Customer Reviews

House Full: Fairport Convention Live at the LA Troubadour

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

 

 

Here we find Fairpoint Convention supporting their latest release "Full House" - which solidified their move towards traditional British isles material while at the same time moving towards a harder-rocking sound. The jigs are performed at a breakneck speed, which is perphaps unnecessary, but they work well anyway with new bassist Dave Pegg laying down solid, rockin' lines. Gone are the haunting and beautiful vocals of Sandy Denny, replaced by the simpler, rustic vocals of Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick. The highlight may very well be "Sloth" off of the new album - this live rendition brings even more emotion and power to the tune than the studio version. Also,look to get a kick out of the final tune on the disc- "Yellow Bird" It'll make you laugh - not because it sucks - but rather because it immensely entertains. If you dig 'Liege & Lief' and 'Full House'- you must check this out

The best, in terms of musical diversity and live atmosphere, is of course "AT2/The Boot" - but you'll have a tough time finding a copy of that!
This is certainly the most historically valuable of all the live Fairport discs - given that so far all the Sandy-era shows in circulation have been unsatisfying documents from her declining years. The Full House lineup is increasingly almost as revered as the 1968-9 edition, both for their compositions and arrangements (for which see that particular album) and their live performances (for which see this disc).

Humble opinions: I'm not entirely satisfied with this version of "Sloth" as the band seem to fall asleep for two minutes toward the end (there are better 1970 live takes on this song if you know where to look!)
Here, it's not the improvisations that excite but the compositions which are attacked with tremendous enthusiasm throughout. The energy level never lets up, from the first guitar and fiddle breaks of "Sir Patrick Spens" to the "Sir B Mackenzie" medley (differently constituted to the version we all know). The slower numbers, the medieval-sounding "Staines Morris" and the stately lament "Battle of the Somme" are no less powerful (although "Sweet Primroses" still sounds incomplete to me). Richard sings "Matty Groves" in his youthful "rustic" voice (which is...different, I suppose) but largely cedes solo space to Swarb, who's on-fire throughout. Speaking of which, the fiddle tunes medleys are definite highpoints - you'll never hear ballsier versions of "MacKenzie" or the Liege & Lief medley than on this disc...and then there's the album's metaphorical centerpiece, the stunningly fast and loud "Mason's Apron" medley, which suggests they could have become the Ten Years After of the folk-rock world!

This album features just a fraction of the repertoire played by the Full House line-up - but it's a pretty brilliant setlist (with one obvious exception) and in the absence of a more thorough official-bootleg type release, this will do.

This Island remaster of the 1970 Fairport live album adds improved sonics and a couple of tunes to the earlier Hannibal release (Sir B. MacKenzie, Yellow Bird). Sloth, Matty Groves, Staines Morris, Mason's Apron are all highlights, and some other reviewer somewhere in some other forum once wrote that this album features some of the "fastest jigs and reels in captivity."

But this is not speed-freak Fairport. It is a crack five-piece band in full mastery of its craft, overflowing with relaxed camaraderie and self-effacing charm. After the 1969 departure of founding bassist Ashley Hutchings and peerless vocalist Sandy Denny, guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, along with newer members-named-Dave (fiddler Swarbrick, drummer Mattacks, and bassist Pegg) made two crucial decisions: passing the singing duties around instead of seeking a new star singer, and delving deeper into the project of electrifying the British folk tradition. The fruits of their labors are to be found on the studio album Full House, animated by powerful songwriting collaborations between Thompson and Swarbrick, and this live document of their subsequent American tour, drawn from a stint at the LA Troubadour (opening for Rick Nelson).

While legendary guest performances by Linda Ronstadt and various Led Zeppelin members are not included on the official release, this will do nicely. It captures a confident, exuberant Fairport building on its folk-rock strengths and breaking new ground. Thompson left the band shortly after this tour, bringing an end to an era, if not the legendary Fairport itself, which has jigged on, in one form or another to the present. They never made an album like this again, but then again, no one else did either. Catch classic Fairport Convention in their full resplendent glory on this disc.

This album has come out in a few different versions. I have the one previous to this; two additional songs have been added since then. The album captures the "Full House" lineup--the hardest-rocking of the many Fairport lineups--during a 1970 stand at the Troubador in Los Angeles. There are some good moments, but if you're looking for a live Fairport album, "Encore, Encore" and "The Cropredy Box" are far superior. The take on "Staines Morris" is a highlight. There is something here to enjoy for long-time Fairport fans, but for someone new to Fairport, this isn't a great place to start--go with "What We Did on Our Holidays" or "Full House" instead.

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

Having seen close approximations of all of them at Cropredy, Fairport live in any of its incarnations seems to have been an awesome thing.

But this was the noblest Fairport of them all, in terms of sheer virtuosity and jaw-dropping chops -- and this album documents that to the hilt. This would be a 5-star album except that the sound is a bit thin and dry... and, even at that, it just misses.

((If the mobile truck had been there for some of the moments mentioned in the liner notes - like the night they pulled Linda Ronstadt on stage and did all of her songs, or the night that Swarb's old mates in Led Zeppelin showed up, it would be five stars anyway..))

It flat doesn't get any tighter and solider on stage, and with guitarists Richard Thompson & Simon Nicol and the Three Daves -- Swarbrick on his demon fiddle dancing with & around RT and SN's guitars and Pegg on bass & Mattacks on thundering drums providing a bottom and a beat that has to be experienced to be appreciated -- Fairport mounted a sonic attack that is almost frightening coming from a "folk" band.

Granted, absent Sandy Denny, neither Richard nor Swarb really fills that gap on vocals, but what this band has in its own right that the "Liege & Leaf" Fairport didn't exploit as fully is its sheer power and virtuosity.

"Matty Groves" is a classic Fairport raveup, "Sir Patrick Spens" is a nice reading of a "trad.arr." ballad, "Mason's Apron" a nice instrumental... But "Sloth", at something like twelve minutes is simply incredible. (Though, again, at their Cropredy Festival i once timed a rendition at eighteen minutes plus...)

"House Full" is an important document of a transitional time in Fairport's history, as is its 1970 studio complement, "Full House"; both are necessary to your collection if you're buying more than one album -- but this is the one to buy if you can only afford one today.

If you are even a casual fan of Fairport or Richard Thompson this is a must have item.