10 Best Fairport Convention Songs

Bassist Ashley Hutchings and rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol formed Fairport Convention in 1967. They named the band after Nicol’s father’s medical practice, above which they rehearsed, on the same Muswell street as the Davies brothers of The Kinks grew up.

Lead guitarist Richard Thompson and drummer Martin Lamble joined the group, along with vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews. When Fairport Convention recorded their 1968 debut, they were a folk-rock band, but rather than taking cues from traditional British sounds, they were more akin to Jefferson Airplane and The Byrds. Vocalist Sandy Denny replaced Dyble after their first album, and the band became known for their electric versions of ye olde folke songs like ‘Matty Groves’ and ‘A Sailor’s Life’. As well as their covers, the band also had strong in-house writers Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny.

This list exclusively focuses on the band’s early years, when they had Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings, Iain Matthews, and Sandy Denny pass through their ranks. All four of these members had left by the time they recorded their 6th album 1971’s Angel Delight. I recently posted a Sandy Denny list, which left out her 1960s Fairport work but included Fairport’s excellent 1975 track ‘One More Chance’. Eight of these songs are from a single year – 1969 – when Fairport released all three of their albums featuring Sandy Denny on lead vocals.

10 Best Fairport Convention Songs

#10 Sloth

Written by Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick, from Full House, 1970
Fairport was an all-male band for Full House after Sandy Denny left the group – reportedly encouraged out because her boyfriend was so annoying. The band certainly were weaker in the vocal department without Denny – Swarbrick, Thompson, and Nicol sharing the lead. But the Full House lineup is the strongest instrumentally, with the addition of Dave Pegg on bass. As the title implies, ‘Sloth’ is extremely slow-paced – it’s a sprawling song with brief anti-war lyrics and plenty of room for the band to jam.

#9 Sir Patrick Spens

Traditional, from Full House, 1970
Fairport’s traditional covers from the Sandy Denny era are rightly celebrated, but ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ is a little overlooked. It’s a popular traditional ballad that tells the tale of a doomed voyage in the dead of winter in the North Sea. Despite the tragic music, it’s a joy to hear Thompson and Swarbrick play the delightful riff together. The band tackled the tune during the Liege & Lief sessions with Denny on vocals but the Full House version is more sprightly and fun.

#8 Genesis Hall

Written by Richard Thompson, from Unhalfbricking, 1969
This Richard Thompson song opens Fairport’s third album, Unhalfbricking. It sounds like a traditional melody, but it’s about a contemporary event. According to Songfacts, “Genesis Hall was an abandoned hotel in London’s Drury Lane, originally the Bell Hotel. It had been occupied by hippie squatters. The London police had evicted the squatters, and eventually caused the building to be razed. Thompson’s father was a member of the London police force at the time, and the lyrics refer to the incident.”

#7 Fotheringay

Written by Sandy Denny, from What We Did On Our Holidays, 1969
Denny’s first album with Fairport Convention opens with ‘Fotheringay’, her song about the final hours of Mary Queen of Scots. Fotheringhay was the name of a castle in Northamptonshire where Mary was imprisoned. Fotheringay later became the name of Denny’s post-Fairport group.

#6 Meet On The Ledge

Written by Richard Thompson, from What We Did On Our Holidays, 1969
Fairport Convention often use ‘Meet on the Ledge’ as a closing number in live sets, a signal to fans that there will be no more encores. Thompson was still a teenager when he wrote it – afraid of expressing his feelings directly, he deliberately left the lyrics ambiguous. He later revealed that it was about a tree that he and his friends played in as a child. He told Mojo: “I had to sing it at my own mother’s funeral. It was in her will. That’s about the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

#5 Who Knows Where The Time Goes

Written by Sandy Denny, from Unhalfbricking, 1969
Denny wrote ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ in 1967 before she joined Fairport. A gently meditative song on It became her signature song – Judy Collins recorded it before Fairport’s version. Fairport’s version was voted the “Favourite Folk Track Of All Time” by BBC Radio 2 listeners in 2007, although personally, I like four other Fairport versions even more.

#4 Farewell, Farewell

Written by Richard Thompson (to a traditional tune), from Liege & Lief, 1969
While most of Liege & Lief consists of traditional songs, Richard Thompson contributed two pieces that dovetail in nicely. ‘Farewell, Farewell’ takes its tune from the traditional ‘Willie O Winsbury’. The song can be interpreted as a farewell to Thompson’s girlfriend Jeanne Franklyn, who passed away in a 1969 car accident. The line “And will you never cut the cloth” may be a reference to her work as a tailor. Thompson has never performed the song live, presumably because of its deeply personal nature. Denny’s vocal is clear and gorgeous.

#3 Tam Lin

Traditional, from Liege & Lief, 1969
The traditional song ‘Tam Lin’ dates back to at least 1549. It tells of a mortal man, Tam Lin, captured by the Queen of Faeries. It’s another lengthy song with space for Thompson and Swarbrick to jam, and Denny’s quietly menacing vocal sells the story beautifully.

#2 Percy’s Song

Written by Bob Dylan, from Unhalfbricking, 1969
Iain Matthews stayed in Fairport Convention just long enough to provide backing vocals on this Bob Dylan cover. The band were invited to hear Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes, as yet unreleased, and cherry-picked this song from it. They’re known for their electrified covers of traditional songs, but Fairport Convention made some fine recordings of contemporary material. Their takes on Joni Mitchell’s ‘Eastern Rain’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘I’ll Keep It With Mine’ are also excellent but this is my favourite with its gorgeous harmonies. The line “a crash on the highway flew the car to a field” presages a tragic event in Fairport’s history – before Unhalfbricking was released, the band were involved in a car accident that killed drummer Martin Lamble and Thompson’s girlfriend Jeanne Franklyn.

#1 Matty Groves

Traditional, from Liege & Lief, 1969
This salacious murder ballad is a great candidate for the full electric treatment. It tells the story of a commoner, Matty Groves, a more accomplished lover than Lord Donald, but a less accomplished fighter. Half of the song is given over to Swarbrick and Thompson’s jamming, along with Denny’s voice, their interplay is a prime attraction of Fairport Convention.

Did I miss your favourite Fairport Convention song?

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