Audio CD review:
Fairport Convention - Moat on the Ledge: Live at Broughton Castle

Fairport Convention - Moat on the Ledge: Live at Broughton Castle

Band: Fairport Convention Title: Moat on the Ledge: Live at Broughton Castle Rating: Release Date: 2007-05-01 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Walk Awhile 2: Country Pie 3: Rosie 4: Matty Groves 5: Both Sides Now 6: Poor Willy And The Hangman 7: The Brilliancy Medley And The Cherokee Shuffle Woman Or A Man 8: High School Confidential

The beginning of something big... Having broken up in 1979, the Fairportsd decided to get together and do a reunion show. This is a record of the first of what developed into Fairport Convention's annual Cropredy Festival - still going stong, twenty-seven years down the road. And it just sort of all grew from there. Reformed in 1987 as a performing unit, Fairport (like their festival) is still going strong. This is not necessarily the best-recorded album, but it's got Good Stuff on it. and meet on the ledge they do The Full House lineup reunites, plus Rowlands (presumably on additional percussion~ Mattacks is on full power himself) in 1981. This is really a great find. Amazing that these exact guys hadn't played together in ten years, and they haven't missed a beat; impossibly tight for a one-off performance. They're as intense on Poor Will & the Jolly Hangman & Matty Groves as they were on House Full from '70. Thompson & Swarbick have some fierce duets on the jigs (Brilliancy Melody/Cherokee Shuffle). Country Pie is fun, too, and it smokes musically. On top of all this, as another even rarer bonus, Judy Dyble (re-)joins the band to sing "Both Sides Now," Fairport's very first single from 1967 (and, you guessed it, her voice sounds like a dove). The real deal here, these guys are just great, I guess. You can see a complete list of all Fairport Convention discography, or go back to the Fairport Convention tabs