TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Before Dave Swarbrick joined them permanently Fairport must have played the songs of the album during concerts, but did they also play the ones which featured Dave Swarbrick? Did they leave them out or did they just play them without the violin/mandolin?

Don't forget that Unhalfbricking was being put together around the time that the crash happened - some of it may not have been played live.  I know that a BBC session from this period featured Rick Grech on violin.  I guess Swarb hadn't thrown in his lot with the band just yet.

Jules

Island released Unhalfbricking after the crash, considering the music too good to remain in the vaults, but without knowing if there would actually be a Fairport Convention to promote it, thus the story goes that Swarb was brought in as a permanent member when the band decided to regroup for the summer gathering in the Hampshire countryside that became Liege & Lief.

Then Fairport must be the only band who could not promote two albums in a row due to an accident and members leaving. Am I correct in saying that eventhough Swarbrick joined they did not play any songs from Unhalfbricking (I remember having read that somewhere).

When Swarb and DM joined they went straight to woodshedding Liege & Lief, and then promoted that record with concerts featuring only their new material, so yes, no Unhalfbricking songs in the set.  No live performances until the Cropredy years for many of the songs, I don't think.

Jules

There's a good trivia question here: Which was the first album released by FC that contained the same musicians as the previous album?  ;)

JBL - same as Angel Delight. Simon, Swarb, Peggy & DM

What We Did On Our Holidays.

Featured Iain Matthews – vocals, congas
Richard Thompson – electric, acoustic & 12-string acoustic guitars, piano accordion, vocals
Ashley Hutchings – bass, backing vocals
Simon Nicol – electric & acoustic guitars, electric autoharp, electric dulcimer, backing vocals
Martin Lamble – drums, percussion, violin, tabla & footsteps
...all of whom were on the previous album.

And Sandy Denny, who wasn't.

 :) ::)

(by 'the same' I probably should have said what I meant which was 'exactly the same'  :-[ )



Yes, (if we gloss over the RT writing contributions to AD ;) )

Cheers

Nick

However the question was with the same musicians not writers.

Neil

Which is why I said Yes  :) But it's interesting to note that the situation still wasn't exactly 'stable'. Indeed, it wasn't until the late 70s that it occured again (I'm discounting Rosie vs Nine due to the number of 'guest musicians' on the former...)

Cheers

Nick

An argument could be made that the very instability was what made those albums essential.

Hello this is my first time here though I have been a reader for a while and a dedicated armchair fan for 40 years. I think UHB is my favourite FC album so here is my question. What is the sequence of singers, if you call it that, on Million Dollar Bash?  Sorry if that question has been asked a million times before.

Hi Peter

To tell you the thruth I never really paid attention to it but I just had a listen and the only ones I don't recognize are singers 1 & 5, the cover says that Marc Ellington songs on this song but I am not familiar with his voice so he is one of the two.

no. 2 - Ashley
no. 3 - Sandy
no. 4 - Richard

I think the order is Marc Ellington, Ashley Hutchings, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol.

Jules

I wouldn't have thought it was Simon, he sounds a bit American (to me) but you could be right, I believe he is good at accents.                  

Who, pray, is Marc Ellington? I've not heard of him before!

A singer/songwriter and an old friend of the Fairports:-

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/marc-ellington-mn0000757758

Jules

Thanks for that!

Here a short clip of him with Richard Thompson, the clip has some hiccups.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3BPlwGzbqw

Thank you very much to all. I did get 3 and 4 right!

There is an affecting version of No More sad refrains from a 1975 radio programme called Marc Time on the Notes and the Words box.

Going back to the original theme, I did go and look at what Mr Heylin had to say and counted 24 gigs listed there between Jan and May 69, no setlists apart from Sailor's Life and Autopsy at Southampton. Given the need to practice and try out, I should think most of the UHB songs must have been played live at that time. The one where a violin is really needed is Si Tu dois Partir. There must be someone out there with a memory.

Dig those grooved truffles.

 

On the It All Comes 'Round Again VHS, Simon Nicol says that A Sailor's Life dropped out of the band's set when Sandy and Ashley left, so maybe they did that at some L&L shows.