The best British folk-rock band of the late ’60s, Fairport Convention did
more than any other act to develop a truly British variation on the folk-rock
prototype by drawing upon traditional material and styles indigenous to
the British Isles. While the revved-up renditions of traditional British folk tunes
drew the most critical attention, the group members were also (at least at the
outset) talented songwriters as well as interpreters. They were comfortable
with conventional harmony-based folk-rock as well as tunes that drew upon
more explicitly traditional sources, and boasted some of the best singers and
instrumentalists of the day. Titled for one of Fairport’s best loved classics,
MEET ON THE LEDGE was recorded on their 35th Anniversary tour (2002) in
Canterbury, England. The Nicol/Pegg/Sanders/Leslie/Conway lineup sparkles,
and the pace is frequently relentless. Paramount here is the theme from MASH,
in its “Suicide Is Painless” disguise, which spirals into a delirious “Matty Groves”
(via a taste of “End of a Holiday”), to become one of those irresistible Fairport
marathons, coming in at more than 12 minutes of strong, stomping good fun.
The band’s own history is retold through such classics as a sprightly “Meet on
the Ledge,” a driving “Walk Awhile” and a triumphant “Rosie,” and in a world
of Fairport live albums to last most of you a lifetime, this is one of the ones that
ensures that you'll keep listening for more. On their night, there’s nothing like
them. And this was one such night.