Search - Fairport Convention :: First Album

It all comes round again

Junglies | Morrisville, NC United States | 04/28/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Notwithstanding any of the other reviews of this album, this is the only album where Fairport Convention actually sound like anyone else and this is the album which led to them being branded as the English Jefferson Airplane but the comparison is like comparing chalk with cheese except maybe in the roots of both bands.A very interesting album in one respect and that is the personnel changes which took place right after it with Judy Dyble leaving and not embarking on a solo career later to be replaced by Alexandra Denny. Also interesting and least remarked on is the musical relationship between Richard Thompson and Ashley 'Tyger' Hutchings which formed the mainstay of the first four albums.Fairport Convention brings 'new folk' to British audiences for the first time in a major way. While Bob Dylan was a major influence on the band they only recorded one of his songs on this album but borrowed a title for another 'It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft'. Joni Mitchell composed two of the songs which helped her to gain greater exposure in the British community.This is a nice album in many ways which gives an almost genteel feeling, almost one of restraint. Thirty four years after it's release it does not seem as radical as it then was, overshadowed by the tidal wave from America's west coast. Yet this album was a radical departure. The folk community had a hostility to electric instruments which cannot be understood today and they had shown that in their reaction to Bob Dylan's use of them at the Albert Hall. Folk music was intrinsically backward looking and reluctant to be brought up to date and here was the vanguard of the revolution which not only modernised but brought a new lease of life to that community marked by an great increase in the formation of folk clubs in pubs around the country. Seen within that context this album assumes an enormous significance. It also allowed the band to develop and go on not only to make some of the finest folk-rock albums ever but to lead the way for others to follow. There would be no Albion Band to name just one, if there had been no Fairports.There may not be a whole lot of excitement in this album but there are some good renditions, my own favourite being 'I Don't Know Where I stand' but overall the album exhibits some wonderful voices and competent playing. I remember it with fondness. One small step for Fairports but a giant leap for British Folk-Rock."