FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Liege & Leaf

British hippies who started out emulating Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention escalated their homeland connections with each outing, culminating in this, their fourth album and a watershed for British folk-rock. Hindsight offers the ironic possibility that the Dylan covers of its predecessor, Unhalfbricking, opened a window onto the earlier Irish-English-Scots roots of the American music they loved, and Liege & Lief jumps through that window triumphantly. "Come All Ye" underscores their affinity for the Band yet is joyfully rooted in their own fertile folk traditions, echoed in a mix of classic songs from members Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, and Richard Thompson, and given direct homage in the extended ballads "Matty Groves" and "Tam Lin," which evoke Neil Young & Crazy Horse in kilts. Fiddler Dave Swarbrick's arrival as a fulltime member adds new richness and a wonderful foil for Thompson's superb guitar leads. A medley of jigs and reels showcases their flair for hot-wiring traditional British Isles dances, a fixture ever since. --Sam Sutherland

Tracks

1. Come All Ye

2. Reynardine

3. Matty Groves

4. Farewell Farewell

5. The Deserter

6. The Lark In The Morning/Rakish Paddy/Fax Hunters Jig/Toss The Feathers

7. Tam Lin

8. Crazy Man Michael

LINK:

h!!p://www.megaupload.com/?d=OG9FIUCN

Please leave a comment