Jewel in the Crown (album)

Jewel In The Crown
Studio album by Fairport Convention
Released	January 9, 1995
Recorded	October 4 - November 1, 1994 at Woodworm Studios, Oxfordshire
Genre	Rock
Length	40:33
Label	Woodworm Records
Producer	Fairport Convention/Mark Tucker/Gus Dudgeon
Fairport Convention chronology
The Five Seasons (1992) Jewel in the Crown (1995) Old New Borrowed Blue (1996)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Jewel In The Crown is a 1995 folk-rock album by Fairport Convention which is viewed by many as the best record produced by the line up which had been formed in 1985 for the one off project, Gladys' Leap. While few of the tracks were self-penned, it featured tracks from many of the band's favourite writers including Huw Williams, Ralph McTell and Julie Matthews.

History

An album that had been recorded in two stages. Initially a few tracks had been partially recorded with recording engineer Tim Matyear. Tim's departure from Dave Pegg's Woodworm Studio led to producer-engineer Mark Tucker being hired to continue with recording the remaining material. At a very late stage in the production legendary producer Gus Dudgeon made a contribution to the mixing of the songs; "Jewel In The Crown", "The Naked Highwayman", "Closing Time" and "Red Tide". Some subtractive edits were made to "The Naked Highwayman" as Dudgeon felt the song was too long. Overall it's generally considered one of the most satisfying of Fairport's releases, post-Nine. It was also the last studio album recorded by the Nicol, Pegg, Mattacks, Allcock and Sanders line-up.

Track listing

1. "Jewel in the Crown" (Julie Matthews) – 3:32
2. "Slip Jigs and Reels" (Steve Tilston) – 4:52
3. "A Surfeit of Lampreys" (Maartin Allcock) – 3;19
4. "Kind Fortune" (Traditional, arranged by Fairport Convention) – 2:37
5. "Diamonds and Gold" (Ben Bennion/Maartin Allcock) – 4:14
6. "The Naked Highwayman" (Steve Tilston) – 4:32
7. "The Islands" (Ralph McTell/Maartin Allcock) – 4:33
8. "The Youngest Daughter" (Traditional, arranged by Maartin Allcock) – 2:06
9. "London Danny" (Jez Lowe) – 3:50
10. "Travelling by Steam" (Huw Williams) – 4:57
11. "Travel by Steam" (Traditional, arranged by Ric Sanders) – 3:47
12. "She's Like the Swallow" (Traditional, arranged by Maartin Allcock) – 3:14
13. "Red Tide" (Rob Beattie) – 4:36
14. "Home Is Where the Heart Is" (Clive Gregson) – 4:41
15. "Closing Time" (Leonard Cohen) – 5:40

Production

• Produced by Fairport Convention at the band's Woodworm Studios
• Mixed & engineered by Mark Tucker and Fairport, with contributions from Gus Dudgeon.
• Jewel In The Crown, Diamonds And Gold, The Naked Highwayman, The Islands, Red Tide, and Closing Time mixed by Gus Dudgeon and Mark Tucker

Personnel

• Simon Nicol - lead vocal, acoustic and 12-string guitars
• Maartin Allcock - electric and acoustic guitar, keys, bouzar, bodhran, accordion, triangle, backing vocals
• Ric Sanders - violins
• Dave Pegg - bass guitar, acoustic bass, electric guitar, mandolin, backing vocals
• Dave Mattacks - drums, percussion

References