Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief (1969)

I’ve heard many times that Fairport Convention was a legendary folk rock group but I never got into their music much until last night. I turned the album on and just let it play as I drove from Waterbury to Burlington (on election night 2024). I forgot all my woes, and was whisked away into the elegant sounds of Sandy Denny’s voice and Richard Thompson’s guitar. As I’ve delved deeper into the band, I’ve concluded that they absolutely deserve the hype.

Liege and Lief is the third of the three albums released by Fairport Convention in 1969, with Sandy Denny as the lead singer. Before Sandy Denny joined the band in 1968, Fairport’s sound was more rooted in American folk rock, British pop, and blues. Over the course of this trio of albums, Sandy Denny brought more and more British and Irish traditional folk influence, and this album is the pinnacle of that. Six of its eight tracks are versions of traditional folk songs. The lineup of the Fairport Convention, which is different for pretty much every album, seems very clear cut to me on this album. The band does not bring in any guest musicians, and each band member stays in their lane and plays on every song: vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, drums, bass, and the new addition of fiddle player Dave Swarbrick as a full band member. 

Normally I don’t care very much about singing ability, but even so, Sandy Denny’s voice is undeniably, phenomenally compelling. It sounds very olden and British, almost classical, but in a way that is unique to the bands of the English folk revival of the sixties and seventies. Denny’s voice in particular, though, is clean and clear and soaring and I’m honestly in love with it. Not to mention that she is a brilliant songwriter, co-writing the opening track, “Come All Ye”, a rousing track that totally sold me on the album from the outset.

A huge piece of the genius of Fairport Convention is the writing and performing talents of lead guitarist Richard Thompson. On the previous album, Unhalfbricking (which I also recommend),  his guitar slurps like a fifties Chicago blues musician and croons like David Gilmour would in Pink Floyd. On this album, however, the guitar style is a consistent mix of prog-rock sounding licks and folky sounding riffs. I overall find this less compelling than what I’d heard him do on previous releases, but combined with the epic drumming of Dave Mattacks it is still plenty impressive. Most notably, the track “Matty Groves” features a final guitar/fiddle solo of epic proportions, brilliantly arranged, that doesn’t drag or bore despite its enormous runtime. 

My favorite track would have to be “Farewell, Farewell”, which is a song Richard Thompson wrote to the tune of an old folk song. His lyrics are an ode to the two people who died when the band’s tour van crashed earlier that year, his girlfriend, and the previous drummer of the band. Listening to the song on the morning Trump was elected for the second time, I thought it wonderfully and beautifully captured the mournful quality of the day, as well as capturing the feeling of wanting to run away that I feel pulling me from time to time. I recommend you check it out.

Best track: Farewell, Farewell. Worst Track: Reynardine. 8.5/10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg2-o9vrF_k