Customer Reviews

Full House

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the first album Fairport recorded after Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings (co-founder member, who went on to form Steeleye Span and the Albion Country Band) departed, and the last studio album to feature Richard Thompson. In Sandy's absence (she had left to form Fotheringay, which would last but one album), the remaining group would have to pool their vocal talents the best they could to fill her void. Also, Dave Pegg had taken up bass chores in the group, and proved himself a fine replacement for Hutchings.
Admittedly, the vocals are a bit shaky--most of the lead vocal chores were handled by Dave Swarbrick, fiddler extraordinaire--but RT began to come into his own here as well; he and Swarbrick collaborated on several compositions here ("Walk Awhile," which features lead vocals from all except drummer Dave Mattacks; "Sloth," a powerful piece that also explored Fairport's improvisational talents; the ominous "Doctor of Physick"). It may not be immediately memorable, but it will grow on you.
Also, the original album programme is featured here, with "Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman," originally withdrawn at the last minute on RT's request, restored to its place as track 7 (originally track 3, side 2, on the first 5000 pressings); plus, four bonus tracks, in the form of mono and stereo mixes of the single A-side "Now Be Thankful," its long-windedly-titled B-side "Sir B. McKenzie..." and Fairport's first attempt at "The Bonny Bunch of Roses," recorded at Phil Spector's Gold Star Studios during a residency at the L.A. Troubadour in May, 1970. And I've always loved RT's rather odd liner notes, a sort of medieval games almanac.
This, then, was where Fairport proved they did indeed have a future after Sandy. Granted, it would be an awkward and uneven future, but this, at least, helped the band to cement their position as the first true English folk-rock band.

The first album Fairport Convention made after singer Sandy Denny and bassist Ashley Hutchings left, and the last before guitarist Richard Thompson left, this album rocked harder than any other Fairport album. But the album has always been missing a little something in terms of pacing. And, knowing that a couple of classic songs from the sessions were left off the album (in British tradition, the single "Now Be Thankful" was left off the LP, while Thompson, in a fit of pique, wouldn't let producer Joe Boyd include "Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman"), I've been wanting for years to hear how this album would sound with the songs restored. And here it is. The album also includes "Sir B. McKenzie" (the full title once held the Guinness record for longest song title), the B-side of the "Now Be Thankful" single, and "The Bonny Bunch of Roses." The second half of the album is much stronger with these songs added. The songwriting team of Thompson and violinist Dave Swarbrick was at its peak, with the Fairport classics "Walk Awhile" and "Sloth", the eerie "Doctor of Physick", and the lovely "Now Be Thankful." Except for "Now Be Thankful", sung beautifully by Swarbrick, the vocals are mostly a group effort by Swarbrick, Thompson, rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol, and bassist Dave Pegg (whose bass playing is miles beyond Hutchings'). The traditional "Sir Patrick Spens" is great, and the medleys of jigs and reels "Dirty Linen" and "Flatback Caper" are excellent.

"Full House" was the fifth album by Fairport Convention but represented a significant new chapter in the group's history because for the first time it was without a female singer. At this point Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings had left the group and you would have thought that losing the premier folk singer of her generation in Denny would have been a fatal blow. "Full House" disproves that without much problem as Fairport Convention continued to prove itself the premier folk-rock group in England. The new singers were Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick who wrote most of the songs on the album. Along with Dave Pegg and Simon Nicol they do some nice harmonies, especially on the trio of traditional songs, "Sir Patrick Spens," "Flatback Caper," and "The Flowers of the Forest." Granted, the vocal are a bit less, in terms of the leads, but the instrumentation is certainly superior with this incarnation of the group, which is clear with the opening track "Walk Awhile." The showpiece here is the nine-minute "Sloth," written by the entire group (including drummer Dave Mattacks) and allowing all of the group members to show off their musical abilities. Any borderline considerations with regards to ranking because of the shakeup in the group's composition are rendered moot by the four bonus tracks of Fairport Convention music added to this 1970 release, including mono and stereo version of "Now Be Thankful" and another pair of traditional tunes, including the wonderfully named "Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament for the 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat." Granted, "Full House" is still half-a-notch below "Unhalfbricking" and "Liege and Leif," but it is still a superb album of British folk rock.

In 1972, i heard "Sir Patrick Spens" on WREK (Georgia Tech station), called to find out who it was, went straight to a record store and bouthg this album. This was the start of a continuing obsession with Fairport and British/Celtic folk-rock bands in general.

This was a turning point for Fairport; the departure of Sandy Denny had left them with no vocalist, and Ashley (Tyger) Hutchings's absence left them with no bass player, either. The arrival of Swarb's old mate, Dave Pegg (now the longest-serving member and leader of the band) handily filled in the bass player slot, but that still left no singer.

So Richard and Swarb and Simon became singers.

Aside from "Spens", some of the highlights of this album include "Sloth" (which, played live, has been timed at fourteen-plus minutes), "Walk Awhile" and "Flatback Caper", a series of variations on a folk instrumental.

Richard and Simon's guitars, Peggie's bass, Swarb's fiddle and DM's drums complement each other perfectly.

This one is in the running for Best Fairport Album (which also puts it Very Near the top for Best Folk-Rock Album).

And the liner-notes (by RT, i believe) are a hoot.

And as to the title, which bugged me for a while -- three guys named Dave and two guitar-players; all caricatured as Tarot cards on the cover.

With Leige and Leif considered by many to be the pinnacle of the Fairport Convention career, many observers thought that the group was done when Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings left citing musical differences. Dave Pegg, still there, was brought in to replace Hutchings and then Full House was released.

More traditional in many respects, this album was noticeable because of the fact that Denny was not singing the songs. Dave Swarbrick, a long serving member of the British folk tradition had clearly established himself as the leader of the band, indicated here by his song-writing dominance on the album and the fact that half of the album was made up of traditional arrangements. The splitting up of the vocalist's job between four members of the band allowed for greater variation of the songs that could be played but by far and away the biggest change was now the interplay between Thompson and Swarbrick, two lead players if ever there were any.

There was certainly a tension between the two as Thompson blossomed in this relationship with Swarbrick who gained a vehicle within which he could display his vituosity to the world.

The album itself begins with a traditional sounding song written by Swarbrick and Thompson which sounds as if it came straight out of the Cotswolds. Currently being played by the band on their current tour of Spring 2002, the song allowed for some improvisation on stage and some pyrotechnics between the two players. Also included on the Island sampler 'Nice Enough to Eat' this also brought wider awareness of the band. Two other tracks stand out from this album, 'Sir Patrick Spens' who has lived through several reincarnations and the incredible 'Sloth' which assumed a life of it's own in performance allowing each member of the band to showcase their not inconsiderable talents as individuals as well as the unleashing of the incredible energies as they played with and against each other.

Those comments aside the album is full of good songs and good playing. It is a veritable feast of Fairport Convention at another high point of it's long career. This version of the band was awesome to behold and the live record of their performance 'House Full' goes nowhere to really do them justice.

'Full House' stands alongside 'Leige and Leaf' as the Best of British Folk rock, equalled by very few. A must for your collection, you'll see.

This classic album from 1970 didn't just get much better in its expanded form--it changed its complexion radically. Not only are we treated to the extra cuts, including the marvelous "Poor Will & the Jolly Hangman" in its Full House rendition (with harmony vocals from Swarb and without the Linda Thompson additions which altered the cut on RT's "guitar, vocal" LP) but the song sequencing has been changed slightly and the overall feel of the album changed surprisingly. The album has a darker, more somber feel to it but it also highlights the uptempo instrumentals more because of the change of tone. "Now Be Thankful" fits sonically and stylistically (the extra stereo mix is not very good though) and "Bonny Bunch of Roses" plods along for 10 minutes but fits in perfectly. What remains most noteworthy though is the album just feels different and emerges much improved.

This is a genre-defining album, made even better by the inclusion of the extra tracks. To put it simply, there is no finer marriage of traditional and modern than that which is contained here.

If the standard of transcendence for this kind of thing is whether or not you can compose songs that sound so traditional that you almost can't believe they weren't written centuries ago, then by reason of "Sloth" and "Doctor of Physick" this record might be the pinnacle achievement of what is called folk-rock. Restoring "Poor Will.." and the sublime "Now Be Thankful" to the mix just takes it over the top, where you could argue convincingly for this album as one of the greatest ever made in any genre.

100 extra spanner points for Richard Thompson's ridiculous, hysterically creepy liner notes, about some kind of Olympics of Esoteric English Games with a heavy accent on mayhem and bloodshed.

I already had this album on CD, but it has always been a favorite Fairport album. I took a chance on the basis of the bonus tracks, and I was very impressed with the improved sound quality of the remastered version. Both instrumentally and vocally the difference is audible/palpable when given a track-by-track comparison, it is like being there. Given that none of the band was keen on being the lead vocalist, they did an excellent job of trading off and harmonizing on some of the best Swarbrick/Thompson compositions. Of the bonus cuts, Bonny Bunch of Roses is a far superior version to the same song used as title cut of that later Fairport album. I'd agree that the stereo mix of Now Be Thankful isn't much better than an echo-y version bouncing off a bathroom wall, but hearing the cleaned up mono version and the restored Poor Will make this definitely worth the price.

I get a charge out of this album. After the departure of the great Sandy Denny, Fairport continued their concentration on British roots music. Even the original numbers here sound like traditional tunes. The band displays a somewhat more muscular approach; the instrumental rave-ups are particularly compelling. Although the band was left without a strong vocalist at this point, the harmonies are very well done, and Dave Swarbrick, handling most of the lead vocals, does a fine job.

The LP, as it were, rated 5 stars from the initial LP release way back then! It had instantly become my favorite, even though it had followed the previous 4 other classics and without most of their orginal members.

I admit, after Angel Delight, I stopped collecting Fairport music. In stead, I collected most of its spinoffs, Ian Matthews, Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, etc., including Plainsong, Fotheringay, etc, even Steeleye Span.

The extra tracks included on the CD made FULL HOUSE more full!

Of course, I have re-discovered Fairport since, and IMHO, 'Red And Gold' is the best STUDIO LP/CD recorded since the Early Days. :)

FULL HOUSE, though, is still my favourite!

May I also suggest the mag/rag 'Dirty Linen'!