Full House (Fairport Convention album)

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Full House
Full House cover
Studio album by Fairport Convention
Released July 1970
Recorded February - April 1970
Genre Rock
Length 35:08
Label Island Records ILPS 9130 (original UK)
A&M (original US)
Hannibal (1991 rerelease)
Producer Joe Boyd
Professional reviews
Fairport Convention chronology
Liege & Lief
(1969)		 Full House
(1970)		 Angel Delight
(1971)
For other uses, see Full House (disambiguation).

Full House, released in 1970, is the fifth album by folk rock group Fairport Convention and was their first album without a female vocalist, as Sandy Denny had left to form Fotheringay. Founder member Ashley Hutchings had also left for Steeleye Span, and Dave Pegg had joined on bass. Richard Thompson was also to leave the band for a solo career shortly after its release.[1]

As their previous album, Liege & Lief, had reinterpreted a number of traditional folk tunes, so did Full House. Many were sewn into two medleys, "Dirty Linen" and "Flatback Caper". The album also featured the nine-minute track "Sloth", which remained part of the group's live set for many years and has been described as "haunting, moody, dazzling".[1]

Allmusic described the album as "actually more viscerally exciting than its predecessor, Liege and Lief, if not quite as important as that record".[1] and Full House entered the British album charts on July 18, 1970, where it stayed for 11 weeks, peaking at number 13.[2] Rolling Stone magazine's reviewer was also enthusiastic, describing the album as "... an English equivalent to The Band ... they have soaked up enough of the tradition of their countryfolk that it begins to show all over, while they still maintain their roots in rock".[3]

The album cover was a non-laminated gatefold sleeve featuring notes by Richard Thompson; these take the form of descriptions of spoof folk-games in which various characters participate, completed by a round-up of eventual scores. For example

AT MAIDS MONEY: Some of the hottest dice-throwing for years. The Doctor's Druids egg stood him in good stead. Later protests by 11,000 Virgins of Cologne against cruel sports. Wandering Jew killed in brawl with Hangman, hacked in two with a ploughshare.[4]

Contents

[edit] Track listing

The original issue of Full House was intended to comprise the following tracks:

Side One:

  1. "Walk Awhile" (Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick) - 3:57[5]
  2. "Doctor of Physick" (Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick) - 3:37
  3. "Dirty Linen" (Trad. Arr. Dave Swarbrick) - 4:17[6]
  4. "Sloth" (Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick) - 9:19

Side Two:

  1. "Sir Patrick Spens" (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) - 3:30
  2. "Flatback Caper" (Ronald Cooper, Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention, O'Carolan) - 6:24[7]
  3. "Poor Will And The Jolly Hangman" (Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick)
  4. "Flowers of the Forest" (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) - 4:04

Test pressings were made following this sequence, but before the album was officially released, Richard Thompson requested that "Poor Will And The Jolly Hangman" be removed; this removal was done at such a late stage that the first LP sleeves had already been printed with the song shown on the track listing. A black block had to be printed over the original list with the revised track listing overprinted in gold, but a few sleeves were issued to the public without the overprinting and with the incorrect track listing. All subsequent printings had the corrected track listing despite the fact that the sleeve notes still referred to the missing track.[8]

[edit] Actual release

The track ordering of the original release was[9]

  1. Walk Awhile
  2. Dirty Linen
  3. Sloth
  4. Sir Patrick Spens
  5. Flatback Caper
  6. Doctor of Physick
  7. Flowers of the Forest

[edit] 2001 reissue

In 2001, Island Records re-issued an expanded edition of Full House that followed the original track ordering and included four additional tracks:

"Now Be Thankful" and "Sir B. McKenzie’s..." were originally released as a 1970 Island, UK single, WIP-6089. Both songs were recorded on July 22, 1970 at Sound Techniques, London.

Fairport Convention's studio recording of "Sir B. McKenzie's.." consisted of "Biff, Bang, Crash" (Trad.), "The Kilfenora" (Trad.), and "Boston Tea Party" (Dave Swarbrick)". By the time the single was issued, the band was playing the medley as "Bonny Kate" (Trad.), "The Kilfenora," "Boston Tea Party," and "Biff, Bang, Crash." Within a few years, "Sir B. McKenzie's..." consisted of the amended medley followed by "Tail Toddle" (Trad.). By the late 1970's, the medley also included the traditional tune "Up The Chimney."

The title "Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For the 77th Mounted Lancer's Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie" was the band's attempt to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the longest song title.

"Bonny Bunch Of Roses," an outtake from the Full House sessions, was previously released on the Fairport Convention compilation Meet On The Ledge: The Classic Years (1967–1975), issued on A&M Records in 1999.

The stereo mix of "Now Be Thankful" (an entirely different mix from the one that appears on Richard Thompson's Watching The Dark compilation) was created by Lee Hamblin and Frank Kornelussen and previously released on Island Life, 25 Years Of Island Records in 1988.

[edit] Production

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Full House. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  2. ^ UK Chart Stats
  3. ^ Fairport Convention: Full House (November 12, 1970). Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  4. ^ original sleeve notes
  5. ^ based on the traditional "Bonaparte's Retreat"
  6. ^ medley of "Last Night's Fun," "The Merry Blacksmith," "Drops Of Brandy," and "Poll Ha'penny" Expletive Delighted fansite. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  7. ^ medley of "Miss Susan Cooper" by Ronald Cooper, "The Friar's Britches," "The Sport Of The Chase," and "Carolan's Concerto" Expletive Delighted fansite. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  8. ^ Full House. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  9. ^ Full House. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.

[edit] External links

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Fairport Convention

Maartin Allcock · Dan Ar Braz · Bob Brady · Roger Burridge · Gerry Conway · Sandy Denny · Jerry Donahue · Judy Dyble · Tom Farnell · Roger Hill · Ashley Hutchings · Martin Lamble · Chris Leslie · Trevor Lucas · Dave Mattacks · Iain Matthews · Simon Nicol · Dave Pegg · David Rea · Bruce Rowland · Ric Sanders · Dave Swarbrick · Richard Thompson · Paul Warren
Studio albums

Fairport Convention (1968) · What We Did on Our Holidays (1969) · Unhalfbricking (1969) · Liege & Lief (1969) · Full House (1970) · Angel Delight (1971) · Babbacombe Lee (1971) · Rosie (1973)  · Nine (1973)  · Rising for the Moon (1975) · Gottle O'Geer (1976)  · The Bonny Bunch of Roses (1977) · Tipplers Tales (1978) · Gladys' Leap (1985) · Expletive Delighted (1986) · In Real Time (1987) · Heyday (1987)  · Red and Gold (1989) · The Five Seasons (1990)  · Jewel in the Crown (1995) · Old New Borrowed Blue (1996)  · Who Knows Where the Time Goes (1997)  · Cropredy 98 (1999)  · The Wood and the Wire (1999) · XXXV (2001) · Over the Next Hill (2004) · Sense of Occasion (2007)
Singles

"If I Had a Ribbon Bow" (1968) · "Meet on the Ledge" (1968) · "I'll Keep It With Mine" (1969) · "Si Tu Dois Partir" (1969) · "If (Stomp)" (1970) · "Now Be Thankful" (1970)
Live albums

Fairport Live Convention (1974) · Live at the L.A. Troubadour (1977) · Farewell Farewell (1979) · Moat on the Ledge - Live at Broughton Castle (1982) · House Full (1986) · 25th Anniversary Concert (1992) · Heyday: BBC Radio Sessions, 1968-1969 (2002) · The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood (2004) · Journeyman's Grace (2005) · Off the Desk (2006) · Live at the BBC (2007)
Compilations

History of Fairport Convention (1972) · Tour Sampler (1975) · The Woodworm Years (1991) · Rhythm of the Times (2003)
Box sets
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