History Music / FairportConvention

'''Fairport Convention''' is a British band formed in 1967. They are generally regarded as progenitors of the English Folk-Rock scene of the 1970s. They enjoyed popular success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with DJ John Peel championing them on radio. After many line-up changes they continue to attract a modest but devoted following, especially to the annual Fairport's Cropredy Festival near Banbury in Oxfordshire.

* YourCheatingHeart: In "Matty Groves", Lord Darnell's wife's tryst with the titular character leads to both of their deaths at the hands of Lord Darnell.

As band members left to pursue thir own directions Fairport Convention when through many lineup changes. The band that made the 1973 album ''Rosie'' had no members in common with those that made 1969's ''Music/Unhalfbricking''. By the late 1970s Britain had lost its appetite for folk-rock; few were buying their records and they were reduced to a small cult following only around the folk club scene. Poor sales led to the end of their recording contract and the band formally broke up, agreeing to meet for a reunion once a year in Cropredy, the home of bass player Dave Pegg who by then was the FaceOfTheBand. In 1985, with the growing success of the Cropredy Festival and the return of Simon Nicol, they reformed and have enjoyed modest success and a devoted following with a stable lineup to the present day.

* ''[[Music/LiegeAndLief Liege & Lief]]'' (1969)

* ''Rising for the moon'' (1975)
* ''Gottle o'Gear'' (1976) (as Fairport, or Fairport featuring Dave Swarbrick in the US)

* ''Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" (1997)

* MurderBallad: Several, which probably won't come as a surprise as a lot of them are based off of the ChildBallads. "Matty Groves" is probably the best example.

* BreakupBreakout: While the band has never quite gone away, several former members have gone on to success in other guises. Music/RichardThompson has enjoyed great critical acclaim as a solo artist even if he hasn't enjoyed mass popular appeal. Ashley Hutchings broke away to form Music/SteeleyeSpan. Iain Matthews left to form Matthews Southern Comfort who scored an unlikely British #1 in late 1970 with a wistful, post-Altamont reading of Music/JoniMitchell's "Woodstock". Nobody was more astonished than Matthews.

* ''Music/WhatWeDidOnOurHolidays'' (1969) (called ''Fairport Convention in the US'')

* ''[[Music/LiegeAndLief Liege & Lief]] (1969)

* OneHitWonder: Though albums have sold steadily, "Si tu dois partir" is the band's only chart hit in Britain.

* BreakupBreakout: While the band has never quite gone away, several former members have gone on to success in other guises. Music/RichardThompson has enjoyed great critical acclaim as a solo artist even if he hasn't enjoyed mass popular appeal. Ashley Hutchings broke away to form Music/SteeleyeSpan.

* ''Music/{{Unhalfbricking}} (1969)

* {{Neologism}}: Music/{{Unhalfbricking}}. A PerfectlyCromulentWord Coined by Sandy Denny in the course of a word game the band members were playing on a trip between gigs.

* BilingualBonus: "Si tu dois partir" on Music/Unhalfbricking is Music/BobDylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", a 1965 hit for Music/ManfredMann in Britain, is sung in French.

* {{Neologism}}: Music/Unhalfbricking. A PerfectlyCromulentWord Coined by Sandy Denny in the course of a word game the band members were playing on a trip between gigs.

* InNameOnly: After guitarist and founder Simon Nicol left in 1972 to form The Albion Country Band, there were no members remaining of the band as it was before the crash. Nicol rejoined in 1986 and has been there ever since.

* BreakupBreakout: While the band has never quite gone away, several former members have gone on to success in other guises. Music/RichardThompson has enjoyed great critical acclaim as a solo artist even if he hasn't enjoyed mass popular appeal. Ashley Hutchings broke away to form Music/SteeleyeSpan.

* BilingualBonus: "Si tu dois partir" on Music/Unhalfbricking is Music/BobDylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", sung in French.

* DramaticIrony: The debut album ''Fairport Convention'' included a song called ''M1 Breakdown''. In 1969, a few weeks before the release of Music/{{Unhalfbricking}}, the band was returning to London

* DramaticIrony:

* ''Music/WhatWeDidOnOurHolidays'' (1969)

* ''{=XXXV=}'' (2002)

As band members left to pursue thir own directions Fairport Convention when through many lineup changes. The band that made the 1973 album ''Rosie'' had no members in common with those that made 1969's ''Music/Unhalfbricking''. By the late 1970s Britain had lost its appetite for folk-rock and they were reduced to a small cult following only around the folk club scene. Poor sales led to the end of their recording contract and the band formally broke up, agreeing to meet for a reunion once a year in Cropredy, the home of bass player Dave Pegg who by then was the FaceOfTheBand. In 1985, with the growing success of the Cropredy Festival and the return of Simon Nicol, they reformed and have enjoyed modest success and a devoted following with a stable lineup to the present day.

[[AC:Fairport Convention Albums]]

As band members left to pursue thir own directions Fairport Convention when through many lineup changes. The band that made the 1993 album ''Rosie'' had no members in common with those that made 1969's ''Music/Unhalfbricking''