Fairport Convention
| Fairport Convention | |
|---|---|
Fairport Convention celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2007
|
|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Fairport (1976) Fairport Featuring Dave Swarbrick (1976) (US) |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Folk, electric folk, folk rock |
| Years active | 1967–79, 1985–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | fairportconvention |
| Members | |
| Past members | See: Members section |
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and electric folk band. Formed in 1967, they are widely regarded as a key group in the English folk rock movement.
Their seminal album Liege & Lief is considered to have launched the electric folk or English folk rock movement, which provided a distinctively English identity to rock music and helped awaken much wider interest in traditional music in general. The large number of personnel who have been part of the band are among the most highly regarded and influential musicians of their era and have gone on to participate in a large number of significant bands, or enjoyed important solo careers.
Since 1979, they have hosted the Cropredy Festival, which is the largest such annual event in England. Individually and collectively the members of Fairport Convention have received numerous awards recognising their contribution to music and culture. As of 2017[update], they continue to record and tour.
Bassist Ashley Hutchings met guitarist Simon Nicol in North London in 1966 when they both played in the Ethnic Shuffle Orchestra. They rehearsed on the floor above Nicol's father's medical practice in a house called "Fairport" on Fortis Green in Muswell Hill, North London (the same street on which Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks grew up), which lent its name to the group they formed together as Fairport Convention in 1967 with Richard Thompson on guitar and Shaun Frater on drums. After their first performance at St Michael's Church Hall in Golders Green, North West London on 27 May 1967, they had their first of many line-up changes as one member of the audience, drummer Martin Lamble, convinced the band that he could do a better job than Frater and replaced him. They soon added a female singer, Judy Dyble, which gave them a distinctive sound among the many London bands of the period.
...
Wikipedia