Track Listing

1. Walk Awhile - Fairport Convention, John Wood, Joe Boyd
2. Doctor Of Physick
3. Dirty Linen
4. Sloth
5. Sir Patrick Spens
6. Flatback Caper
7. Poor Will And The Jolly Hangman
8. Flowers Of The Forest
9. Now Be Thankful
10. Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament For The 77Th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe,
11. Bonny Bunch Of Roses - Fairport Convention, Joe Boyd, Suha Gur
12. Now Be Thankful - Fairport Convention, Joe Boyd, Lee Hamblin, Frank Kornelussen, John Wood

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6378 in Music
• Released on: 2001-10-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .21 pounds
• Running time: 59 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Placed in its early-1970s context, Full House finds Fairport Convention at what seemed a crucial test: its strongest singers, Sandy Denny and Ian (now Iain) Matthews had departed for new group and solo challenges, and co-leader Ashley Hutchings had defected to found a rival ensemble, Steeleye Span, leaving guitarist Richard Thompson at Fairport's helm. Happily, the revamped quintet passed with flying colours, forging a leaner, more muscular sound that extended both ends of the folk-rock equation; the balance between spirited jigs and reels, and four-square rock back beats, is underlined by the fiery exchanges traded by guitarists Thompson and Simon Nicol and fiddler Dave Swarbrick, explaining why many regard this as Fairport's strongest instrumental line-up. And, on "Sloth", Thompson prefigures the dark, modal rock epics of future solo works on an anti-war dirge that evokes a British version of Neil Young & Crazy Horse. --Sam Sutherland

CD Description
After the breathtaking LEIGE AND LEIF, Fairport Convention was dealt what seemed an insurmountable blow when singer Sandy Denny quit. However, the remaining four were seasoned veterans at wrestling disaster from the jaws of a tiger. FULL HOUSE may not have been what the group envisioned at the record's outset, or what fans expected, but the results reveal another creative high point for the acclaimed folk-rockers.
This incarnation of Fairport Convention was their first without a female voice (and, with the exception of Denny's brief return in the mid-seventies, they would remain that way henceforth). Still, barring the non-singing drummer Dave Mattacks, they possessed a quartet of sympathetically harmonic singers. The writing team of guitarist Richard Thompson and fiddler Dave Swarbrick came up with a trio of classics in "Walk Awhile, " "Sloth, " and "Doctor of Physick, " but it was a teaming that was to prove short-lived, as Thompson departed before the next studio album. They did however make one trip to the USA and are captured live on their follow-up release HOUSE FULL.

Customer Reviews

Now be thankful...reissue of the year!!
In 1970, Fairport Convention lost a founding king (the remarkably talented Ashley Hutchings) and a lead singing queen (the transcendent Sandy Denny), so you can forgive most people for thinking they would just fold. But they still had their ace (Richard Thompson), went to the deck, and most certainly came up with a Full House.

This is a fantastic album. Where "Liege & Lief" kicked the door open, this one comes storming through. Superb singing, incredible playing. This reissue is excellent. The sound is crisp and beautiful, a vast improvement over any previous edition. The intended running order has been restored, including the vagabond "Poor Will & the Jolly Hangman". The bonus tracks are great...the rare single "Now Be Thankful" is here in all it's monophonic glory (an overcooked stereo remix is here as well, but that's best avoided), as well as it's elaborately titled instrumental b-side. The absolutely stunning "Bonny Bunch of Roses" is indeed the rose on this cake.

Take your hand out of your mouth and your finger out of your eye and BUY THIS!! You won't be sorry.

Fairport Convention surives fine without Sandy Denny
"Full House" was the fifth album by Fairport Convention but represented a significant new chapter in the group's history because for the first time it was without a female singer. At this point Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings had left the group and you would have thought that losing the premier folk singer of her generation in Denny would have been a fatal blow. "Full House" disproves that without much problem as Fairport Convention continued to prove itself the premier folk-rock group in England. The new singers were Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick who wrote most of the songs on the album. Along with Dave Pegg and Simon Nicol they do some nice harmonies, especially on the trio of traditional songs, "Sir Patrick Spens," "Flatback Caper," and "The Flowers of the Forest." Granted, the vocal are a bit less, in terms of the leads, but the instrumentation is certainly superior with this incarnation of the group, which is clear with the opening track "Walk Awhile." The showpiece here is the nine-minute "Sloth," written by the entire group (including drummer Dave Mattacks) and allowing all of the group members to show off their musical abilities.

Any borderline considerations with regards to ranking because of the shakeup in the group's composition are rendered moot by the four bonus tracks of Fairport Convention music added to this 1970 release, including mono and stereo version of "Now Be Thankful" and another pair of traditional tunes, including the wonderfully named "Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament for the 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat." Granted, "Full House" is still half-a-notch below "Unhalfbricking" and "Liege and Leif," but it is still a superb album of British folk rock.

Makes me feel 14 again...
This album helped form my musical taste in my teens - from the power of "Doctor of Physick" to the precision of "Dirty Linen" this is potentially the best folk-rock album ever.

With the extra doodads on the CD it's finally time to retire my original album.