Japanese Cardboard Replica Sleeve Reissue
Remastered
UICY-9320
Sandy Denny - Vocals, Harpsichord
Richard Thompson - Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Electric Dulcimer, Piano Accordion, Organ, Backing Vocals
Ashley Hutchings - Bass, Backing Vocals
Simon Nicol - Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Electric Dulcimer, Backing Vocals
Martin Lamble - Drums, Stacked Chair Backs on "Si Tu Dois Partir"
with:
Iain Matthews - Backing Vocals on "Percy's Song"
Dave Swarbrick - Fiddle on "Si Tu Dois Partir", "A Sailor’s Life", and "Cajun Woman" and Mandolin on "Million Dollar Bash"
Trevor Lucas - Triangle on "Si Tu Dois Partir"
Marc Ellington - Vocals on "Million Dollar Bash"
Dave Mattacks - Drums on "The Ballad Of Easy Rider"
Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny shine throughout this record, which is considered by some to be their Fairport peak together. The second album by a tragically short-lived Fairport Convention lineup. It seems top-heavy with Dylan tunes, three of them included, but they're done with such verve and freshness that they seem perfectly appropriate. As for the rest, Denny's performance on "Autopsy" is outshone only by her work on the apocalyptic nine-minute "A Sailor's Life," which is one of the great English folk-rock showcases ever recorded, a rival to such works as Phil Ochs' "Crucifixion" and Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row," as a song that just makes the listener "white out" inside, mouth open, when its over. Also highlighted by the definitive Denny recording of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes." And take in the powerhouse drumming, and realize what the band lost when Martin Lamble died.