Liege and Lief by Fairport Convention

The beginning of British Folk-Rock and its crowning achievement

The British band, Fairport Convention, did not start out as the bastions of the folk rock sub-genre. Their first self-titled album reflected their live performances of largely American covers, dominated by singer songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Accordingly they were known as ‘the British Jefferson Airplane.’ Anyone listening to their debut album will surely know why.

As they began to move slowly in the direction of more traditional folk arrangements, Iain Matthews jumped ship and their vocalist, Judy Dyble, was asked to leave in favour of another female vocalist, Sandy Denny. Iain Matthews was soon to find fame with his own band, Matthews Southern Comfort, after swiftly chalking up a UK number one hit with another Joni Mitchell composition, Woodstock.

1969 was a busy year for the band. Within that twelve months they managed to release no less than three studio albums, What We Did On Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking and, finally, the legendary, Liege and Lief. Compared to the creative output of most bands, then and now, it is an astonishing achievement. Yet not only did they manage to release three albums in one year, for an encore they also managed to create a entirely new sub-genre of music. Say hello to…