Fairport Convention are a British folk rock band, formed in 1967 by Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Ashley Hutchings and Shaun Frater, with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig. They started out heavily influenced by American folk rock and singer-songwriter material, with a setlist dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname 'the British Jefferson Airplane'. Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, with Matthews leaving during the recording of their third album.
Dave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk and rock groups including the Ian Campbell Folk Group and Jethro Tull.
Full House is a 1970 album by British folk rock group Fairport Convention, their fifth since their debut, Fairport Convention in 1968. The album was their first without a female vocalist, as Sandy Denny had left to form Fotheringay. Founder member Ashley Hutchings had also left for Steeleye Span, and Dave Pegg had joined on bass.
Smiddyburn is a 1981 folk album recorded by Dave Swarbrick and named after the farm in Aberdeenshire where Swarbrick lived at the time. The tracks are mostly renditions of traditional folk tunes, and Swarbrick is assisted by his erstwhile colleagues from Fairport Convention as well as his early mentor, Beryl Marriott.
Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist, as well as the first to feature future long-serving personnel Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks on violin/mandolin and drums, respectively, as full band members. It is also the first Fairport album on which all songs are either adapted (freely) from traditional British and Celtic folk material, or else are original compositions written and performed in a similar style. Although Denny quit the band even before the album's release, Fairport Convention has continued to the present day to make music strongly based within the British folk rock idiom, and are still the band most prominently associated with it.
"Babbacombe" Lee is a 1971 album by British folk rock group Fairport Convention, which tells the life story of John Babbacombe Lee, a Victorian-era alleged murderer who was condemned to death but reprieved after the gallows failed on three occasions to work properly. After the commercial and chart success of its predecessor, Angel Delight, the album sold disappointingly, though it was critically acclaimed, and is regarded by the authors of The Electric Muse (1975) as the first "folk rock opera". It was the band's seventh album since their debut in 1968.
Sandy is the second solo album by British folk rock musician Sandy Denny. Work on the album began just a fortnight after her UK tour promoting her debut solo album, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, ended in early November 1971 and continued through to May 1972.The album was released in September 1972.
Live at the L.A. Troubadour along with its reissued counterpart House Full are the only live Fairport Convention albums recorded while Richard Thompson was a full-time band member. It was recorded in 1970 on the Full House tour and was reissued in 1986 and again in 2007, with modifications. Seven of the eight tracks are available on the House Full album with one being found only on this album.
House Full: Live at the L.A. Troubadour not to be confused with its earlier counterpart Live at the L.A. Troubadour is the only currently available live Fairport Convention album to feature Richard Thompson as a band member.
Moat on the Ledge: Live at Broughton Castle, August '81 is a live folk rock album by Fairport Convention. The album was produced by Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg.
Rising for the Moon is the tenth studio album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in 1975. It reached number 52 in the UK albums charts. This was the last Fairport album to feature vocalist Sandy Denny.
Nine is a 1973 album by the British folk rock group Fairport Convention. It is their ninth album since their debut in 1968, and the second to include Trevor Lucas and Jerry Donahue. No original members of Fairport Convention were involved in making the album. According to AllMusic, it is the band's most uneven album.
Rosie is a 1973 album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, their eighth album since their debut in 1968.
The Cropredy Box is an album by Fairport Convention recorded at their annual live concert in Cropredy, Oxfordshire, England to celebrate the band's thirtieth anniversary in 1997. Featuring many songs for which the band had become noted, the set also features performances from many former members including violinist Dave Swarbrick, original vocalist Judy Dyble, and Ralph McTell. Commentary is provided by their first manager, Joe Boyd, and Ashley Hutchings.
Fairport Chronicles is a 1976 compilation album of the British folk-rock band Fairport Convention, including songs from 1968 to the departure of the last original member in 1972. The double album is unique in that it was only released in the USA, features original material and American covers over the traditional material usually associated with Fairport, and includes songs from side projects. All of the material was originally issued in the USA on A&M Records, which explains the exclusion of songs taken from their first, pre-Sandy Denny album, which was only later released in the United States.
Gottle O'Geer is the eleventh studio album by English folk rock band Fairport Convention. The album was released through Island Records in May 1976.
Expletive Delighted! is a 1986 album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, their fifteenth studio album since their debut in 1968. It is the band's only album consisting solely of instrumental tracks, despite the claim "Lyric sheet enclosed" on the album cover.
In Real Time: Live '87 is a 1987 album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention. Although appearing to consist of recordings of concert performances, the album was largely recorded at The Mill studio, Farnham, Buckinghamshire, with audience responses dubbed on later, reputedly taken from a recording of a John Martyn concert.
Old New Borrowed Blue is the nineteenth studio album by folk rock band Fairport Convention, although for this release, they were billed as "Fairport Acoustic Convention" as it was the band's first all-acoustic album in 29 years. Part studio, part live, it was recorded to publicise a tour of the United States and consisted of cover versions, new songs and classic tracks dating back to the band's early career. Dave Mattacks, who had provided drums and electronic instrumentation for previous albums, was absent.
Live at the BBC is a compilation album by English folk-rock band Fairport Convention released in 2007. It includes tracks recorded for the BBC for various radio programmes between 1968 and 1974 and consists of four CDs in a fold-out package with a fifty-page booklet including song lyrics and numerous contemporary photographs.
