Customer Reviews

Acoustic: Old New Borrowed Blue

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jeez, ya'd think you'd be able to totally write these old geezers off as yesterday's news by now... But even this late in the game, the Fairporters are as capable a folk outfit as you're likely to find. This compact, four-piece edition of the band includes Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg, joined by guitarist Maartin Allcock and fiddler Ric Sanders; they open with a perky gypsy jazz number, and drift into a pleasant mix of trad and earnest folkie material. The second half of the disc is a live show recorded in December, '95... The whole album has a crispness and clarity of purpose that may surprise you! Don't be fooled by the unimpressive cover art; this is a disc well worth checking out.

The title says it all, pretty much.
I would say it's one of the best since they re-formed back in 1985 and is a good combo of new material, cover material, and older material.

Yes, you might ask yourself, do I need yet another version of Matty Groves or The Hiring Fair? And the answer is probably not, but these are good versions. And because they're acoustic, they're pretty much different than any other version out there.

The acoustic instrumentals are great, and I've love to see an album of just newly written instrumentals like Woodworm Swing and Mister Sands is in the Bulding.

Like I wrote, there are better Fairport albums out there, but I pull this one off the shelf quite a bit. And you can usually get it cheap used. It's worth it for sure.

A fantastic mix of old and new songs with some cover tunes thrown in. The production is wonderful and Simon's voice is great. These guys have been around and are still making viable music-let's give them the credit they deserve. A great CD.

When drummer Dave Mattacks decided to make a little money going on tour with someone more popular, Fairport Convention decided to go the "Unplugged" route, with guitarist Maartin Allcock and bassist Dave Pegg going acoustic (Allcock plays bouzar, which I presume is related to the bouzouki, on much of the album) and no drums. The first half of the album was done in the studio, and includes James Taylor and Loudon Wainwright covers. The ballad "Lalla Rookh" is a highlight. The second half of the album is live, and many of these songs were done better by the same lineup on "In Real Time - Live '87". The live portion includes another Wainwright piece, the entertaining "The Swimming Song". This album seems to complete Fairport's decline from a rock band to a folk ensemble, especially when singer Simon Nicol continually explains to the live audience "and that's the chorus."

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

Like the title says, this is a mixture of Fairport material. "Matty Groves" is a sample of vintage Fairport. Songs like Loudon Wainwright's "Men" and James Taylor's "Frozen Man" were profitably borrowed.