Heyday: BBC Radio Sessions 1968-69 [Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered]

Fairport Convention | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 11, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1968
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Island UK
• ASIN: B00005YT5Z
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,058 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #22 in Music > Folk > British & Celtic Folk > British Folk
  • #29 in Music > Imports > Folk

Track Listings

1. Close The Door Lightly When You Go

2. I Dont Know Where I Stand

3. Some Sweet Day

4. Reno Nevada

5. Suzanne

6. If It Feels Good You Know It Cant Be Wrong

7. I Still Miss Someone

8. Bird On A Wire

9. Gone Gone Gone

10. Tried So Hard

11. Shattering Life Experience

12. Percys Song

13. Younever Wanted Me

14. Nottamun Town

15. Fotheringay

16. Si Tu Dois Partir

17. Cajun Woman

18. Autopsy

19. Reynardine

20. Tam Lin

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When a dozen of these songs were released on the first (1987) issue of Heyday, Fairport's original producer, Joe Boyd, revealed that almost 20 years earlier he'd vetoed numbers like Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone," and the Everly Brothers' "Gone, Gone, Gone" from consideration for the LPs Unhalfbricking and Liege And Lief on the grounds that "Americans did these sorts of songs in their sleep better than any English band could hope to." Any view from 30-odd years later is likely to be obscured by rosy clouds of nostalgia, but Boyd's opinion seems vindicated, especially now that the album has been extended with tracks from the British tradition--such as "Nottamun Town," "Reynardine," and "Tam Lin"--that demonstrate what Fairport really did well. Also added to the '87 album are a couple of touching originals by Sandy Denny performed as solos, "Fotheringay" and "Autopsy," and an appealingly ramshackle go at Richard Thompson's bayou-blues "Cajun Woman." --Tony Russell

Product Description

Features the classic Fairport Convention line-up in session for John Peel's Top Gear program on BBC Radio 1 in 1968 & 1969. Members included Richard Thompson, the late Sandy Denny, Iain Matthews, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Swarbrick and Simon Nicol. The band cover some of their favorite songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and the Everly Brothers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must for all Fairport fans, July 4, 2002

By 

Junglies (Morrisville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Heyday: BBC Radio Sessions 1968-69 (Audio CD)

I have just traded my original copy of Heyday in now that I have this one.

The value of this album is the live versions of the songs that the band recorded on their studio albums and which have not been generally available.

Fairport Convention in performance have often been an entirely different animal to the studio band and I can testify to that having seen them in such disparate venues as Fusion, Sunderland and Newcastle Poly.

Tracks 1 through 12 sound good but the style does not suit the band in retrospect. Importing new and upcoming songwriters' songs certainly brought a breath of fresh air to the British scene and served an important purpose in reawakening our own roots but despite the beauty of the singer's voices, the approach is still borrowed and although sounding authentic does not really gel. Please don't mistake me, I love those songs and the performance but I prefer the later material.

My greatest joy in owning this CD comes from having a live version of Tam Lin which I have always preferred to the crowd favourite of Matty Groves. It is a little different to the studio version but is awesome. Other standout tracks are Autopsy and Reynardine. Later period Fairport with probably their most powerful lineup is a joy to listen to even when they are playing their Top of the Pops Si Tu Dois Partir. The playing is a delight, the singing amazing and the tightness of the band and their empathy with the other band members is clearly evident.

An excellent album and an absolute for all Fairport fans.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No American band can do these songs equal justice, March 12, 2003

By 

Michael Crowley (Albany, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heyday: BBC Radio Sessions 1968-69 (Audio CD)

The Amazon reviewer neglected to mention what else producer Joe Boyd said in his liner notes: "And of course, now I am forced to admit it is hard to find an American band who can do these songs equal justice."

Indeed. Anything Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson did during their brief association is worth hearing, particularly their work together in Fairport--they really did have a kind of Billie Holiday/Lester Young sympatico thing going. Fairport was famous in it's early days for it's eclectic taste in covers, and this CD was released partly to show that off. Lots of highligts, among them the slightly bizarre acid-rock version of Joni Mitchell's I Don't Know Where I Stand; Denny singing Leonard Cohen, although she only gets to sing half of each song, sharing the lead vocal with Ian Matthews-- her contribution to Bird on a Wire is especially great, she really has a feel for Cohen's sensibility; Denny's gorgeous a cappella intro to Percy's Song; the beautiful harmony singing of Matthews and Denny on Cash's I Still Miss Someone, the Everly Brothers Gone Gone Gone, and ex-Byrd Gene Clark's Tried So Hard, to name but a few. Reno, Nevada shoulda been a Top of the Pops hit.

This "Extended" version includes material from the entire span of the Denny-Thompson edition of Fairport, including--in addition to songs that never appeared on an official Fariport release--live versions of two songs from What We Did on Our Holidays, four songs from Unhalfbricking and two songs from Liege and Lief. The latter were a bit of a disappointment to me--Raynardine is good, although very much like the version on Leige and Lief, but on Tam Lin they sound a little stiff compared to the record version, that is up until the very end, when they start jamming (Ashley Hutchings warns in the liner notes that these were "very early outings for these traditional songs"). Still, well worth having if you like this sort of thing.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Before they lost the plot and went traditional., February 21, 2010

By 

Evelyn D. Cooke (Ellenbrook Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heyday: BBC Radio Sessions 1968-69 (Audio CD)

My liking of Fairport Convention did not survive beyond their first two albums. First of all they dumped Judy Dyble. OK, as much as I preferred Judy, her replacement, Sandy Denny, grew on me eventually. But then, to show they had gone completely insane, they dumped Ian Matthews as well. I thought that rather strange considering the cover notes of 'What We Did On Our Holidays' mentioned that Ian had saved the Convention from being the only group where none of the male voices could sing in tune.
But along with Ian, out went their progressive folk/rock style in favour of more traditional folk, so out went myself as a fan.

I decided to take a chance on this CD, however, when I discovered it was (almost) the original line up.
Heyday really lives up to its name. This is an expanded version of the original release, featuring BBC radio sessions, mostly of songs that they performed in concert, but had not been included on an album - although three of these songs, 'Close The Door Lightly', 'Tried So Hard', and 'Reno Nevada' have since appeared on Ian Matthews solo albums.

'Percy's Song' - about a man who gets 99 years in jail for causing a fatal car accident - seems to go on forever, and the beautiful 'I Don't Lnow Where I Stand' is almost as good as Judy Dyble's stunning rendition.
Sandy Denny's solo version of 'Fotheringay' is as poignant as the album version, I have no idea what 'Tam Lin' is about, and I really wish I knew where I have previously heard 'Shattering Live Experience' and 'You Never Wanted Me'.

All in all I'm glad I bought it.