Release date: 01.01.1969
Label: Island
Production: Joe Boyd
Length: 38:07
Genre: folk rock
Rating: 8.5/10
With the transitional album “What We Did On Our Holidays,” released in 1969 as the follow-up to their self-titled debut, English folk-rock champions Fairport Convention began their gradual stylistic shift. They moved away from American-flavored folk rock, heavily influenced by Jefferson Airplane and similar bands, toward the British folk rock they’d go on to be known for throughout most of their rich and eventful career. The key move of that career was bringing in a new singer, Sandy Denny, formerly of The Strawbs, who took over lead vocals from Judy Dyble. Besides singing, Denny also played acoustic guitar and keyboards, and with her ethereal voice she pulled Fairport Convention back from the edge of obscurity and pushed them into the ranks of the most interesting and influential acts of early British folk rock. The overall mood changed too, and they became an almost completely different band: a genuine Celtic melancholy began to take hold in places, the one they’d be known for on most of their best-known works, while the American folk influences started to fade into the background.
On “What We Did On Our Holidays,” Fairport Convention created two classics that are still a frequent, if not obligatory, part of their live shows: the nostalgic ballad “Fotheringay,” tinged with a sacral charge, and the rousing “Meet on the Ledge.” They still traditionally close their concerts with the latter today. Compared to the debut, there were more original songs, although two covers remained: “I’ll Keep it With Mine,” originally by Bob Dylan, and “Eastern Rain,” originally by Joni Mitchell. The album also featured rearranged versions of two traditional folk songs, “Nottamun Town” and “She Moves Through the Fair.” Those two were dominated by that signature Celtic melody which people would soon start tying the band to ever more closely. Rearranged versions of English and Scottish folk pieces, given a rock stamp, would soon become business as usual for Fairport Convention.
The masterpiece “Fotheringay,” about the castle of the same name where the Scottish queen Mary Stuart was held for a time (and which later also became the name of Sandy’s short-lived band), was written by the fair-haired singer herself, while the rest of the material came from guitarist Richard Thompson, bassist Ashley Hutchings, second guitarist Simon Nicol and singer/percussionist Ian Matthews. A few lovely string arrangements came courtesy of drummer Martin Lamble. Even though most of the instrumentalists were already technically well versed, what impressed most were the vocal harmonies led by Denny, which were key to creating an almost magical atmosphere.
With “What We Did On Our Holidays,” Fairport Convention, thanks above all to Sandy Denny, slowly stepped into their classic and still most beloved creative era, right in the middle of a gradual sonic transition. Denny’s arrival (she’s still missed by many today, more than four decades after her death) gave them a sonic rebirth and the confidence they needed to shape a recognizable sound, one that, in blending folk and rock, was becoming more and more traditionally English and no longer American.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
tracklist:
1. Fotheringay
2. Mr Lacey
3. Book Song
4. The Lord Is in This Place…How Dreadful Is This Place
5. No Man’s Land
6. I’ll Keep It With Mine
7. Eastern Rain
8. Nottamun Town
9. Tale in Hard Time
10. She moves Through the Fair
11. Meet on the Ledge
12. End of a Holiday
Fairport Convention:
Sandy Denny – vocals, acoustic and twelve-string guitar, organ, piano
Iain Matthews – vocals, percussion
Richard Thompson – electric, acoustic and twelve-string guitar, accordion, sitar on “Book Song”, backing vocals
Simon Nicol – electric and acoustic guitar, electric autoharp, electric dulcimer, backing vocals
Ashley Hutchings – bass guitar, backing vocals
Martin Lamble – drums, percussion, violin, tabla and footsteps
guest musicians:
Bruce Lacey – percussion
Claire Lowther – cello on “Book Song
Kingsley Abbot – percussion on “The Lord is in This Place…”, backing vocals on “Meet on the Ledge
Paul Ghosh – backing vocals on “Meet on the Ledge”
Andrew Horvitch – backing vocals on “Meet on the Ledge”
Marc Ellington – backing vocals on “Meet on the Ledge”
