Fairport Convention - What We Did On Our Holidays

First Album with Sandy Denny.

"What We Did in Our Holidays" was the first album to feature Sandy Denny and in fact the last released with Ian Matthews as lead singer. As was the case with their 1968 debut album this album is a great mixture of various styles and inspirations.

The band would later become a legend in British folk-rock, and there are clear signs what direction the band might want to pursue on this album. Songs like "Nottamun Town" and "She Moves Through the Fair" would not have been totally out of place on their folk-rock classic "Liege and Lief". There is also a lot of folk-feeling in Denny's beautiful "Fotheringay".

Bob Dylan was obviously a great inspiration for the band, and they recorded several of his songs for their early albums. Here it is his obscure song "I'll Keep it With Mine" and you maybe you could also count in "Nottamun Town", which has the same melody as "Masters of War".

Richard Thompson wrote some really great songs for the album among which "Meet on the Ledge" has become a classic. At this point Thompson's songwriting was more pop/rock than folk.

Bassist Ashley Hutchings wrote the rock'n roller "Mr Lacey" and the other guitarist Simon Nicol contributed the fine acoustic instrumental "End of a Holiday", which closed off the original album.

The three bonus tracks are interesting, but none of them would have fitted very well into the album. The B-side "Throwaway Street Puzzle" has been a collector's item for years, and a track that many fans have been eager to hear. It's a Thompson/Hutchings blues rocker written and played much in the same vein as Dylan's "Down in the Flood" or "Wathcing the River Flow".

Great album, but not quite a five stars release. July 1, 2007

My personal favorite

This is the first Fairport Convention album I ever heard, and if that colors my judgement, so be it. Having BOTH Sandy Denny and Ian Matthews on vocals is what moves this up a notch from "Unhalfbricking" (but that one's essential too)to my ears. The Dylan cover "I'll Keep It With Mine" may be the best thing they ever recorded--not only those wonderful harmonies, but Richard Thompson's entirely sympathetic lead guitar, especially on the fadeout; just sublime. Follow that with the Joni Mitchell cover "Eastern Rain" which gives you an idea as to just what they lost when drummer Martin Lamble died. Sandy Denny's opener "Fotheringay" would have fit in with Liege and Lief, yet is perfect here. Richard Thompson's early compositions "No Man's Land"(very underrated), "Tale In Hard Time", and "Meet On The Ledge" sound as great as anything he's ever done. And Ian Matthew's own "Book Song", adds a gentle dimension to the overall sound that was sadly never to be repeated. The only cut that doesn't fit is Ashley Hutchings' "Mr. Lacey", and it's still amusing and fun. There are two traditional ballads, a spooky chant, and a nice instrumental that closes the original album. In short, a variety of styles that form a whole greater than the sum of the parts. What might have been. August 5, 2006

stepping stone to greatness

This is the second Fairport album, released in late 1968 but the first to feature who is today generally considered the finest folk singer bar none - Sandy Denny. They are stil a young band searching for an identity here but the 40 minites captured here show scope and maturity that many band would never achieve.
With Denny giving the vocals a clarity the songs richly deserved, songwriter and guitarist was able to find the confidence to introduce 2 of his early classics to the listening public. "Meet on the ledge" retains its power to this day.The album closed originally with the wistful "farewell, farewell" but this reissue (which sounds great by the way) adds 3 bonus cuts. To be fair the only real one of interest is the original B side "throwaway street puzzle. Not a great album but a bonafide classic, lets make it 4.5 stars, just for opening with Sandys beautiful "Fotheringay" Anyone thinking of looking into Fairport Convention would do well to begin their search here.

Phil
Cambridge
ON April 28, 2005

Pretty good but not as good as the later ones

Bonus Tracks
Throwaway Street Puzzle: Sounds like an outtake from Surrealistic Pillow. You can understand where that "English Jefferson Airplane" rep came from. Richard Thompson gets psychedelic.
You're Gonna Need My Help: A Muddy Waters blues, of all things, recorded live at the Beeb. Ian Matthews sounds a little uncomfortable pretending to be black, but Sandy Denny sounds as at home as Janis did belting out lines like "I know you're gonna put me down." Nice slide guitar work by Richard Thompson.
Some Sweet Day: A tune by Country Music Hall of Famers Felice and Boudleaux Bryant that the band learned from an old Everly Brothers record. Ian Matthews sings lead with a little harmony by the group on the chorus. More Richard Thompson slide guitar.

Remaster: Cleaner, but not a revelation or anything, at least not on my inexpensive sound system. The individual instruments are more distinct in the ensemble passages.

The record: Seems a bit schizophrenic to me. Sometimes the band goes for a smooth, sunny "California Dreamin'"-type sound (Book Song, No Man's Land, Tale in Hard Times) and other times for a somewhat rootsier, folkier sound (Fotheringay, The Lord is In This Place, Nottamun Town, She Moved Through the Fair), which of course is the direction they ultimately took. Problem is Thompson's songs don't really lend themselves very well to a light touch. There's something really weird about backing a lyric like "Take the sun from my eyes/let me learn to despise" with a cute harpicord obligatto (Tale in Hard Times). Or having a hand-clappin' Partridge Family chorus like "Hey, c'mon make it easy/Hey, c'mon make it right") with a verse like "It's no use to be free/If lies are all the truth they seem/They'll screw up what you do when you're through". Still, it's pretty good. Perhaps definitive cover of Dylan's I'll Keep It With Mine, and only version anywhere of Joni Mitchell's Eastern Rain (gently psychedelic). Thompson proves he can play the blues on Mr. Lacey, even if it's a dumb song. And Meet On the Ledge is nicely anthemic. And She Moved Through the Fair is as haunting as anything Fairport ever did. Still it's no Unhalfbricking, let alone Liege and Lief. April 22, 2005

Not a very good album... sorry.

If you are a Die Hard Fairport fan then you probabily already own this album. At this stage in this groups evolution, they are unsure in what direction they want to go, pulling in three different musical directions. Not the excellence of Leige & Lief to later follow. Tho, Dennys voice is strong in 'Fotheringay' & 'Nottamun town' and a very good rendition of Bob Dylans 'I'll keep it with mine' is still not good enough to pull is album out of the dumpster, and for $20 + bucks one would expect more..... Sorry. April 15, 2005

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