Fairport Convention - ProfilesArchive

About Me

PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL PAGE, RUN BY US TO CELEBRATE THE MUSIC AND MUSICIANS OF FAIRPORT CONVENTION.
So.....here we go!
Has it really been 40 years since Fairport came to us? We mean....where has the time gone? You know what, though? It's been 40 years of incredible music.
As Patrick Humphries, author of 'Meet On The Ledge: Fairport, The Early Years' said, "I'd rather see Fairport on an off night, than most other bands on their best night" or something like that. Personally we'd amend that to seeing *any* band on their best night.
Unashamedly we say, Fairport Convention are our favourite band of all time, and to this end we decided that maybe we should put together a few details about Fairport and the wonderful folk who have been associated with the name.
It is forty years since Fairport Convention played its very first gig. Formed in north London, Fairport Convention's first public performance was at Saint Michael's Church Hall, Golders Green, on 27 May 1967. The original line-up was:
Ashley Hutchings (bass)
Simon Nicol (rhythm guitar)
Richard Thompson (lead guitar)
Shaun Frater (drums)
Simon Nicol is the only member of that original line-up still playing in the band. After that inaugural gig in 1967, Shaun Frater was replaced by Martin Lamble (a member of that first audience) and the line-up was soon augmented with a female vocalist, Judy Dyble.
Fairport Convention became popular during the 'summer of love' and by the end of 1967 had released its first LP. The band was a regular act at London 'underground' clubs such as Middle Earth and UFO.
Producer Joe Boyd who ran UFO got the band its first recording deal. "We went from amateur to professional very quickly," says Simon Nicol. "We started out in May and were in the studio by September."
Ashley Hutchings adds: "We were happy to be making any kind of music. We started out by playing covers of west-coast acts like Jefferson Airplane but soon, against that background of flower power and psychedelic music, we came round to the idea of fusing centuries-old British folk music with rock."
Fairport Convention embraced folk influences enthusiastically. Sandy Denny, a leading light on the London folk scene, replaced Judy Dyble and traditional fiddler, Dave Swarbrick, came into the band's orbit, later joining them full-time.
In 1969, Fairport Convention recorded Liege & Lief, consolidating the band's position as leaders of British folkrock. This seminal album has received a Gold Disc and was recently voted 'Most Influential Folk Album of All Time' by BBC Radio 2 listeners.
THE LIEGE AND LIEF STORY
Forty years on, Fairport Convention continues to tour and record.
Happy anniversary chaps!
And now, we'll leave you to watch some great videos.
'THE FAIRPORT CONVENTION STORY' from BBC 4's 2006 great series:
FOLK BRITANNIA
'NOW BE THANKFUL' (Richard Thompson/Dave Swarbrick ) Full House [CD. remastered edition] 2003 - Video is Fairport Convention in 1970 Maidstone, Kent.
'SOLO' Sandy and Fairport 1974 - An amateur video, where Sandy's beautiful voice shines out from the blurriness
FAIRPORT CONVENTION AND ROBERT PLANT at CROPREDY in 1986
'SEVENTEEN COME SUNDAY' (trad. arr. Fairport Convention) The Cropredy Box 1998 - with some great shots of Cropredy, and Chris Leslie morris dancing.*
* "Fairport Convention (Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Dave Mattacks, Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie) perform Seventeen Come Sunday on Ken Russell's 'English Folk Song'. Footage from Woodworm Studios (owned at the time by Dave Pegg) and the Cropredy Festival 1997" - taken from Youtube
'THE BANKS OF THE SWEET PRIMROSES' (trad.arr Fairport Convention) Angel Delight 1971 - Video is Fairport Convention's Winter Tour 2006
'MATTY GROVES' (trad. arr Fairport Convention) Liege & Lief 1969) - Video is Fairport rocking it up in 2007, with a very happy and appreciative audience...Take it away lads!
'THE HIRING FAIR' (Ralph McTell / Dave Mattacks) Gladys' Leap 1985 - Video is Fairport Convention at The Swan Inn 2007
And a little of Iain Matthews here:
IAIN MATTHEWS, SIMON NICOL & RICHARD THOMPSON at CROPREDY 2007 - including a solo from Iain of 'Woodstock'
And we HAD to put this one one as it's absolutely BRILLIANT!
The 1970 Fairport Line-up playing 'JENNY'S CHICKENS/MASON'S APRON'-at Cropredy 2007
Taken from the above Youtube video itself:
"Dave Swarbrick is still very much alive! This is from the warm-up show at Woodford Halse Social Club, prior to the Cropredy Festival. It's the 1970 Fairport line-up (Dave Swarbrick, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Dave Mattacks) joined by Gerry Conway as a second drummmer."
A host more Fairport Videos, from our own, brand new Fairport Convention Illustrated site within the new Albion Chronicles:
Fairport - The Videos
And....when a band is as brilliant as Fairport have been over the years..and still are...they inspire many people with their music.
Below is a link to two people who we feel deserve a listen, as their cover versions of Crazy Man Michael, White Dress and Who Knows Where The Time Goes are rather beautiful. A duo called Red Shoes who are Carolyn and Mark Evans and Carolyn, we hope you'll agree, certainly has a lovely voice and gives a very special rendition of the songs.
We'll put their video of Sandy's best known song on here, and you'll find the other songs on the link just underneath.
WHO KNOWS WHERE THE TIME GOES - performed by Red Shoes
SOME MORE FAIRPORT COVER SONGS
AND...if..after all those songs above, you're still hungry for a little more Fairport...well...you can sing along to 'Si Tu Dois Partir' on The Guv'nor's page.....right here.....
ASHLEY HUTCHINGS' PAGE - SI TU DOIS PARTIR
And finally, we couldn't leave without sharing this with you, the wonderful poster to mark 30 years of Fairport Convention, created by Koen Hottentot the Dutch illustrator who's been illustrating Fairport's Tour Programmes since 1992. We hope you enjoy it. There's a larger version of the poster in the link below and when you're in there, don't forget to click on the 'Who's Who' button, just under the picture.
*Sgt. Cropper's 30th Anniversary Poster
*Placed here with Koen's very kind permission.
Click here for larger version
Koen's Homepage and Koen's Myspace Page

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/16/2007
Band Website: http://www.fairportconvention.com" http://www.fairportconvention.com
Band Members: 'Crazy Man Michael'
(by Richard Thompson & Dave Swarbrick)

Current lineup:

Simon Nicol: vocals, acoustic & electric guitars

Ric Sanders: violin, mandolin

Dave Pegg: electric & acoustic bass guitars, mandolin, vocals, double bass

Chris Leslie: vocals, bouzouki, mandolin, violin, Native American flute, ukelele

Gerry Conway: drums, percussion
All above photos of the lads taken from Fairport's main site - see above for link. For many more photos of the band through time, and their guests at Cropredy over the years, see the links below:
FAIRPORT CONVENTION GALLERY
CROPREDY GUESTS GALLERY
The Fair Ladies of Fairport

JUDY DYBLE

SANDY DENNY

VIKKI CLAYTON

POLLY BOLTON

CHRIS WHILE

Influences: Just about any genre of music you can think of, but primarily rock and folk
Heck, Fairport have had such an influence on us that we made our own site all about them...see below, although you may have to copy and paste the URL address, as 'google' site links sometimes won't open on Myspace at present.
FAIRPORT CONVENTION ILLUSTRATED - http://fairportconventionillustrated.googlepages.com/home
And below is why they still continue to influence us to this day:
1968

1969

1969

1969

1970

1971

1971

1972

1973

1973

1974

1975

1975

1976

1976

1977

1978

1979

1979

1981

1981

1982

1982

1983

1984

1986

1987

1987 Video

1987

1988

1992

1996

1996

1997

The above list will be continued right up to the latest CD....so please bear with us! :0)
Sounds Like: Fairport Convention
You'll find details of all Fairport CDs, DVDs, and much more, on their site 'catalogue' which you can access here:
FAIRPORT CONVENTION SHOP

Record Label: Matty Grooves Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

FAIRPORT CONVENTION GIGS - 2009

FAIRPORT CONVENTION GIGS - 2009
Posted by on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:25:00 GMT

Sandys Interview with the BBC, from 1988

And hear some beautiful songs as well....
Posted by on Sun, 04 May 2008 14:19:00 GMT

BBC Radio 2 - ’Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ - The Sandy Denny Story

You can hear it on Listen Again, below. Well worth a listen. It's a wonderful programme presented by Bob Harris, details of which you can read here: BBC Radio 2 Listen Again &n...
Posted by on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:43:00 GMT

CROPREDY 2008 - LINE UP

CROPREDY 2008 - OFFICIAL LINE UP
Posted by on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:13:00 GMT

Simon Nicol - Two Part BBC Radio Special

We've just spotted this on the Radio 2 Folk and Acoustic messageboard, and we thought it was worth passing on to you all.....We've put the link into BBC Radio Cambridgeshire below the message. "I've j...
Posted by on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:28:00 GMT

The History Of Fairport Convention - As told by Simon Nicol & Dave Pegg

Read all about it!....as they say.. And the best people to hear the story from are Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg themselves, so here is the link to the Official Fairport Site, where y...
Posted by on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:35:00 GMT

Simon Nicol Interview on BBC Radio Cambridge - Monday 21st January 2008 at 9pm

Simon Nicol is on BBC Radio Cambridge tomorrow, Monday 21st January, 2008, when he'll be talking to Sue Marchant. Sue's show is on from 7-10pm each weekday evening...and hopefully, the...
Posted by on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:45:00 GMT

Fairport's Winter Tour Dates for Jan/Feb 2008

All Winter Tour dates are available from their official site below: FAIRPORT CONVENTION GIGS - Jan/Feb 2008 And of course, don't forget Cropredy! 7th-9th August 2008
Posted by on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:57:00 GMT

Son of Fairport Cropredy Convention 2008

Every year, Fairport Convention invites the winner of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award to play a spot at Cropredy. Six finalists took part in this year's awards ceremony in London at the Queen Elizabe...
Posted by on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:27:00 GMT

Fairport Cropredy Convention 2008

Fairport's Cropredy Convention - 2008. We are pleased to announce that the dates for this year's festival are 7-9 August
Posted by on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:15:00 GMT