Folk rock Micro.

They did some tracks which might be considered folk prog, (A sailor's life, One more chance, Sloth, Matty Groves etc.), but they've always been far more (English) folk than anything else. Similar to Steeleye Span if that helps. Certainly not Canterbury though, although their Kentish/Morris Dancing orientation might cause such a confusion. (Canterbury happens to be in Kent). Their albums include a lot of traditional music, such as jigs and reels.

Sandy Denny was their singer for a long time (she sang on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of evermore").

I agree with Easy Livin. Fairport Convention is FOLK ROCK. Good stuff IMO. For a good representation of their rockier moments with Sandy Denny get Leige & Leif.

There is a bit of a prog crossover - members of Fairport have played with Jethro Tull. Dave Mattocks and Dave Pegg were both involved from the mid 80s to the mid 90s, and can be heard to great effect on the excellent 'A Little Light Music'.

To hear Fairports proggiest folk rock, check out Liege and Lief (no self respecting music collection is complete without it), and the compilation 'The History of Fairport Convention' gives a pretty good overview of their early years including the splendid 'A Sailor's Life' and 'Sloth', as well as the extremely rude 'Bonny Black Hare'.

Easy Livin wrote: Folk rock Micro. They did some tracks which might be considered folk prog, (A sailor's life, One more chance, Sloth, Matty Groves etc.), but they've always been far more (English) folk than anything else. Similar to Steeleye Span if that helps. Certainly not Canterbury though, although their Kentish/Morris Dancing orientation might cause such a confusion. (Canterbury happens to be in Kent). Their albums include a lot of traditional music, such as jigs and reels. Sandy Denny was their singer for a long time (she sang on Led Zeppelin's "Battle of evermore").

Agree with you: folk rock!

...I would mention David Pegg, who was also the bass player in Jethro Tull for all the 80s!

Fairport Convention are folk rock yes but considering what has been added to the archives recently, they might be joining soon too!

My favourite Fairport album is the 1987 live at Cropedy. It contains a brilliant fast jig (The Big Medley). It has some traditional folk songs (Widow of Westmoreland's Daughter and Reynard the Fox). There are also some slower songs which are great (Crazy Man Michael, The Hiring Fair and Too Close to the Wind). I usually hate slow songs but these are just played so well.

Most of Fairport Convention have played with Jethro Tull in the 1980's. That's why I first got into them. Dave Pegg was an official member of Tull for many years and is a fantastic bass player. Martin Allcock the keyboard player was in Tull for quite a while. Ric Sanders the violinist played on the track Budapest on Crest of a Knave. Dave Mattacks the drummer also played with Tull sometimes. I think the only Fairport man who didn't play with Tull is the lead singer and guitarist ... what's his name now ... if he'd played with Jethro Tull, I would have remembered it!

Yes I think their earliest albums were a big influence on the development of folk rock; sure, they were nowhere near the first, but the development of folk rock would have taken on quite a different turn without them.

I hear elements of prog in some of their songs, yet I'd be challenged to find a whole album I could call prog.

I'd say Pentangle and The Incredible String Band are far more eligible candidates for inclusion- I credit the ISB with arguably starting the whole 'acid folk' genre off.

On the subject of acid folk, anyone ever heard of an album called 'The Fool', which was made by a group of artists and designers? It's a very odd, yet at times, beautiful album, which deserves much more attention than it gets.