TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

There is often chat about how people would like to see new faces in FC - Martin Barre / PJ Wright for example

So who would you have liked to have seen in the band but has never made it? May be someone who has joined them briefly at Cropredy, a musician who has traveled alongside them, or someone totally unrelated.

One stipulation - Robert Plant is a given!!

My first choice would be:

John Kirkpatrick - I loved his sound when he worked with RT and in Steeleye and love the squeezebox in a rock setting like the Oysters have done.

DW

Ken Nicol played a few songs with them when he was touring as their support act a few years back. I thought he sounded great and would be a real asset to the current line up.

Julianne Regan

Martin Carthy, can sing and play electric guitar

John Tams, great singer and can play guitar and melodeon

Graeme Taylor, electric guitar.

P J Wright

Pete Zorn.

Me.

 ;)

Jules

I'd still go for a female vocalist. When Kellie was on stage at Cropredy, and when the Larkin Poe girls sang with them last year, they moved up to a new level. It's not about trying to replace Sandy - any more than Ric or Chris replace Swarb.

So:
Kellie While
Linda Thompson

Good Call.

Clive Gregson - he is closest to the RT 'style' of any guitarist I have seen. And he can write songs.

And another vote for Kellie While

Defo!

Maybe not an obvious choice but I wondered what someone like Andy Roberts would have done in Fairport. For the womans side, I always enjoyed Polly Bolton as a singer.

That's who I was going to say. Still holding hope she does Cropredy again  {:-)

Yes, Julianne's version of Who Knows Where The Time Goes, at Cropredy in 198something, beat all the others, apart from Sandy's, into a cocked hat. What IS a cocked hat anyway?

Sadly, she's certainly not performing live at the moment... Still, stranger things have happened (hallo Judy, Shelagh) so you never know. Personally I think she should just go out anon. and do pub and folk club gigs singing a few Sandy covers...

Kellie While
Linda Thompson

Thought of another one-Phil Beer

I recently thought about who could replace any of the current members should they leave and ended up with this complete band:

Ralph McTell (Simon) Vocals,Guitar,Songwriter.
Pat Donaldson (Peggy) Bass.
Joe Broughton (Ric or Chris) Fiddle, Guitar, Mandolin.
Ray Laidlaw (Gerry) Drums.
And as mentioned,
Martin Barre (Chris) Lead Guitar.


p.s Julianne is fine by me too.

If Ric were not in the band, I think Guy Fletcher could pull it off.

Jedward.

Sod Jedward, I second Ken Nicol, Awesome guitarist, singer/songwriter.

Rick Wakeman.  ;D

Simon Care/Gareth Turner - a good bouncy melodian would suit me ( or of course J Kirkpatrick), but none of them are singers, so PJ is back in my frame. And Kelly's mum was the best non-Sandy voice I've heard on the Cropredy stage by a good distance.

I'm surprised that Chris  & Julie havent been invited back to Croppers for a while . Their last duo appearance was stunning , as was the Blue Tapestry one.

Blue Tapestry are on my Cropredy wish-list every year...the last one was 2003, surely a reunion's on the cards ? Might casually mention it to Chris & Julie when I see them play in Fareham tomorrow evening...

A really strong vocal component would add another dimension - what about Percy, or maybe Roger Chapman (I can hear his treatment of Matty Groves as I type....)?
 

I shall be shouted down in flames and hounded out of town for this one

Richard Digance  - I think his and Peggy's voices would have blended very well  

Interesting!
Please miss I've found a witch, can we burn her?

Bridgewitch?

I float  {:-)

 ;D

Not with a lump of cement around yer ankles you won't.


You can bewitch me anytime kid.

 :o

David Francey

Getting Linda Thompson in at some point would have been a good move.

Simon Care

Sammy Hagar or Reg Presley (RIP).

Not quite what the title said, but Iain Matthews rejoining sometime in the mid to late 70s.

Lemmy.... ;D

OK, Iain Matthews and Julianne Regan ....

I'm still thinking me.

 ;D

Jules

Still time!

Probably not. I can't see any changes in the lineup before the lucrative 50th anniversary, at which point they may well decide that thet's enough.

Just uninformed conjecture on my part, of course.

I think you could be right, sometimes we seem to forget that they also get older, and how long will they enjoy touring and travelling.

I hate being cynical but I've been thinking along those lines. Gerry and Peggy will both be 70 in 2017, Mr Nicol in 2020, although there's no reason why they should stop then, of course!

I think/hope they'll keep Cropredy going tho, as long as it's financially viable. They can still do a "FC and Friends" final, just with a bit more emphasis on the friends!  {:-)

I can think of one very good reason, rest their weary bones. :)

Simon used to talk about the FC name continuing on.  I think that might have worked if they had bought in some proper young talent some years ago.  Nowadays I doubt that it would.  I suspect that they will hang up their instruments at some stage (probably not till after the 50th though, unless something major occurs to force the issue) and that the band we all love will be no more.

I think that there could well be a glut of retirements from bands we have loved (or hated  ;D ;)) since the 60's. For very obvious reasons. Most people seem content to retire at 65 but musicians seem to carry on regardless, even when they don't need the cash.

That's the difference between working a job and doing the thing you love.

Jules

I remember reading somewhere recently that Simon was looking forward to a long rest.

Well, alas, we all get one of those eventually.   ::)

Jules

I don't think he meant that kind of rest but one he could enjoy. :)

well we now know what to buy him for Christmas - obviously a snooker player.

I've have thought he'd want a long snooker rest rather than an actual snooker player.  They cost so much to feed and water.   ;D

Jules

Got to hand it to you, Jules. When it comes to jokes you never miss your cue...  :)

Chalk that one up to experience, Gouty.   ;)

Jules

Leave it off lads, we could do with a break...   :P

I'm stunned.   :o

Jules

Me too, definitely a case of the kettle calling the pot black!

Badum-tish!

Yer all loopy!  ;)

Back on track - Peter Knight, Bob Johnson, Julianne Regan, John Wetton.

This thread has gone to pot.   ::)

Jules

OK, back on track...

So, Jules: 'Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be --------------- from Fairport Convention!'

I cannot help but notice the guitar you brandish in your TAW photo  ::) but that may be a red herring   ??? . Just what form would your singular, yet boldly asserted, contribution to our beloved band take?

It's about time they had a Jagger-esque frontman.  I'd bring some real glamour to the band.   8)

Well, either that, or I'd be a second rate Trevor Lucas.   ::)

Jules

Never mind the band, there are quite a few members of the audience who would like to know when we can 'retire'.
When can we just sit at home and listen to the LPs, without being drawn to an open field for three days, or leave our cosy hearths on winter nights?

Some of us have already taken early retirement.

I suddenly realised that seeing them at the GBBF in December means that I don't need to attend the Wintour this year, which came as a curious relief even though they are actually playing in my home town this time around.

I'm sure you would, Jules  ;)

In the meantime, thanks to you, I now have the sound of the real Jagger singing The Hexamshire Lass going round and round my head on a loop..  :o

Fairport at the Great British Beer Festival sounds like a match made in Heaven, Al  ;)

Or maybe Matty Groves...

"I can't get no....I can't get up for my life!"

 ;)

Jules

Oops. Freudian slip. GBFF of course. Sadly I haven't got to the GBBF for some years.

Funnily enough, the GBBF is one event I've retired from as I found all the queuing, the noise, the crowds etc. too much like hard work :(

Now, here's a strange coincidence... I posted on here the other day that I thought John Wetton could have fitted in well in FC.

Yesterday, I read in Robert Fripp's extensive sleeve notes to "The Road to Red" that:

"Rick Kemp auditioned for King Crimson in 1970, and actually joined the group - for three days.  It was rather too much for this excellent player.  The audition and rehearsals were recorded, and are now part of my personal KC archive material".

Well...

Those would be awfully cool to hear... Maybe something will pop up in the archival material 'Free Download' section someday. Seems like it would match the type of thing they post there regularly.

Gosh, so have I now; and it's horrible!

Of course, the Albions did replace the entire band a couple of years ago. But despite the numerous line-up changes over the years, I'd hate to see FC (or SS) go the same way. The Albion Band always was an even more fluid line up than either of their 2 sister bands ...