FAIRPORT CONVENTION
Fame And Glory CHERRY RED
Former fans-only collection is officially released with extras.
Fame And Glory gathers together music that Fairport Convention recorded for Alan Simon’s rock operas Excalibur, Gaia and Anne De Bretagne. Originally released on their Matty Groves label in 2008, it’s one of their best releases this century. Fairport enjoy playing material written by other musicians and, while their recent albums have been eclectic and charming affairs, they’ve erred towards a kind of nostalgia and gently joviality. But this music, written by Simon, is a more dramatic proposition, a calorie-packed smörgåsbord full of legends, dragons and mysticism. There’s even intrigue on Duchess Anne, striding into battle with the exclamation, ‘We will crush them to the ground.’ And although these songs are taken out of their dramatic context, they hang together well as a collection.
Fairport are joined by some special guests: John Wetton sings on Lugh where he’s joined by John Helliwell on saxophone and clarinet, and Martin Barre who weighs in with some big chords and fluid lead guitar. Jacqui McShee also makes an appearance, on a sensuous live version of Morgane with Simon on flute and former Fairporter Dan Ar Braz on guitar, and she’s accompanied by strings on Sacrifice.
Although the music on Fame And Glory is often denser, heavier and rockier than one might expect from the band, it’s deftly arranged and played with a briskness throughout. There are also some more subtle interludes, such as Rik Sanders’ duet with Laurence Tixier on hurdy-gurdy on the fleeting Danza Del Crepusculo. But importantly it still feels like a Fairport album. Simon Nicol is in particularly good voice, and one of the most moving songs is The Soldier with Chris Leslie solo on acoustic guitar. They play a supercharged jig on Castle Rock with another alumnus, Dave Mattacks on drums, and Pilgrims is an introduction to “the sacred Isle of Avalon” complete with uilleann pipes. The album closes with one of the three extra tracks, Goodbye My Friends, which is imbued with the sweet sorrow of departure.