Is it the one with a black and white photo of AH with beret and a bandana around his neck, with typeface in red, and a red back, and inside a photo of Rise Up lineup on top and the Kellie While lineup inside? Definitely lo res. I think the assumption probably was that it is niche, and people would be familiar (or know where to go for full details) of the lineups on the recordings and the timeline. But yeah, I agree with you. That being said, sometimes in the wrong hands having details can be disastrous- I give you some highlights of Steeleye's Live At The Bottom Line in 1974 written by Gregg Bendian. After a column and a half in a rambling commentary about Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Dylan, before morphing into Little Richard and Chuck Berry, before finally going into British folk music. I give you this chestnut, verbatim-

"Steeleye Span's transformation as a band vividly reflects that time when the love of musical folklore merged with blues and rock energy. Central to this transformation is bassist/songwriter/bandleader Ashley Hutchings, a central key figure in the development of British folk rock (nothing wrong so far, but read on-)
Hutchings, who was working on the skiffle and folk scene founded Fairport Convention with Richard Thompson in 1967. They were soon joined by vocal duo of singer Maddy Pryor and guitarist/singer Tim Hart, along with Judy Dyble, Martin Lamble and Iain Matthews. Hart and Pryor help form a strong core... (at which point he kind of melds the two bands together simultaneously.

Later he spells Maddy's last name correctly, then goes through the changes (no mention of the Woods, or Martin Carthy, Rick Kemp, nor what Peter Knight brought to the group) he finally pushes on to the Bottom Line gig for their sixth release and literally this is as written- " The quintet becomes a sextet for the first time, adding full time drummer , Nigel Pegrun. Mr Pegrum also contributed"... (spot the typo) I can't bare to say anymore!

Which is a shame because it is a good quality recording of the era, from a venue I knew very well in the 90's into the early 00's. So I guess my comment is that when I reasonably know what artists and lineups are involved, as in the case of 5, I am ok with not having much in the way of details for a single CD release. But the flip side of that is getting commentary that is poorly written, clearly not fact checked, and clearly not accurate which I somehow find more infuriating.



 

Busted vs McFly at Sheffield Arena
Mcfly won
Not who I was rooting for , Matt Willis plays a well thunderous bass , like a civilised Lemmy

I second all this. I never bought 5 (I may still do so) but for God's sake, dates and personnel at very least please.

Jules

Rather a relief, really.

Cropredy 2026 confirmed on the Fairport website - same arrangements as this year.

https://www.fairportconvention.com/news/cropredy-latest/

From the website:

Thank you to all of you who attended the reduced capacity Cropredy festival back in August. The Gods shined on us – absolutely perfect festival weather – and that was one very happy field. So much so – we’re going to do it again!

For 2026, we are going to repeat what we did this year. The size and capacity worked for us and according to the reactions we have witnessed, it worked for you too.

There is still a great deal of uncertainty around regarding outdoor events and we thank our suppliers for their loyalty and keeping their prices affordable. Not many festivals are lucky enough to have this and we really do appreciate it. At this stage it would be foolish to increase the capacity and hence, the risk. Better to play safe and live another day. After all, we all want to be here for our 60th anniversary in 2027 don’t we?

For 2026, like 2025, we shall be basing selling on a maximum of 6500 tickets. There were some who were disappointed to miss out last year once we’d hit capacity, so please, spread the word and let your friends know we’re open for business. We’d hate anyone to be left out.

We plan to announce the ‘Line-up so far’ and place tickets on sale at 11.00 on Monday 8 December – just in time for Christmas!

Sign up for the e-newsletter for more information as it happens. https://www.fairportconvention.com/contact/

Ok, so I pick up my copy of "5" (which Discogs tells me this about: This "5" release is a new collection of previously unreleased tracks by Ashley Hutchings and his bands. As its title indicates, it is the continuation of the previous 4 volume series of The Guv'nor albums.)

I get the album, and it has a list of track titles and bands.  Absolutely nothing else (except a badly reproduced partial photograph of some of the RULTS lineup).  What's the actual point of an 'archival' CD if you have absolutely no idea what on earth you are listening to?

I've never hated Talking Elephant more than I do at this moment.  

Jane Siberry

Always interesting.  Even the debut, which is the most conventional. She still records  but no longer puts out physical albums.

I like any Traffic album.  Only When the Eagle Flies falls a bit short, but still a good album.

Less so, but instrumentally, Genesis were still an influence.

With Fish on vocs, for sure... With Hogarth?