Liege & Lief

Dirty Linen

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #133 (December 2007/January 2008).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Liege & Lief

The Best British Folk-Rock Album of All?

by T.J. McGrath

There were many reasons to attend the three-day 2007 Fairport's Cropredy Convention in England this past summer in August in the charming village of Cropredy, but perhaps the best one, if you ask the various festivalgoers who were assembled from all four corners of the world, was to witness the re-creation of the classic 1969 album Liege and Lief performed by the original players in Fairport Convention: Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Mattacks, Ashley Hutchings, and, taking the place of the late singer Sandy Denny, the talented Chris While. This portentous album successfully merged English folk and rock music for the very first time, and for many music lovers back in the 60s it was a revelation and a glorious departure from the some of the tasteless pop songs and strung-out psychedelic jamming of the era.

Liege and Lief, Fairport's greatest album, is rightly considered to be a benchmark for classic folk-rock albums. It's been consistently voted by listeners to BBC Radio as "The Best Folk Album Ever" and the "Most Influential Folk Album of All Time," and many music fans rally around the disc as their Desert Island Pick #1. With its lavender floral border and six antique-looking oval photos of the band, the front of the album made a powerful statement for all music enthusiasts back then: English roots music rocks! The album's songs sweep you back in time, and the odd liner notes with numerous illustrations and references to Pace-eggers, Prof. Francis James Child, the Padstow Hobby-Horse, the Burry Man, Cecil Sharp, George Wyatt, morris dancing, and wren hunting confirm that you are not in Kansas anymore. An American may be bewildered, but an Englishman may give you a nod and a wink. The album is a primer and salute to English folk music that looks incredibly hip and inviting, even today.

[cover #133]