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Fairport
Convention
The
popular British folk group
Fairport Convention was
formed in 1967 by bassist Ashley
Hutchings, who began
jamming with musician friends as
"Tim Turner's
Narration." Solidifying the
lineup with vocalist Ian
Matthews and guitarist/vocalist Richard
Thompson, the group took the
name Fairport Convention
and performed its mixture of
American country folk and
British folk in local clubs.
Their eponymous debut album was
released in late 1967 and
received positive reviews,
expanded on 1968's What We
Did On Our Holidays, which
debuted new vocalist Sandy
Denny. Unfortunately while on tour,
the group was in a fatal highway
accident, killing drummer
Martin Lamble and disrupting the
band. Re-formed as a traditional
British folk group,
Fairport Convention returned in
1969 with the highly
acclaimed Liege and Lief.
Following the departure of
Sandy Denny for Fotheringay
(and,
eventually, a solo career) and
founder Ashley Hutchings,
the Convention continued on as a five-piece,
releasing 1970's Full House,
recorded while on a tour of
the United States. Richard
Thompson moved on to a solo
career, but the now-four-piece
group pressed on, recording
Angel Delight and
Babbacombe Lee in 1971. After
more lineup changes the
Convention returned with 1972's
Rosie and 1973's Nine.In 1974
Sandy Denny returned to Fairport
Convention, releasing Rising For
the Moon later that year.
Sadly, Denny died of a brain
haemorrhage after falling
down a flight of stairs. Faced
with the loss of their
friend and vocalist and the
growing punk rock movement,
which disdained folk music,
Fairport Convention launched a
farewell tour and then
broke up. They capped off their career
with 1979's Farewell, Farewell.
Bassist/vocalist Dave Pegg
joined Jethro Tull, but the
other members of Fairport
Convention reunited in
August 1980 for what was to be
the first of five yearly
reunion shows in Britain. In
1985 the group permanently
reunited as a quintet, releasing the
popular album Glady's Leap later
that year. Throughout the
remainder of the 1980s and '90s
the quintet -- Simon Nicol
(guitar/vocals), Dave Pegg (bass/vocals),
Ric Sanders (violin), Dave Mattacks (drums/keyboards)
and Martin Allcock (guitar/mandolin)
-- toured worldwide and regularly
released albums, most recently
1997's Who Knows Where the
Time Goes?, whose release was
celebrated with a massive U.K.
show for which members old
and new appeared on stage
together.
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