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 British folk-rock. Enter, Liege and Lief.

But the year was also defined by tragedy. The three albums of that year were released amidst a full calendar of live gigs, a jobbing necessity for a band still trying to make its mark. It happened just prior to the release of Unhalfbricking, returning home late from a gig. They were travelling along the motorway, huddled in the back of their transit van, when the driver fell asleep. Simon Nichol, the rhythm guitarist, was the only person left in the van, semi conscious, following the crash. The rest had been flung far and wide within the vicinity of the wrecked van. Some of the band members were lucky enough to have escaped death. Yet not so for the band’s drummer, Martin Lamble, who was tragically killed on impact. And Jeannie Franklyn, girlfriend to Richard Thompson, the band’s lead guitarist, also suffered the same fate. The rest of the band members recovered from their myriad of physical injuries. The mental trauma took…