Fairport Convention’s Cropredy Celebrates the Band’s History with a Nod to the Future.
Just after Fairport Convention’s annual Cropredy Festival got underway a few years ago, Chris Leslie did one of many interviews.
The joke that day, as always at the annual festival, was about the clouds that were rolling in and whether rain would keep some of the expected 20,000-plus attendees away.
“Well there is a big patch of blue, and that’s not just pure optimism,” Leslie said to Paul Johnson and Darren Beech of Folking.com, when they pointed out a possible storm. “There is a big patch of blue and I’m going to keep looking at it.”
If ever there was a guiding principle for Fairport, Leslie may have summed it up with those words. As the band that created British folk rock celebrates its 45th anniversary this year, with a major extravaganza at the annual Cropredy Festival, it’s impossible not to recall all the storms that threatened it. A fatal car crash, major missteps by management, and line up changes that came at critical junctures all threatened to sink the band before it really got underway.
But as the 20,000+ plus attendees that filled the field at this year’s annual Cropredy Festival proved, the band not only celebrates its past, but likely has a bright future.
Special guests including Joan Armatrading, The Saw Doctors, and Big Country, dazzled, the crowd but the extravaganza belonged to Fairport past, present, and perhaps future.
Nicol, longest serving member bassist Dave Pegg, drummer Gerry Conway, fiddler Ric Sanders, and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Leslie, seemed to take special joy in welcoming alums
including founder Ashley Hutchings, guitarist Richard Thompson, fiddler Dave Swarbrick, and drummer Dave Mattacks and having them take well deserved turns in the limelight.
In a very real way, the members also highlighted the band’s various musical trails. There was, of course, the early days in the late 1960s when the band was something akin to an English version of the Mamas and the Papas or the Beach Boys. There was the classic line up with vocalist Sandy Denny, regarded by many as among the finest female vocalists in English music, when the group recorded some of its finest work including “What We Did on Our Holidays” and “Unhalfbricking.” Then there was the more traditional folk music, when Swarbrick and Mattacks were members, that resulted in what many consider the best British folk album of all time “Liege and Lief.” And the list goes on with more rock-oriented music, nods toward jazz, and a return to what many consider more traditional folk.
Much of the credit for the band’s continued vitality goes to Nicol and Pegg, who have allowed new members to tweak the band’s sound.
“You have to embrace change,” said Nicol. “If you choose one formula and stick with it, you will go stale. [And past member developed musically], burst the bonds and moved on. That has worked well. This band is more like a family than a marriage where you vow to stay together forever. All the people that were in Fairport, past and present, have strong [ties to the band].”
And let’s not forget future. Blair Wesley Dunlop, Hutchings’ son, was one of the younger generation of the Fairport family that gave a stellar performance at this year’s Cropredy. In fact, Dunlop has reinvented the Albion Band, with his father’s blessing and gratitude, and is ready to take that to the next generation of folk fans.
As a close observer of the band Hutchings, who also founded the Albion Band and was instrumental in forming Steeleye Span, said Fairport has developed into more of a powerhouse than he had ever hoped. One can only hope that the band continues to expand into the next generation, much as the Albion Band has done. It certainly has the foundation to do so, noted Hutchings.
“I do see fire in the belly,” he said noting the enthusiasm of the current line up and noting Leslie’s songs are a perfect fit in the band’s catalogue. “The standard of musicianship is much higher than when we started. I’m not saying we didn't have great musicians, but now the standard of playing is very, very high. That pleases me greatly.”
Find out more about Fairport Convention, their music, Cropredy and other concert dates on the band’s official website.
NANCY DUNHAM
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