Five comments
Liege and Lief
Umm, not exactly the kind of album you expect to find on these pages as it’s the essence of English Folk Rock.
It was recorded in 1969 by the following lineup:
Sandy Denny - vocals
Ashley Hutchings - bass guitar
Dave Mattacks - drums
Simon Nicol - guitars
Dave Swarbrick - violin
Richard Thompson - guitars
Tracks 9 and 10 were added as bonus tracks on the remastered CD which came out in 2002.
This album was voted “most important folk album of all time” by the listeners of the BBC’s Mike Harding Show and I agree as far as England is concerned.
Sandy Denny’s singing of the ballads “Matty Groves” and “Tam Lin” is spine-chilling.
Dave Swarbrick’s fiddle playing is impressive and flashy and was very influential in England at the time.
If you get your hands on this CD, listen closely to Swarbrick’s phrasing on “Lark in the Morning” - he holds the first note of each triplet microscopically longer than the 2nd and 3rd notes. It’s pretty amazing.
Richard Thompson is my favorite guitarist. His solo version of “Banish Misfortune” is really great.
Are you kidding Jeff?
those two guys are Brits-they haven`t got the credentials to play IRISH music!
Its not that bad?
i have no problem with brits or yanks or anyone else who starts playing irish music. were all the better for the variety.
what i dislike is those ones that defend their right to play the music by saying that they are irish. thats when i get bothered i gotta admit.
but fairport convention have made no such claim and are a fantastic group.
Drumming…
Yeah I have the remastered one. The drumming on the “Lark In the Morning” medley really gets up my nose though - totally overpowering and overstated, chock full of fills there isn’t time for…