Fairport Convention – “Babbacombe” Lee
***1/2
The true story of John “Babbacombe” Lee, the man they couldn’t hang is the stuff of folk legend.  Lee was dubiously sentenced to death in 1885 for the inconclusive murder of his landlady Emma Keyes in Babbacombe near Torquay.  Three times at the scaffold the bolt was jolted but the trap door didn’t open.  Lee’s capital sentence was commuted to life imprisonment where he served 23 years before being released to tell his amazing tale.  Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention found a copy of Lee’s papers in a Ware antique shop and was suitably inspired by his story to make it the theme of the band’s next long-player.
Babbacombe Lee the LP covers John Lee’s life from his youth to the hanging incident.  It is folk-rock with the playing (and singing in particular) leaning too heavily towards folk in places for my tastes.  The album is very much Swarbirck’s baby though the highlight for me showcases the talents of guitarist Simon Nicol.  Breakfast In Mayfair features some beautiful, fluid lead guitar by Nicol equal to any of the best works by his illustrious predecessor Richard Thompson.  The song is about the impassiveness of rich suburbanites reading about Lee’s conviction in their morning papers.  The lyrics throughout the album are well written and factual though as a concept LP, it doesn’t have the thought-provoking meanings or unexpected twists of say, Tommy by The Who.
It does however have some traditional reels as well as the self-penned songs such as Trumpet Hornpipe, better known by most people in their 30s or 40s as the theme music to cult kids programme Captain Pugwash.
This 2004 reissue of Babbacombe Lee is lavishly re-packaged with lyrics, liner-notes on its subject and two bonus tracks, the excellent Farewell To A Poor Man’s Son and an inferior version of Breakfast At Mayfair sung by Sandy Denny.  It is an interesting period piece telling a fascinating story and is recommended to anyone who likes folk-rock with leanings towards the folk side of the combination.
Released:  2004 (Original album 1971)
Acquired by me:  1.05 (Bought)

Fairport Convention – A Lasting Spirit:  The Collection
****
A Lasting Spirit is a three CD compilation of sorts put out by the Sanctuary label in 2005.  A collection of unfamiliar and rare recordings rather than a conventional Best Of, the three distinct CDs are entitled Sweet Days, Long Summer Days and Cropredays with the last disc being far and away the best.
Sweet Days features Fairport from their late 60s heyday but, the wonderfully delicate Fotheringay aside, the obscure tracks featured here are C-list songs at best.  The majority of the songs included are covers such as particularly insipid versions of classic songs such as Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides now and Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne.
The second disc on Long Summer Days is equally tough going featuring album tracks from the “wilderness years” of the 80s and early 90s.  Generally the instrumental tracks are better than the forced-sounding vocal rockers though it’s still pretty hard travelling for all but the most devoted fans.
On to the Cropredays disc, Fairport’s unique annual festival often brings together former band members with these proceedings, mostly from 1997, being no exception.  Folk-rock legends Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick are present giving the band licence to include some of their turn-of-the-70s collaborations such as the intricate Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman and the epic Sloth.  Other highlights of the disc are numerous and include rousing versions of Come All Ye and “the hit” Si Tu Dois Partir as well as a surprisingly good Thompson-sung cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine.  Moving into more traditional fare, it also includes Chris Leslie’s musically complex Shetland story John Gaudie as well as incredible fast violin-led instrumentals by Dave Swarbrick (Fiddlestix) and Ric Saunders (Woodworm Songs).  Best of all though is a stunning slower reinterpretation of the Fairport classic Who Knows Where The Time goes with Simon Nicol's beautifully melancholy vocals and world weary sentiments contrasting neatly with the sense of young wonder in the Sandy Denny sung original version.  Brilliant moving stuff.
The Cropredays disc ends appropriately enough with a rousing group and audience ensemble version of the band’s anthem Meet On the Ledge to complete the Lasting Spirit three CD collection.  Five stars for the brilliant last disc and two-three each for Sweet Days and Long Summer Days to make four stars overall.  
Released:  2005
Acquired by me:  Bought (Early 2006)

Fairport Convention – Off The Desk
****1/2
Off The Desk is a double CD of live recordings from Fairport’s 2004 and 2005 tours.  Taken straight from the mixing desk, it is a fine souvenir for anyone who went to one of the gigs as well as an excellent collection of mostly recent material from the veteran band.
Off The Desk features the current Fairport line-up of founder member Simon Nicol on vocals and guitar, Chris Leslie on vocals, bouzouki, mandolin and violin, Ric Saunders on violin, Dave Pegg on bass and vocals and Gerry Conway on drums and percussion.  It starts with one of Chris’ songs, the poppy Over The Falls which includes fine vocal harmonies from Chris, Simon and Dave.  Other excellent Leslie-penned numbers featured include the melodic shipping saga I’m Already There and The Fossil Hunter.  Written about the 19th Century fossil gatherer Mary Anning, the Fossil Hunter also contains effective evocative Native American flute from the talented and versatile Mr Leslie.
Not that Chris Leslie’s songs dominate Off The Desk though as one of Fairport Convention’s strengths is the variety of styles of the various writers and singers.  In contrast to Chris’ singing is Simon Nicol’s deeper voice which is beautifully used on the deeply moving Ralph McTell-penned Hiring Fair as well as the more upbeat Over The Next Hill.  Ric Saunders also contributes the stately instrumentals Portmeirion and Some Special Place as well as the more eccentric Canny Capers.  Another highlight is the catchy circular melody of Willow Creek with the vocals shared between Simon and (I think) Dave.
Plenty of highlights then but what Off The Desk perhaps illustrates more than anything else is that, unlike most bands of their vintage, the noughties Fairport Convention are still creating excellent new music rather than living off past glories.  It is full of well-crafted songs, superb singing and exquisite virtuoso playing by the legendary folk-rock band and is an excellent live souvenir or compilation of the best of Fairport’s recent material.  Come all ye…
Released:  2006
Acquired by me:  30.10.06 (Purchased at gig)

Fairport Convention – What We Did On Our Holidays:  An Introduction To Fairport Convention
****
What We Did On our Holidays is a compilation album covering Fairport’s “golden years” between 1967and 1975 rather than their early studio LP of almost the same name.  It is a good single disc Best Of though not quite a match for 1972’s History Of Fairport Convention.
Among the best tracks featured on both compilations are the band’s signature tune Meet On the Ledge, the beautiful, intricate Fotheringay and sublime Who Knows Where The Time Goes which is quite simply one of the best recordings ever made.  Exclusive to WWDOOH, we also get the stirring Come All Ye and Tam Lin from the band’s landmark folk-rock LP Liege & Lief as well as Fiddlestix, a frenetic violin-led live instrumental from the early 70s.
The unfortunate omissions from the Holidays compilation for me include the epic Sloth, Book Song and nothing at all from 1971’s Babacombe Lee LP.  These self-penned songs could certainly replace some of the covers which are present – Chelsea Morning lacks the euphoria of Joni Mitchell’s version and Percy’s Song doesn’t have the moving intensity of Bob Dylan’s simple guitar and vocal original.
Everyone of course has their own opinions as to which tracks to include in a Best Of for any albums-based band.  Whilst What We did On Our Holidays is an excellent introduction to the classic years of Fairport Convention, it isn’t quite the best compilation available in my view.  Still it’s an excellent first purchase which will hopefully lead to further FC acquisitions.
Released;  1999
Acquired by me:  21.11.05  - Borrowed (Library)

Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
****1/2
In interviews leading up to the release of At War With The Mystics, lead Lip Wayne Coyne was enthusing about how much the band were enjoying playing Black Sabbath’s War Pigs live and promising a move to more of a hard-rock direction.  Sure there is more distorted bass than before though fans of the band’s brilliant two previous LPs – 1999’s Soft Bulletin and 2002’s Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – will not be disappointed by the new album.
One difference between AWWTM and its predecessors though is that you are less likely to hear the best tracks from the new LP on the radio.  Although lead single The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is excellent, some of the other more immediate songs such as Free Radicals and the main body of It Overtakes Me are slightly over reliant on one riff or chord sequence.
No need to worry though as they are still pretty good and the best bits of At War With The Mystics are magnificent.  Particular highlights for me are the Pink Floyd influenced Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung and acoustic prog arpeggios at the end of the aforementioned It Overtakes Me.  The crowning glory though is The Sound Of Failure with its excellent melody and hypnotic soul-influenced guitars which remind me strangely of classic Marvin Gaye.
When it comes to mesmerising musical passages, there’s barely a band around who can beat the Flaming Lips.  At War With The Mystics is another superb LP which, like its two predecessors, is among the best releases of the last 10 years.
Acquired by me:  16.4.06 (Bought)