FAIRPORT CONVENTION 
Guest vocalists are another common feature of rock albums and rock concerts. The only time Led Zeppelin used one was when Sandy Denny gave a stirring performance as the second vocalist on “The Battle of Evermore” on their landmark fourth album, Led Zeppelin IV; she even got a special symbol by her name in the musician credits to go with the “ZOSO” symbols used by the four bandmembers. For those of you who know her only from that song, you owe it to yourself to check out her ground-breaking work on the early albums of Fairport Convention, particularly Liege and Lief, which is generally considered to be the greatest English folk album of all time. Her alto voice had a purity and a piercing clarity that even most opera divas can’t muster. (August 2011) * * * After releasing their album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp in 1968, Giles, Giles and Fripp added Ian McDonald – who played saxophone, clarinet and flute – and vocalist Judy Dyble, the original lead singer of the legendary British folk-rock band Fairport Convention. After Peter Giles left the band, Michael Giles, Ian McDonald and Robert Fripp formed the original line-up of King Crimson with vocalist Greg Lake and lyricist Peter Sinfield. Peter Giles later returned as a bass guitarist on the band’s second album in 1970, In the Wake of Poseidon; though both of the Giles Brothers left the fold by the time of King Crimson’s third album, Lizard. (March 2013) * * * Paul Martin notes that about half of the songs are geared mostly to the vocals, with the second and third songs, “The Grail” and “Sad Song for Winter” being particular favorites of mine. Lisa Bankoff handles solo vocals on the latter song. On the other songs, the band is highlighted more strongly, with the closing song “Peru” sounding especially good to these ears. Of these songs, Martin says: “The band dominated numbers can best be described as Fairport Convention meets Little Feat as they have a blend of blues-funk and folk rock in them.”
(November 2013) * * * Sandy Denny was invited to join the Strawbs, and they recorded an album together in 1967 that was ultimately released in 1972 as All Our Own Work, under the name Sandy Denny and the Strawbs.
The album includes an early version of one of Sandy Denny’s best-known songs, “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”; Denny later recorded “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” with Fairport Convention when she became their lead singer in mid-1968. Judy Collins heard a demo of the song and decided to include it as the title song of one of her best albums, Who Knows Where the Time Goes. “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” was also released by Collins as the B-side of her #8 hit single, “Both Sides Now” (written by Joni Mitchell). I remember raising eyebrows with a friend ages ago; she seemed surprised that I was familiar with “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”, and honestly, at that time I might only have seen the Judy Collins album rather than actually having heard the song.
(July 2014)
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After their marriage, Mimi and Richard Fariña began performing as a folk-rock duo that were much closer to the folk end of things than, say, the Byrds. Their first album was Celebrations for a Grey Day (1965). Their best known songs are “Pack up Your Sorrows”, “Reno, Nevada”, and “Birmingham Sunday”. “Reno, Nevada” was one of the early songs performed by Fairport Convention (dating back to the time when Judy Dyble was the band’s lead singer). As recorded by Joan Baez, “Birmingham Sunday” became the theme song for the Spike Lee documentary film 4 Little Girls (1997) about the infamous 1963 church bombing that killed four young children.
(March 2015)
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