Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking

Unhalfbricking is the third album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences towards more traditional English folk songs that had begun on their previous album, What We Did On Our Holidays, and arguably reached its peak on the follow-up, Liege & Lief, released later the same year.

Although featuring several at the time unreleased Bob Dylan songs, the album also marked Sandy Denny's maturation as a singer and songwriter, including "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?", a song covered by many other performers and now regarded as a classic.

The only traditional song on the album, "A Sailor's Life", is seen as pivotal in the development of English folk rock music.

Changes in the line-up of the band, due to not only to its musical direction but also to external events, mark this album as a turning point in the band's history. 1969 was a prolific year for Fairport Convention; from What We Did On Our Holidays to Liege & Lief within twelve months represented a major development.

 

The album also gave the band their first UK chart success, reaching number 12 in the UK album chart (the second highest position in the band's entire career), while the single release, "Si Tu Dois Partir", achieved number 21 in the UK singles chart
Fairport Convention "Time will show the wiser (1967)

Personnel:
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:
Ian 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"

Tracks:1. Genesis Hall
2. Si Tu Dois Partir
3. Autopsy
4. A Sailor's Life
5. Cajun Woman
6. Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
7. Percy's Song
8. Million Dollar Bash

Download Complete Album- Unhalfbricking

After their previous album had seen original singer Judy Dyble replaced by Sandy Denny, the group's male vocalist Iain Matthews left during the recordings for Unhalfbricking,and Denny took a more central role. The band had been invited to Bob Dylan's London music publishers to hear then unreleased tracks from The Basement Tapes, and of this the band's bassist, Ashley Hutchings, said "this strange, kind of mish-mash of styles and drawled lyrics came out of the speakers. It sounded kind of subterranean; there was this strange cloak of weirdness covering them. We loved it all. We would have covered all the songs if we could."

n the event, versions of "Percy's Song", "Million Dollar Bash" and "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (retitled "Si Tu Dois Partir") were used on the album. The French lyrics for the latter were created during the interval of a performance at the Middle Earth Club.According to guitarist Simon Nicol "I think the boredom factor was one of the reasons we came up with this wacky idea. Three or four punters joined us in the dressing room; they were either French visitors or students of French working in London, and happened to be there that night."

Meanwhile Denny's "Autopsy", "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" (which would become her signature song), and the lengthy "A Sailor's Life" were also included. The latter track had been a traditional English folk song collected by A. L. Lloyd and already part of Denny's club repertoire. In particular, the version on Unhalfbricking has been described as "the turning point of Fairport's history from earlier contemporary Americana to English songs" and by Allmusic's Richie Unterberger as a "clear signpost to the future".

Guitarist Richard Thompson contributed two compositions to the album. The opening track, "Genesis Hall", is a slow song in waltz-time, on which he played dulcimer, and Sandy Denny provided the vocals; it was the B-Side of the single release.Genesis Hall was the nickname of the former Bell Hotel in Drury Lane, which had become a squat in early 1969 and later became noted for a mass eviction by the police. "Cajun Woman", which opens the second side of the album, features Dave Swarbrick's fiddle-playing in his first work with Fairport.

Sandy Denny - Who Knows where the Time Goes

Links;

Sandy Denny Albums