Originally released
on vinyl in 1979 as "Farewell Farewell" (with a much-superior cover --
reproduced to the right), this is a documentation  of
Fairport's "Farewell Tour" before they broke up (and re-formed in '87
and continue to this day). It was re-released on CD once before, then
went out-of-print, and is now available once again; the previous
re-release added one bonus track, this one adds three more (the
original LP ended with "Meet on the Ledge" as most live Fairport shows
still do).
Fairport are definitely best seen live, and this album comes veryvery
close to matching that experience.
To the best of my knowledge, this is the only legitimate Fairport
recording on which one can hear Swarbrick tearing up "Orange Blossom
Special" -- it's almost worth it just for that. In one of her novels, SF author Emma Bull says of a
band that the bass player "grabbed a handful of strings and began to
climb the alphabet"; in answer to "How does he do that?", the
reply is "Too much Fairport Convention as a child." Peggie's bass on
this performance of "Orange Blossom Special" might have been the
inspiration for that crack, and Bruce Rowland (who only just recently
replaced Dave Mattacks on drums in Fairport again) is right
there too, driving the rhythm and complementing Swarb's fiddle
perfectly.
"Bridge on the River Ash", as usual, is a hoot -- all of the
non-fiddler members of Fairport playing fiddles, with running
commentary.
Given that we thought at the time that it was the end for Fairport, the
performance of "Meet on the Ledge", which is about endings and
beginnings again and friendship and loss and all the things Really Good
Music is about, was a particularly poignant ending to the original
album, here somewhat undercut by the inclusion of four bonus tracks
after it, though the bonus tracks included are all excellent and
well-worth having, particularly "Rubber Band" and "Flatback Caper".
Summing up -- an album worth having in and of itself, an important
document of an important moment in Fairport's career, and a unique
opportunity to hear any further proof you need that Dave Swarbrick is a
Great Fiddler... |
