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Product Description
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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
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It is hard to believe that this album was recorded nearly 35 years ago! It sounds as fresh and invigorating now as it did back then. You don’t have to like folk or folk/rock to appreciate the wonders of this album. This is a brilliant showcase for excellent English songwriting and band performance. The voice of Sandy Denny was simply captivating and is sorely missed. This is ably demonstrated on the opening “Come All Ye”. Rousing and spiritual, Denny makes the song fly, taking the band on a magical journey. On “Farwell, Farewell”, she has a breathless, earthiness in her voice wringing all the emotional essence out of the song. Let’s not forget the rest of the band. The winning combination of Thompson, Swarbrick, Mattacks, Nicol and Hutchings never fail to delight. A classic line-up who sound as if they really enjoy and inspire each other, especially on the instrumental medleys where the band are really on fire.
This was the band at their creative peak and the album is sympathetically produced by Joe Boyd. It is no wonder that this album regularly appears on Top 10 Best Albums of All Time lists. Though they recorded other wonderful albums, it will be for “Liege and Lief” that they will be remembered.
63 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"L&L" is possibly the ultimate English Electro-Folk album. As a 19 year old, I was taught the song "Matty Groves" whilst steering a narrow-boat down a canal. Hearing the album, a new genre of music opened up. OK, so I had dabbled in the folkier side of rock (exhibits a and b "The Song Remains the Same" by Led Zeppelin and "2112" by Rush respectively), but Fairport were taking music clear out of the safety of rock and into (shudder) folk music.
Highlighting Sandy Denny's ethereal vocals, the sometimes frenetic combination of Richard Thompson's guitar/Dave Swarbrick's fiddle relied on a rhythm section also containing various demi-gods of British folk music. Combining some of the very best performers of the 1960s and beyond, Fairport Convention were to folk-rock what John Mayall's Bluesbreakers or the Yardbirds were to R&B: a finishing school/academy of excellence.
As an aside for the hard-rock fraternity - Sandy Denny was the female singer on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore".
Highlighting Sandy Denny's ethereal vocals, the sometimes frenetic combination of Richard Thompson's guitar/Dave Swarbrick's fiddle relied on a rhythm section also containing various demi-gods of British folk music. Combining some of the very best performers of the 1960s and beyond, Fairport Convention were to folk-rock what John Mayall's Bluesbreakers or the Yardbirds were to R&B: a finishing school/academy of excellence.
As an aside for the hard-rock fraternity - Sandy Denny was the female singer on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore".
This album is to me Fairport's apogee - it has the driven supernatural thrills of "Tam Lin" and the softer, yet still dark "Crazy Man Michael" juxtaposed with the narrative "Matty Groves" and some perfect tunes to accompany 'jigging about'.
The lyrical content is on the darker side; Goth-folk, should such a genre exist.
Over the last 20 years, with the sad exception of Sandy herself, who died too young, I have had the privilege to see most of the performers who passed through Fairport, some with the band itself and some in other projects/solo. [their album "history of..." gives a family tree] This band is, to me, the foundation-stone of folk-rock and one could say that this album is the gnomen on the sun-dial of British folk-rock/electro-folk casting its shadow through time.
As a mark of the stature that playing in Fairport confers, like Carlos Santana and John Lee Hooker in their respective spheres, those who passed through Fairport have gone on to nurture the younger generation of talent and mere striplings such as aNNa rYDEr have the support. Check out some of their associates at Cropredy festival, or for the more eclectic, Guilfest, usually has artists with some Fairport connection.
To me, this is THE essential album for electro-folk/folk-rock enthusiasts.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This was the first album I ever bought, way back in 1970. The original vinyl is worn out and I replaced it with this CD. The music has the same effect it did back then - all the musicians giving it everything and Sandy Denny's voice, undoubtably at its best, still sends shivers down my spine. Wonderful album, with not a bad track on it, which showed the way for the next generations of folk-rock. Buy it - it's a bargain!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Liege and Lief: Fairport Convention - Come All Ye and listen to this...
I have long been a fan of the British folk-rock movement of the late sixties, voraciously hoovering up albums by Pentangle, Steeleye Span, John Renbourne and the like. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Victor
Disappointed but not with the music
I'd grown up in the era of Fairport Convention but had never 'really' listened to them. This was my first real exposure to them and I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 3 months ago by saysit asitis
Dated sound
A bit disappointing to be putting down what's considered a seminal folk rock LP but to my ears the sound on this recording is pretty miserable. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Gary G
English Murder Ballads and Superb Musicianship
Quite simply a masterpiece of folk-rock, as you can probably see from the number of five star reviews here. Read more
Published 15 months ago by J. Fennessy
The beginnings of folk rock in the U K
England has never embraced its own folk music the same as Scotland or Ireland and it took a rock band to do it but Fairport Convention plus the associated Steeleye Span began... Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2010 by Richard
It IS The best folk album
I'm not going to repeat any of the good stuff that has been written before. Just to say that this is THE seminal folk / rock album of all time and will never be topped; the group... Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2009 by Alan Gent
Morris Dance Tunes!!!???
The writer who said the morris dance tunes let the album down obviously is not a traditional music fan not to have noticed the only tunes on the album are Irish Jigs and Reels,... Read more
Published on 12 May 2009 by D. Parker
Timeless classic
Have not heard this album for well over 30 years, it's as fresh and brilliant as it ever was. probably yes it is the most important British folk music recording of the last... Read more
Published on 15 April 2009 by Apollo fan
Leige and Lief
Excellent CD.Ballad poems set to music.Matty Groves and Reynardine particularly good.You find yourself listening closely to the lyrics.
Published on 5 Feb 2009 by George Young
Classic Folk-Rock
"Liege and Lief" was Fairport's first album that was almost entirely inspired by traditional British music. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2008 by Morten Vindberg
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