Customer Reviews

Heyday

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

 

 

If you've somehow found this listing and this review, please don't overlook this album. A lost gem from the best-ever Fairport lineup: Sandy Denny, Ian Matthews, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Ashly Hutchings and Martin Lamble. Matthews' contribution to this band has always been underrated, he has an absolutely beautiful voice which blends so well with Sandy Denny's. As a lover of Unhalfbricking, which was the only album top feature this lineup, I was understandably very excited with this release, as all were recorded for the BBC with the above lineup.

It is futile to try to highlight, because gems and surprises abound. Much of this is the material they cut their teeth on, brilliant interpertations of songwriters they admired: Cohen, Mitchell, Dylan, etc. It doesn't matter what song they cover, they truly make it their own.

This is not for fanatics only. Though the sound is not up to the quality of Unhalfbricking, it is surprisingly good and the material and performances have to be heard to be appreciated. If you like breathtaking harmony and great ensemble playing, you'll love this record.

Joe Boyd's sleevenotes explain how most of these excellent songs never made it onto albums at the time: he was keen for Fairport to explore their Englishness, and so they did on "Leige and Lief" and subsequent albums. But before developing as pioneers of British folk-rock, Fairport showed an uncanny knack for infusing their own individual style into songs by the likes of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen - and of course Bob Dylan. Throw in some Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash and Gene Clark, along with a couple of Fairport originals, and you have some wonderful songwriting talent here. Add to this the lovely singing of Sandy Denny and Ian Matthews, both great individually but together, sublime - and you have a brilliant album which bears comparison to "Unhalfbicking" and "What We Did on Our Holidays". Highly recommended.

This collection of live, on-the-spot recordings showcase the legendary Fairport Convention like nothing else. They worked seamlessly as a musical ensemble, and Sandy Denny's voice is incredibly moving.

"Heyday" features songs from the best songwriters of the period: Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Richard Farina, Joni Mitchell. The live recording of Dylan's "Percy Song" is gorgeous, and surpasses the studio version in my opinion.

This is a pleasant but non-essential souvenir of Fairport Convention's early days, when a large part of their repertoire was covers of American singer-songwriter material. The recordings were made for BBC radio broadcasts. Ten of the twelve songs are cover tunes, of which two (Dylan's "Percy's Song" and Joni Mitchell's "I Don't Know Where I Stand") have previously appeared on Fairport albums. There's some Leonard Cohen, some Everly Brothers, a little Byrds... A highlight is "Some Sweet Day". Of all the Fairport albums, this one has the least connection to the band's later folk-rock sound.

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