Album
Liege & Lief
1969 · Rock
14 collectors on Gatefold own this
Liege & Lief is a Rock album by Fairport Convention, originally released in 1969. On Gatefold: 116 pressings tracked, owned by 14 collectors.
About
After a few years spent covering Dylan and other Yanks, Fairport Convention decided to rock up the most English material they could find, and British folk-rock was born. Other groups jumped on board, but they didn't have Sandy Denny's crystalline voice, Richard Thompson's guitar heroics, or a drummer who could swing like Dave Mattacks. The epic ballads "Tam Lin" and "Matty Groves" match brilliant stories with heavy riffs. But Denny shone on the spookier numbers, notably "Crazy Man Michael," from the dark side of Thompson's muse.
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Tracklist
Side A
- A1Come All Ye4:55
- A2Reynardine4:33
- A3Matty Groves8:08
- A4Farewell, Farewell2:38
Side B
- B1The Deserter4:10
- B3Tam Lin7:20
- B4Crazy Man Michael4:35
Sound DNA
- Rock
- Folk Rock
- warm
- earnest
- pastoral
An acclaimed and seminal album in the advancement of British 'Folk-Rock', "Liege & Lief" is the fourth album by Fairport Convention. Released in the UK on Island Records in December 1969 and supported by a sell-out concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, it resided in the UK's album charts for 15 weeks.
Recording:
Prior to recording, the band suffered the tragic loss of drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson's girlfriend, Jeannie Franklyn, when their tour-bus crashed. In addition, Iain Matthews left, later to create "Matthews' Southern Comfort". The band regrouped and began rehearsals in a country house in Winchester, with Dave Mattacks filling Lamble's role and with violin virtuoso Dave Swarbrick joining the band full time, both of whom had appeared on the group's previous release, "Unhalfbricking". The band was completed by Richard Thompson & Simon Nicol on guitar, Ashley Hutchings on Bass Guitar and Sandy Denny on vocals. The producer was Joe Boyd, with engineering by John Wood at Sound Techniques, London.
Members Hutchings and Denny had departed the band by the time this was released in the USA.
Covers & Vinyl:
Released in gatefold sleeves. First issue sleeves, containing the pink Island label with the white 'i' logo, are 'lighter' in tone than the reissue. The reissue, containing the palm tree label, has a 'darker purple' appearance - released around the time of the USA issue, which has a similar 'delicacy' to the print as the early UK sleeve.
The images at the foot here may assist: Print Comparison (opens in a new tab).
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- Ashley HutchingsBASS BASS GUITAR
- Dave MattacksDRUMS PERCUSSION
- Dave SwarbrickVIOLA VIOLA, VIOLIN VIOLIN
- Richard ThompsonGUITAR
- Sandy DennyVOCALS
- Simon NicolGUITAR
- Harry RobinsonARRANGED BY
14 collectors on Gatefold own this · 116 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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