This review was originally published by Get Ready To Rock here
The ‘On Track’ series by publishers Sonic Bond provides an album by album, track by track overview of a number of artists. The latest in the series to get this treatment are British folk-rock legends Fairport Convention. Author, Kevan Furbank, takes us on a fascinating journey through each of the band’s thirty studio album’s, from 1968’s self-titled debut to this year’s Shuffle and Go.
Each entry begins with a factual summary of personnel, recording information and release dates, followed by a brief potted history the album’s genesis and the band’s fortunes at the time it was recorded. That is then followed by Furbank’s review of each track. Having read a fair few books on folk-rock, Fairport and some of their leading personnel, most of the history was familiar to me. However, Furbank really comes into his own with his pithy and usually very insightful track by track reviews. And what he’s superb at doing is capturing the familiar styles of different Fairport personnel as well as some of the band’s most used external songwriters. ‘Tale In Hard Time’ one of Richard Thompson’s early songs on 1969’s What We Did On Our Holiday, for example, is thus introduced as “another of Richard’s gloomy/jaunty songs, an upbeat rhythmic number with slit-your-wrists lyrics” beautifully summing up a whole canon of classic Thompson output.
Furbank is also meticulous at pointing out where the band have returned to a song, as they have done on frequent occasions, and making comparisons with the earlier versions – or highlighting where the band have returned to a similar lyrical theme or musical arrangement in a different song. So if, like me, you were thinking I’m sure they’ve recycled that Eddie Cochran riff for one of those fifties rock n roll – meets trad folk song mash-ups just once too often, this book will tell you exactly which song and which album they tried it on first and where (perhaps unwisely) they thought it was a good idea to try it again.
I read the book over a single weekend, often playing the relevant albums as I turned the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s critical insights even if I did not always agree them. For those familiar with Fairport Convention’s history this will be a fascinating sit-down read, as well as a really useful reference for the future. However, if you are a Fairport fan looking to learn more this shouldn’t be the first book you read on the band. Start with Clinton Heylin’s ‘What We Did Instead Of Holidays’ or Mark Eden’s ‘Electric Eden’ or the band’s own authorised biography first and you will enjoy what this book has to offer all the more.
Published 26 March 2020 by Sonic Bond
Related reviews:
Fairport Convention at Bexhill 2020
Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2017
Album review – Fairport Convention ‘Come All Ye: The First Ten Years’
Fairport Convention – 50th anniversary gig at Union Chapel 2017
Fairport Convention at Cropredy 2014
Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 2014
Iain Matthews in Etchingham 2016
Album review – Fairport Convention ‘What We Did On Our Saturday’
Album review – Ashley Hutchings ‘From Psychedelia to Sonnets’
Album review – Ashley Hutchings ‘Twangin’ ‘n’ a-Traddin’ Revisited’
Album review – Sandy Denny ‘I’ve Always Kept a Unicorn: The Acoustic Sandy Denny’
Fotheringay at Under the Bridge, London 2015
Fotheringay at Great British Folk Festival 2015
Richard Thompson at Royal Festival Hall 2015
Richard Thompson at Folk By The Oak 2014
Album review – Richard Thompson ‘Acoustic Classics’
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