Fairport Convention 4MWB LP reissues *

Had a chance to do a couple shootouts this weekend. among them were two shootouts between Fairport Convention reissues and original A&M pressings.

First Liege and Lief by 4 men with beards.
I have yet to hear anything from these guys that has sounded good. Usually their stuff is ear bleed bright. Well not this time. It is cotton eared dull and totally closed in. Sound stage is extremely truncated. Utter crap compared to the A&M. What a shame.

What we did on our Holidays Tapestry.
This was some record I picked up at Amoeba on a lark. It was a limited edition of 500 so I figured what the heck. I had no great expectations. Never heard of Tapestry. The original A&M is just titled Fairport Convention and is a sonic gem. Folks get this reissue if you can. There is one left at Amoeba in Hollywood as of last night. This sounds very much like the original A&M but it sheds that slightly bright layer of glare one so often finds on A&M records. Some may like that slight glare, it can give a slight extra sense of ambience and liveliness but I find it to be a little anoying and fatiguing. This reissue is superb IMO.


I went back and bought two more LPs on the Tapestry label. One by Kalaidoscope and one by Caravan. They have a pretty cool collection in their catalogue. I ordered the Mellow Candle LP on line here. http://www.forcedexposure.com/labels/tapestry.records.liechtenstein.html We'll see if this was a fluke or if Tapestry is the real deal.

I feel that 4 men with beards might consider a new name for their label, 4 men with no ears. Talk about "a reliable disappointment."

 

Two fo the best folk-rock Lps ever...

Thanks for the heads up Scott...

As a die-hard Fairport~Denny~Thompson fan I too picked up the Liege and Lief reissue... and was not well impressed, besides the attrocious cover reproduction, the music did not sing to me...Did not see this Holidays reissue you rave about, or I would have tried it, as it is my all time fave FC album...

The original Gold A&Ms do sound fine, but I think my WLP A&Ms sound even better for those two...(one went to George so he'd know...) and above that, the original UK Pink Island pressings sound totally amazing, far superior to the US pressings I've heard, and well worth the pretty penny they fetch these days...


cheers,

rmbill

 

I guess I am going to have to get the Pink Islands. Any heads up on matrix #s?

 

Give me a spell, and I'll get back to you... might even have one extra...

 

Thanks for the shoot out notes.

The UK pink or pink rims are of course the ones to have. Most of the pink rim labels were EMI pressed and bear a -#U matrix. Some have the Porky (&) Pecko scribes as well. They sound a tad different than the earlier Pye and Polydor pressed versions. Not better or worse, just a slightly different presentation.

As far as the US A&M's - I'd like to do a Fairport US/UK shoot out myself, but don't have any A&M's right now. Remember A&M pressings can vary quite a bit. There may be a real nice sounding L&L US pressing out there. For example on Cat Stevens US A&M's, if they're the Sterling/LH marked opies - they are superb and sonically close to the same marked UK pink islands.

 

I saw a re-issue of the first UK album, with Judy Dyble, at Amoeba this week-end. $26.98. Anyone know it if is mono or stereo. And, yes, for those who don't know, this first album DID come out in mono and stereo in the UK, on Polydor.

 

Interesting choices for re-issue... anyone familiar with Timeless Records (Luxembourg) vinyl?
http://www.forcedexposure.com/labels/timeless.records.luxembourg.html

 

Mellow Candle is the only Tapestry album I own so far but I am impressed with the sound and packaging. What a classic release!

 

Thanks for this info. Are you saying that the pre-pink rim Islands were manucatured by Polydor and don't sound as good as the second issue Pink Rims with peckos and porkies? have you heard the original pink islands and got rid of them in favor of the porkies? just curious, I need to go spin some fine Uk vinyls...

 

I have not heard this new one, but has anyone heard the earlier ACME riessue (1990s) and compared it to this new one? or was it si-wan???

Wait, I'm confusing my obscure brit-folkrockers, I was thinking of Stone Angel, not Mellow candle, who i prefer...A great group, on Erehwon cd...

 

Mellow Candle was issued on CD by See For Miles in 1994. That's the one that I own. It sounds fine IIRC.

Yes, Si-Wan did Stone Angel. Not sure if they did Mellow Candle as well. It is likely but, I don't recall definitely at the moment.

Cheers,
Chris

 

The Mellow Candle first pressing is quite a rare '72 Deram release!

http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildata.php?itemnr=4068572850

 

I also found the Mellow Candle on a vinyl reissue once, only once, but again, not in front of me...there was a nice mourning phase reissue out there too recently...and Moonkyte... now we're treading DEEP into the witchwood...

 

all those rare, very few sold, classic, british folk rock Lps from that era go for more and more these days, thrice what they did a decade ago... mellow candle, spyrogyra, hedgehog pie, dando shaft, trees, and so many more...


excellent groups~albums...


cheers,

mbill


oh yes, not to mention Spriguns of Tolgus' Jack With a Feather, one I did manage to find on CD back in the early 1990s, on ACME I think....

 

I have got the TIMELESS(Time 697)release of Fairport's debut,and I can state that it is in STEREO!

Soundwise I am not that overwhelmed(most of the sound-picture is concentrated on the left channel)and when you increase volume some distortion in the background instruments/voices can be heard!

My third criticism is the bass/treble relation:the record tends to be "over-produced"into the bass area,but I have to stress that the record as such is a VAST IMPROVEMENT on the Polydor original,especially the dynamics have beenexceptionally well reproduced!

 

I got the 4MWB "Liege & Lief" only as a place holder until I upgrade my bashed up original for a nearer-to-mint mint copy. Not only is this reissue dull, but mine was also a terrible rice crispy pressing. It's going back tomorrow.

 

Because FC LP's were on Island, pink & pink rim, it's going to be a real tough nut to crack for anyone to better the original UK vinyl.

 

Yeah, I bought 4 men with no clues - "Dusty In Memphis" and quickly gave it away to a friend upon initial comparison with my beatup Atlantic original.

 

Totally agree on both counts. Like tiguwagu above, I bought 4MWB's Dusty in Memphis and every time she hit an S, it was like having your ears syringed. It took me ages to get the original Atlantic at a price I could afford but I got there in the end and boy, is it sweet by comparison. No more 4MWB for me.

Which is a pity because I would love to buy a good reissue (or NM original) of Fairport's What We Did On Our Holidays, as well as Unhalfbricking. However I too bought the Tapestry reissue of What We Did some months ago and although I was a bit suspicious of the source, I couldn't find anything wrong with the LP and found I just kept playing it - and enjoying it. Maybe it really does come from a good source - we had a thread on Tapestry a while back where I half-heartedly defended them.

Timeless Records, though, I think has very little credibility at all and I wouldn't buy anything from them.

PS: Tapestry are very nicely packaged indeed but in case anyone was wondering, they don't attempt to reproduce the original labels - they use their own.

 

I had never heard of them before checking out the Tapestry catalog. They are amazing. Talk about genius under the radar. How have they gone with so little notice. Good to know that title sounds good. Not much chnce of getting an oriinal of that one.

 

I Would like to here more input on the Tapestry catalog sound because that Sir Lord Baltimore is calling my name

 

I've had 4 or 5 pink & pink rim L&L's. By memory the EMI cuts (pink rims) have a tad more top & bottom end added, whereas the Polydors and Pyes were more even, with a rich mid and upper mid-range / tone ..they're a tad smoother I'd say. Just my view of them. I kept an EMI just cause it was the best condition wise. I'd like to have 'em all.

Neither one is 'better.' Just different. Your system could be a factor that might tip towards one or the other.

 

Do the labels actually have some corolation with who mastered or pressed the records? It seems to me by checking out the Island label evolution that the labels were being changed rather rapidly in the late 60s.
http://www.collecting-tull.com/Island/IslandLPs.htm

 

Many labels were undergoing changes around 1970. Parlophone/EMI for example.

Pye & Polydor pressings are generally through 1971 or so. Thus they can be on any of the 4 island labels - although most are on the 'all pink' labels.

By 1971 the pink rim/palm tree began to be used. Some of these may be the late Pye or Polydor's (Pyes will have a rough 'textured' label) but the majority are EMI. EMI's have a smooth label.

 

I ttook some pictures of my FC Polydors, Pink Island and Pink Rims, but not had a chance to post them yet... did I note though that the pink rims had stamped matrix numbers, not etched, and or porkies... is this a sign from god?

and if so, pray tll, what does it mean?

back later, to checkinzeedolcheveda...


cheers,

mrbill