Fairport Convention: Liege And Lief - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Hi,

In my book, this is one of the best albums ever done, specially if one considers one of the prettiest things EVER RECORDED in rock music ... REYNARDINE.

I always thought that this was a very important album when it first came out, and although things like Beatles and KC, JT and ELP were all the rage, in the end, this is one of the albums that I love the most and can sit back and die away with the easiest ... it is splendid and well done.

If I have a sad comment about it all, it is that Richard Thompson, never really did that style of guitar playing ever again, and I think that it might have been a sort of tribute to Sandy Denny, but he has never really said anything about her that I can remember, which suggests other issues, but the combination was totally amazing, and in that album, it is positively exciting and far out.

I, sometimes, think that PA has a total and complete aversion to things that are heavenly beautiful (sorry for the illusion!), because it does not have a rock beat and a recognized format that everyone can recognize, and in this process, folks like Peter Hammill, Roy Harper and total individualistic styles that are more represented by the words and the person behind them ... get more often than not taken for granted. It isn't about the singing style, or this or that ... it is something else that words can not describe, and only a few folks have that feeling, and can reach for the stars and bring it to you and I.

Sandy Denny was one.

BTW, catch the Remastered last album of hers with FC and make sure you listen to "One More Chance" in the complete version and then die away in tears on her piano version demo ... such a beautiful voice and control of the wording ... and she also did it in Reynardine, which, btw had been written many years ago. Like over 100 years! But "One More Chance" is all Sandy Denny.

One evening as I rambled
Among the leaves so green,
I overheard a young woman
Converse with Reynardine.
Her hair was black, her eyes were blue,
Her lips as red as wine,
And he smiled to gaze upon her,
Did that sly, bold Reynardine.
She said, "Kind sir, be civil,
My company forsake,
For in my own opinion
I fear you are some rake."
"Oh no, " he said, "no rake am I,
Brought up in Venus' train,
But I'm seeking for concealment
All along the lonesome plain.
Your beauty so enticed me,
I could not pass it by,
So it's with my gun I'll guard you
All on the mountains high.
And if by chance you should look for me,
Perhaps you'll not me find,
For I'll be in my castle,
Inquire for Reynardine."
Sun and dark she followed him,
His teeth did brightly shine,
And he led her up a-the mountains,
Did that sly, bold Reynardine.

Songwriters: Ashley Hutchings / David Mattacks / David Swarbrick / Richard John (Gb1) Thompson / Sandy Denny / Simon Nicol

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com

Great album....certainly my favorite by them, and I'm a bit surprised that there are no 4 stars here at PA on the early albums.

One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin

^Yeah...prog related....that is odd imho...should most definitely be prog folk.

btw....Richard Thompson is a great guitarist who rarely gets mentioned and I should have mentioned him in the underrated guitarists thread.

One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin

I actually think, in retrospect, it was underrated in it's time (at least here in the US). It is such a creative melding and with such stellar musicians (they were all so young and so talented). I actually prefer The John Renbourn Group's version of "Reynardine," but that was done in a more traditional style, and many years later, so not exactly a direct comparison. That being said, Matty Groves is so much fun, as is Tam Lin (love those long tales versions of songs) and Crazy Man Michael so plaintive and beautiful to close it out.

Richard Thompson fan here, he just about can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned.

"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp

Good record but i prefer WHAT WE DID ON A HOLIDAYS a little more.

Edited by grantman - December 04 2018 at 14:22

^ I became a fan by osmosis as my late wife turned me on to them when we first got together in the UK in the seventies. I was prepared for something stuffy and staid and was floored the first time that I heard Liege And Lief. Then I saw them live. Just the Swarbrick led foursome after Sandy left the group for the second time. They were still great.

Edited by SteveG - December 05 2018 at 04:27

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It's also strange that Renbourn , Jansch, Fairport , and Steeleye Span are represented here yet Thompson and Drake don't have a PA page under prog folk.......go figure.

One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin

Sandy Denny - one of the few singers who can truly make me cry, I love her voice more than any other and the interpretations are always breathtaking, full of feeling and meaning (and a great composer too)

Richard Thompson - I certainly agree he is underrated, the guy can use those 6 strings to good effect, that's for sure.

Liege & Lief - always a favorite of mine, but then I'm biased for FC since I take immense pleasure from almost everything they did .

Only saw them live once, in 1978, Sandy tragically already gone only a couple months before, for whom they dedicated a song, can't remember exactly which anymore (fool me !)

^ Right, and I proposed her once, not many time ago...

(I can concede her solo work is not that much prog)

Raff wrote:

Superb album, a true masterpiece Heart

. Is it prog? Who cares, with music that good? Anyway, the title is Liege and Lief (a word of Old English origin meaning "dear", "beloved"), not Leaf.

Right you are! Wish I'd noticed that. Great eyes, there.

"Into every rain, a little life must fall." ~Tom Rapp

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