quodlibet (Ian)
Squeeze it, Eliseao
Folkcorp Guru 2nd Dan
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Posts: 1279
Loc: Hereford. UK
In nīz bogzarad
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« Reply #111 on: June 06, 2016, 10:52:40 AM » |
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Nice piece by Dewey Gurell in Poland, lifted from FB:
"A (rambling stream-of-consciousness) TRIBUTE TO THE MAN THEY CALLED "SWARB"
The great Dave Swarbrick has left us. I know that name may not be as familiar to some of you as the music royalty that have recently passed on, but for many of us, this is more than just the latest death in this very cruel year. Chances are pretty good that Swarb had more influence on the music you grew up listening to than you realize as well. Please allow me a moment to pay tribute to this incredible musician, colorful character, and from all accounts, wonderful human being.
Although starting as more of a kind of West-Coast-Jefferson-Airplane-sounding-Bob-Dylan-covering-folk-influenced-psychedelic-rock-band, by the recording of their third album (Unhalfbricking), Fairport Convention had devised the completely original concept of marrying traditional British folk music with electric rock instruments. Seriously, no one had ever done it before - Jethro Tull were still a blues rock outfit in 1969, and there was yet to be any signs of "rock" in The Strawbs acoustic songs or Pentangle's jazzy folk. Violinist (that's fiddler to the folkies) Dave Swarbrick was already well- established in the British folk world for his work with the Ian Campbell Folk Group and the great singer/songwriter Martin Carthy, and when Fairport needed violin for their trippy exploration on the traditional English lament, "A Sailor's Life" (as well as a few others on the album), he was the perfect counterbalance to Richard Thompson's mind-blowing languid guitar, and the plaintive mournful beauty of the voice of Sandy Denny. Not only was he up to the task, his playing gave the song a timeless quality that transformed Fairport into innovators forging a new path none had previously walked - one foot in antiquity and tradition, the other unafraid to ROCK.
Seriously, there was NOTHING like it before. In the same fashion as In The Court Of The Crimson King, or Pet Sounds, or the first Black Sabbath and Ramones albums, this was something NEW! Fairport had found its voice, and in doing so invented British Folk Rock. Their next album, first with Swarb as a full member, Liege And Lief, is one of the greatest and most influential albums ever, and still tops many critics' and fans' lists of the greatest folk rock LPs of all-time almost a half century later, because...well, it still sounds amazing. The traditional storytelling drama of epics like "Matty Groves", and "Tam Lin", the beautiful melancholy of "Reynardine" and "Crazy Man Michael", and the high energy rocking adaptation of jigs and reels in "The Lark in the Morning" medley, all combining acoustic and electric progressive-minded arrangements, broke down barriers and inspired a generation to explore the folk tradition, and make it their own. You may have heard of a few of them - Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and Ian Anderson are some of the most famous, but a direct line of influence can be traced from Fairport through other influential bands of the 1970s like Gentle Giant, who added it to their 'anything goes' prog rock ethos, and bands such as Horslips and later The Pogues who took the folk rock concept but put their inimitable Irishness into it.
In the 1980s, All About Eve came from the British goth scene, but although she sounded a bit like Siouxsie on their earliest recordings, singer Julianne Regan's true spirit in performance, voice, and songwriting had more in common with Sandy Denny. AAE brought folk rock to the black clad masses weaned on The Cure and Bauhaus, and Fairport's Ric Sanders, as well as Swarb's band mate in Whippersnapper (and future Fairporter) Chris Leslie both appeared with 'the Eves'. The band were also featured guests at Fairport's annual Cropredy festival. Their first two albums are absolute classics that laid the groundwork for a new kind of dark gothic folk rock, and both were reissued last year in fantastic 2 disc Deluxe Editions that are stunning, if you're interested.
In America, along came the mighty Tempest, led by the great Norwegian Lief Sørbye, whose playful exuberance onstage and many fine albums embody the spirit of Fairport to this day. They are still one of the greatest live bands that you could ever hope to see, and they tour often.
In the 1990's, The Wonder Stuff - one of my absolute favorite bands of all time - became an enormous stadium act in Britain with a sound that was born of equal parts Fairport, the attitude of punk rock, the melodic sense of Lennon, and a heavy dose of the nineties 'Age of Irony.'
And still it goes on - in the progressive rock world, Steven Wilson, probably the most important musician in that genre of this century, has been effusive in his praise of FC, and just this week, prog artists Big Big Train released the tellingly titled Folklore, which owes a huge debt to the 1970s British folk rock era in general, and Fairport in particular.
Meanwhile in Italy, there's a band called Cirque des Rêves who are taking the whole idea of the folk rock aesthetic as created by Fairport, and mixing it with Italian romanticism and a dream-like cabaret atmosphere - all led by an absolutely astounding young singer named Lisa Starnini. They are the next step in this evolution, and definitive proof that, as long as imagination lives, originality is still possible, even in a music business that punishes true artists and rewards the insipid. Soon you will get the chance to hear their incredible Mirabilia album, and I predict that many of you will be amazed. They are truly doing something you've never heard before.
And that's without even considering the many types of heavy metal that have developed in this century which integrate elements of British and Celtic folk in a progression that can be directly traced back to...you know who.
So why am I talking about a bunch of other artists in a tribute to Dave Swarbrick? Because...dominoes, you know? He was part of the creation of something that is still evolving today. And if that, along with the incredible music he made, was the sum total of Swarb's legacy, it would be pretty impressive. But it's only part of the story...
As a band, Fairport Convention weathered tragedies and major personnel changes too numerous to detail here - look it up, you won't believe it. But suffice to say, they have had one of the most eventful histories in rock, and Swarb is a major part of why they were able to survive losing such one of a kind brilliant talents as Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson. During Swarb's era, under his care, they crafted some fantastic, underrated albums (Tipplers Tales, Nine, The Bonny Bunch Of Roses), and at least one that is better forgotten (Gottle O'Geer), but problems with his hearing from loud amplification led him to leave and form the acoustic Whippersnapper in the early 1980s, though he reappeared with them (and they with him) countless times since.
And he never really stopped touring and recording as long as he was at all able, despite health issues that would have sidelined a much younger man. He was a mentor to future Fairport members Maartin Allcock and Chris Leslie, without whom the band might never have survived (although there's no killing off Fairport - not EVER!) but beyond all of that, I think there's a bigger picture, a legacy beyond a resumé of musical accomplishments.
It's to do with music and spirituality. And while there's surely a better way to put it, please bear with me as I try;
Every time some young person hears Liege And Lief or Full House, and FEELS a resonance, an odd ancestral thread like a spiritual link that joins our subconscious with the past in a supernatural way - they will then embark on a lifelong journey of exploration of this incredible musical world outside the mainstream that, for those of us who can feel it, is more powerful than any religion. For lots of people - especially American kids in the 1970s like myself who didn't grow up knowing a lot about English folk music - Fairport (and subsequently Steeleye Span, The Strawbs, Jethro Tull, and so many others) were nothing less than musical time travel agents who changed our lives by introducing us to a parallel universe. One that we felt far more connected to than the one in which we lived.
I never met Mr. Swarbrick or even got to see him perform, but in the late 1980s, I became friendly with the Fairport guys, particularly the great multi-instrumentalist Maartin Allcock and bassist extraordinaire Dave Pegg (both of whom were also in Jethro Tull for a time), and some of the greatest nights of my life were spent in bars, hotel rooms, and even parking garages across the northeastern United States drinking, smoking, laughing, and hearing fantastic stories about Swarb, and Sandy, and the British folk revival of the 1960s. I am very honored to say that Maart has been a very good friend to me throughout the years.
I only mention that because I think that there's a sense of family around Fairport that supersedes who comes and goes in the lineup, or how much one happens to like the current incarnation. Over 25 people have come and gone, at least 6 of which are no longer with us, and, like most of this 'family', I consider myself a Fairport fan for life, regardless of whatever my opinion of the new album or current lineup is.
It's bigger than that. It's about longevity and tradition and survival. It's about thousand year old murder ballads that are as fresh as yesterday's headlines. And it's about the sound of a fiery fiddle "to rouse the spirit of the earth and move the rolling sky."
That's the legacy of Dave Swarbrick.
In my fantasy vision of the afterlife, there's a mighty session going on tonight with Swarb, Sandy, Trevor Lucas, Martin Lamble, Bruce Rowland (two drummers - the mind reels!), and all the other greats who have gone.
And I hope someday I can check it out (not too soon, of course...)
Thank you Mr. Swarbrick.
- Dewey
4th June 2016"
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