What We Did On Our Holidays
| What We Did on Our Holidays | ||||
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| Studio album by Fairport Convention | ||||
| Released | January 1969 | |||
| Recorded | June–October 1968 at Kingsway and Olympic Studio No. 1 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, folk | |||
| Length | 38:07 | |||
| Label |
Island ILPS 9092 (UK) A&M SP 4185 (US) Hannibal (reissue) |
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| Producer | Joe Boyd | |||
| Fairport Convention chronology | ||||
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| Singles from "What We Did on Our Holidays" | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
US self-titled release on A&M Records
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | A− |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable) |
What We Did on Our Holidays, released in 1969, is the second album by the band Fairport Convention, and was the first to feature Sandy Denny, whose "haunting, ethereal vocals gave Fairport a big boost", according to Allmusic's reviewer. The album also showed a move towards the folk rock for which they became noted, including tracks later to become perennial favourites such as "Fotheringay" and the song traditionally used to close live concerts, "Meet on the Ledge".
Following the departure of Judy Dyble, the band conducted auditions for a replacement singer, and Sandy Denny became the obvious choice. Simon Nicol has said "it was a one horse race really...she stood out like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes".
The album has been described by author Richie Unterberger as "a near-ideal balance between imaginative reworkings of traditional folk songs ... quality covers of contemporary folk-rock singer-songwriters, some quite obscure ... and original folk-rock material by various members". Simon Nicol has cited the album as his favourite.
The cover features a sketch of the band performing, described in the album credits as "from a blackboard assaulted by Fairport Convention" and the reverse of the original sleeve a photograph of the band performing. The Island Masters 1990 re-release IMCD 97 also features a portrait of Sandy Denny.
In the USA, the album was released by A&M Records (SP-4185), containing an identical track listing but featured new cover art, and was retitled Fairport Convention.
In 2008 Four Men With Beards released a 180 gram version of the album that is being distributed by City Hall Records.
Neal Casal, of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, lists What We Did on Our Holidays as one of his favourite albums of all time.
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