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The group's only concept album (similar in some ways to the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow), built around the life story of John "Babbacombe" Lee, a Victorian-era condemned murderer. Lee's story, from his boyhood poverty to his time in the Royal Navy, his being invalided out and forced to work in the service of Miss Keyes, to her murder and his sentence of death, and the failure of the gallows three times, is told in song, and all but one of those songs are originals. The all-male Fairport seldom sang better, nor did the post-Thompson band ever play with more panache, and some of the songs are beautiful -- but a few are lugubrious, and as with most other concept albums, the fit between the songs and the larger subject ultimately isn't entirely comfortable for the listener. All of the material was confusing because the group, for some reason, never put titles on the individual songs, instead stringing them together in longer sections. The critics loved it, but the listeners stayed away in droves for the first time since the band's debut album.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Unknown, Author - Dave Mattacks, Drums, Digital Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Simon Nicol, Author, Producer, Guitar, Dulcimer, AssociatedPerformer - Fairport Convention, MainArtist - Dave Pegg, Composer, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Swarbrick, Mandolin, Fiddle, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - John M. Wood, Producer
℗ 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Traditional, ComposerLyricist - Dave Mattacks, Drums, Digital Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Simon Nicol, Producer, Guitar, Dulcimer, AssociatedPerformer - Ronald Cooper, Composer - Fairport Convention, MainArtist - Dave Pegg, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Swarbrick, Mandolin, Fiddle, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Albert Lancaster Lloyd, Arranger, Work Arranger - John M. Wood, Producer
℗ 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Unknown, Author - Dave Mattacks, Drums, Digital Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Simon Nicol, Producer, Guitar, Dulcimer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Fairport Convention, MainArtist - Dave Pegg, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Swarbrick, Mandolin, Fiddle, AssociatedPerformer - John M. Wood, Producer
℗ 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Dave Mattacks, Drums, Digital Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Simon Nicol, Producer, Guitar, Dulcimer, AssociatedPerformer - Fairport Convention, MainArtist - Dave Pegg, Composer, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Swarbrick, Author, Mandolin, Fiddle, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - John M. Wood, Producer
℗ 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Dave Mattacks, Drums, Digital Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Simon Nicol, Producer, Guitar, Dulcimer, AssociatedPerformer - Fairport Convention, MainArtist - Dave Pegg, Composer, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Dave Swarbrick, Mandolin, Fiddle, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - John M. Wood, Producer
℗ 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Album review
The group's only concept album (similar in some ways to the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow), built around the life story of John "Babbacombe" Lee, a Victorian-era condemned murderer. Lee's story, from his boyhood poverty to his time in the Royal Navy, his being invalided out and forced to work in the service of Miss Keyes, to her murder and his sentence of death, and the failure of the gallows three times, is told in song, and all but one of those songs are originals. The all-male Fairport seldom sang better, nor did the post-Thompson band ever play with more panache, and some of the songs are beautiful -- but a few are lugubrious, and as with most other concept albums, the fit between the songs and the larger subject ultimately isn't entirely comfortable for the listener. All of the material was confusing because the group, for some reason, never put titles on the individual songs, instead stringing them together in longer sections. The critics loved it, but the listeners stayed away in droves for the first time since the band's debut album.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 5 track(s)
- Total length: 00:41:01
- Main artists: Fairport Convention
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Universal-Island Records Ltd.
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited ℗ 1971 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
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