"...A High Consumption Of Mandrake-Root..."
After the quite awesome album-trio of
"What We Did On Our Holidays", "Unhalfbricking" and
"Liege And Lief" (January, July and December 1969 – the Fairports
being one of less than 15 artists to release three albums of original material
in the same country in the same year) - I always thought July 1970's "Full
House" was a wee bit of a 7-track disappointment what with the kerfuffle
surrounding the fabulous "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" song
(dropped at the eleventh hour).
In fact, band member and long-time Fairport
inner historian Simon Nicol tells us in his informative and witty liner notes
that Lead Guitarist Richard Thompson and Producer Joe Boyd were so late
replacing "Poor Will..." with "Flowers Of The Forest" that
the first 5000 cover arts of the UK LP actually have "Poor Will & The
Jolly Hangman" listed on the rear and had to be pasted over in gold
lettering to state "Flowers Of The Forest" (now there is a vinyl
rarity if ever there was one). Personally I can't help feel that the album
would have been infinitely better with both on it and something lesser like the
step-we-gaily-as-we-go romp of "Dirty Linen" had been dropped
instead. But that's why I give this wickedly good 'Island Folk Remasters' CD
reissue five stars - it contains five superb bonus cuts that will allow you to
sequence the album you want - rather than the one we were given almost five
decades ago.
And the CD remaster sounds bloody good too,
especially given the notorious recorded-on-two-continents (UK and USA)
ramshackle nature of the recordings. Nicol even suggests the sound may not be
audiophile but it's a band gelling, bursting with heart and the new blood of
Dave Pegg who had replaced Sandy Denny (gone off to Fotheringay) – and I think
hindsight has proven him right. Hell – we might even be able decipher RT's
loony liner notes apparently loosely based on some hallucinogenic Tolkien-esque
games almanac (gotta say no to that mandrake-root Richard). Let the mediaeval
games commence...
UK released 1 October 2001 - "Full
House" by FAIRPORT CONVENTION on Universal/Island IMCD 285/586375-2
(Barcode 731458637523) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue (Five Bonus Tracks) in
the 'Island Folk Remasters' Series that plays out as follows (59:03 minutes):
1. Walk Awhile
2. Doctor Of Physick
3. Dirty Linen
4. Sloth
5. Sir Patrick Spens
6. Flatback Caper
7. Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman
8. Flowers Of The Forest
Tracks 1, 3 and 4 make up Side 1 of the
original July 1970 UK LP "Full House" on Island ILPS 9130 - whilst
Tracks 5, 6, 2 and 8 make up Side 2 (same tracks for the September 1970 USA LP
on A&M Records SP 4265). Track 7 is the song dropped from the album at the
last minute and is a Bonus.
BONUS TRACKS (Five including Track 7):
9. Now Be Thankful (Mono)
10. Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament For The
77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of
Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird
Of Kinleakie
Tracks 9 and 10 are the non-album A&B-sides
of a UK 7" single released 9 October 1970 on Island WIP 6089
11. Bonny Bunch Of Roses - album outtake
recorded May 1970 at the Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, California, USA - but
not used. Returned to and re-recorded as the title song to their 13th UK album
"Bonny Bunch Of Roses" issued February 1977 on Vertigo Records 9102
015
12. Now Be Thankful (New Stereo Mix) - February
1998 SUHA GUR Mix
FAIRPORT CONVENTION was:
DAVE MATTACKS – Drums, Harmonium and Bodhran
SIMON NICOL – Vocals, Electric, Acoustic and
Bass Guitars, Dulcimer
DAVE PEGG – Vocals, Bass Guitar and Mandolin
DAVE SWARBRICK – Vocals, Fiddle, Viola and
Mandolin
RICHARD THOMPSON – Vocals and Lead Electric
Guitar
A very nice touch is that the beautiful
textured gatefold sleeve of the ILPS 9130 LP is ever-so-slightly repro’d in the
hessian feel of the six-leaf-per-side foldout liner notes – the text peppered
with those gorgeous mediaeval cartoons of the five band members (done by a
mysterious crowd called Superwives). While most of us know the 7-track
configuration I've outlined above – the liner notes tell us that Tracks 1 to 8
constitute the ‘original’ album – clearly as the remaining band now wants us to
see it. It doesn't say who did the Remaster but Audio Engineer SUHA GUR is a
name I actively seek out - he's done the James Brown Singles Collections on
Hip-O Select, Luther Allison, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker's "Mad
Dogs...", The Allman Brothers, Kansas and many more. The Audio is great
and what an absolute find "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" is -
never mind the beautiful Stereo mix of the Swarbrick/Thompson single "Now
Be Thankful". Let's get to the music...
The Side One opener "Walk Awhile"
offers up a Swarbrick/Thompson continuation of the Fiddle/Guitar Folk Rock of
"Liege & Lief" - a fun start and a very confident
here's-a-new-genre get-used-to-it statement of intent. The track would It's
followed by the Traditional "Dirty Linen" - a step-we-gaily
instrumental with a guitar break half way through its drunken charlady jaunt
around your living room. Far better for me is the fabulous almost Bluesy-Folk
vibe to the nine-minute "Sloth" - another sozzled historical slowy
where lyrically the right thing is suddenly the wrong thing - where
"...just a roll on your drum and a war is begun..."
Side 2 offers up four in the shape of "Sir
Patrick Spens" (a Fiddle and Guitar tale of mermaids warning sailors that
they won't see dry land even if Pat has different ideas), "Flatback
Caper" (an instrumental Traditional that has a Swarbrick/Pegg Mandolin
battle), "Doctor Of Physick"
(a Swarbrick/Thompson composition where dodgy types come to steal purses in the
dead of night and maidens lose their head) and finally the sophisticated and
brilliant "Flowers Of The Forest" - all the harmony vocalists in this
Folky Boy Band doing the song proud. And of course a fab find in the long and
winding "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" - a slow piece of
Thompson genius (so shows the way his solo career would unfold) where our
protagonist sings a health to the Jolly hangman who'll string you up the best
he can (what a guy). The A-side of the stand-alone single is great too - long a
stalwart in their live repertoire while the impossibly monikered B-side makes a
dash for The Guinness Book Of Records as the longest name in a song.
Those five extras have lifted this reissue of
"Full House" (Fairport's fifth) into a much better place for me. And
for less than a five-spot to the right jailer, this 'Island Folk Remaster' CD
can be in your home before you can say, impeach that mediaeval rascal and his
bonny bunch of ring-dum-a-do-da roses. Nearly 50 years on and those goodies
still get to me. Great stuff and recommended...
