Fairport Convention is a group that has always beaten the odds -- that's why a version of the band is working in the 21st century. By the time of this, the group's fifth album, key members
Ashley Hutchings and
Sandy Denny had exited the lineup, yet the group continued here without skipping a beat, for the first time without a female singer -- and it turned out not to make a major difference.
Richard Thompson and
Dave Swarbrick took over as singers, and
Dave Pegg (more recently of
Jethro Tull) joined on bass, and the resulting album was actually more viscerally exciting than its predecessor,
Liege and Lief, if not quite as important as that record, since it came first. Even vocally, this version of the group needed offer no apologies.
Thompson,
Swarbrick,
Pegg, and
Simon Nicol harmonize beautifully around strong lead vocals. Not only does the singing here retain the high standard of the earlier incarnation of the group (check out the harmony singing on
"Sir Patrick Spens" and
"Flowers of the Forest"), but the playing throughout has greater urgency and punch, from the rousing
Thompson-
Swarbrick opener
"Walk Awhile" to the haunting, moody, dazzling nine-minute
"Sloth," which remained part of the group's live set for years. An indispensable recording, and one that anybody who wants to truly know this band, or to take in some of the best work of
Richard Thompson's career, must own (his playing on
"Sloth" and
"Doctor of Physick" makes it worthwhile).
Swarbrick's fiddle and viola playing is also among the best of his career. Ironically,
Thompson would make this his last full-time studio venture with
Fairport, but what a way to go! ~ Stephen Winnick & Bruce Eder
