Fairport Convention › Full House (Shm-CD) [import]

Fairport Convention: Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson (vocals, guitar); Dave Swarbrick (vocals, fiddle); Dave Pegg (bass); Dave Mattacks (drums).

After the breathtaking LEIGE AND LEIF, Fairport Convention was dealt what seemed an insurmountable blow when singer Sandy Denny quit. However, the remaining four were seasoned veterans at wrestling disaster from the jaws of a tiger. FULL HOUSE may not have been what the group envisioned at the record's outset, or what fans expected, but the results reveal another creative high point for the acclaimed folk-rockers.

This incarnation of Fairport Convention was their first without a female voice (and, with the exception of Denny's brief return in the mid-seventies, they would remain that way henceforth). Still, barring the non-singing drummer Dave Mattacks, they possessed a quartet of sympathetically harmonic singers. The writing team of guitarist Richard Thompson and fiddler Dave Swarbrick came up with a trio of classics in "Walk Awhile, " "Sloth, " and "Doctor of Physick, " but it was a teaming that was to prove short-lived, as Thompson departed before the next studio album. They did however make one trip to the USA and are captured live on their follow-up release HOUSE FULL.

Genre:

• Folk

Music Categories:

• Rock & Pop: British Folk Rock