitar
••   Chris Leslie: Vocals, Mandolin, Bouzouki, Banjo, Ukulele, Whistle [D Whistle], Harmonica
Notes:
••   Packaged in a card sleeve with a sixteen~page booklet.
••   Studio tracks 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13 recorded by John Gale in Woodworm Studios, Barford St Michael, Oxon
••   Studio track 5 recorded at The Bowman’s Retrat and Delta Studios
••   Live tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 recorded by John Gale at the Cropredy Warm~ups at The Mill, Banbury
••   Live tracks 10, 14 recorded on tour by Simon Yorath in Drachten, Holand and Heusden~Zolder, Belgium
ORIGINAL PERSONNEL:
Fairport Convention:
••   Judy Dyble — lead vocals, electric and acoustic autoharps, recorder, piano
••   Ian MacDonald (Iain Matthews) — lead vocals, Jew’s harp
••   Richard Thompson — vocals, lead electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin
••   Simon Nicol — vocals, electric 12 and 6 string and acoustic guitars
••   Ashley Hutchings — bass guitar, jug, double bass
••   Martin Lamble — percussion, violin
Additional personnel:
••   Claire Lowther — cello
MARTIN LAMBLE
••   Martin Francis Lamble (28 August 1949 ~ 12 May 1969) was the drummer for British electric folk band, Fairport Convention, from just after their formation in 1967, until his death in the band’s van crash in 1969. He joined the band after attending their first gig and convincing them that he could do a better job than their current drummer, Shaun Frater.
Review
By Lee Zimmerman  |  March 6, 2017  |  11:34am  |  Score: 8.0
•★•   While most people hardly noticed, Fairport Convention, the musical institution that adapted traditional British folk to the electric pulse of rock ‘n’ roll, has reached the half century mark. The obviously titled 50:50@50 marks a celebration of sorts, one that attempts to tie together the various strands of their earlier endeavors and reboot them for the future.
•★•   That’s accomplished in ways both apparent and self~congratulatory, as manifest in the live remakes of standards from the Fairport catalog and the shout out to themselves that reaches its crux on “Our Bus Rolls On” (“The time it goes/And comes around/50 years and counting/Here’s to the Fairport family…”). Then again, Fairport has always acknowledged their ardent fans and the band’s own populist edicts, making this particular song their own version of the Dead’s self narrative “Truckin’” — sans the drug busts and accompanying chaos.
•★•   If their self~referential ballyhoo seems over the top, it’s also well~deserved. Five decades is a mighty impressive accomplishment for any band, and while numerous members have come and gone over the years, they’ve retained one founder in singer/guitarist Simon Nicol and another player who’s been there nearly since the beginning in bassist Dave Pegg. Fiddler Ric Sanders can claim a 30~year tenure while even the “new” guys — singer/multi~instrumentalist Chris Leslie and veteran drummer Gerry Conway are pushing 20 years at this point. Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny may have had more formidable stints, but their time in the fold pales by comparison.
•★•   As far the songs themselves, all of it suits the Fairport formula: mostly giddy fiddle tunes with their usual wry humor (“Eleanor’s Dream,” “The Naked Highwayman”), an occasional tender respite (“Portmeirion,” “John Condon”) and the sturdy folk finesse that is, after all, the band’s signature (“Lord Marlborough,” “Summer by the Cherwell,” “Ye Mariners All”). And while it may have been tempting to revisit some of their better known standards like “Walk Awhile” or “Meet on the Ledge,” it’s to their credit they don’t necessarily depend on past glories.
•★•   There’s been plenty of that anyway, thanks to the steady onslaught of reissues and live recordings that have dwarfed the number of new studio albums in recent years. So too, with Chris Leslie taking over the bulk of the singing and songwriting duties, the Fairport sound has managed to find a hint of variety within their core sound. Still, the biggest surprise here is a take on the old gospel standard “Jesus on the Mainline,” featuring a lead vocal by their old Brummie buddy Robert Plant. Sung with the Americana form he adopted for his bluegrass foray with Alison Krauss, both singer and song defy the norm.
•★•   Ultimately, while some might complain about the lack of original material offered in deference to so many concert inclusions, Fairport fans can cheer the fact that 50:50@50 is the band’s best effort in at least two decades. Hopefully the next 50 will build from here. •★•   https://www.pastemagazine.com/
Folk pioneers celebrate time together.
Robin Denselow  |  Thursday 9 March 2017 18.15 GMT  |  Score: ★★★★
★•★   Happy birthday (almost) to folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention, who on 27 May will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first public performance. But before that comes a new album, which is split equally between alternate studio and live recordings, and proves that the current lineup are great musicians with an impressively varied repertoire.
★•★   The best tracks here are live, and include Steve Tilston’s witty story of The Naked Highwayman, an exquisite first world war lament, John Condon, and a rousing reworking of the gospel song Jesus on the Mainline, with Robert Plant providing vocals and harmonica.
★•★   The studio tracks include a banjo~backed treatment of the traditional Lady of Carlisle with vocals from Jacqui McShee of Pentangle fame, and a thoughtful reference to Meet on the Ledge in Chris Leslie’s tribute to the band, Our Bus Rolls On: “Here’s to the Fairport family and those blown off that mountain.” Indeed.
★•★   https://www.theguardian.com/
Website: http://www.fairportconvention.com/
Website: http://www.richardthompson-music.com/
Website: http://www.judydyble.com/

ALBUM COVERS XI.