Fairport Convention: The Album Quiz

Answer: Morals and emotions

At this point in time Fairport Convention was mainly a covers band, focusing on material from American singer-songwriters, although the song-writing skills of Ashley Hutchings and Richard Thompson can be seen on a couple of tracks on this album.

The theme of this song is the singer has fallen in love with his best friend's girlfriend. I am sure there are other songs along the same lines but that is the logic here. The morals of respecting his best friend and the emotions of love are the two things that the singer has problems combining.

"Well, I wish someone would help me, this decision is mine
And my morals and emotions are hard to combine
And there is no easy way out to limit the time
That it takes till she finds out for the love that I hide"

Emmit Rhodes was a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He would write his own songs and record all the instrumental parts of his albums himself, leading to him being called "The One Man Beatles". In 2009 a documentary was made about Emmit Rhodes under this title.

Of the other possible answers, "harp and carp" forms part of the chorus of "Thomas the Rhymer" as recorded by Steeleye Span, while "science and nature" appears in the Show of Hands song "Evolution".

Answer: Joni Mitchell

This song was written by Canadian-born Joni Mitchell. She recorded it on her 1969 album "Clouds" which was released subsequent to this recording. Never the less it was written by the lady. It is not the only one of her songs recorded here.

Fairport have certainly recorded several Bob Dylan songs and at least one Jackson Frank composition.

Answer: Rich

The answer here is "rich"; the lyrics start with the phrase:
"If I were rich enough
To make you need me as much as I need you"

Then the song ends with:
"If I were rich enough
To make you need me, too"

In between there are various lyrics that start with the words "If I were". Each verse starts with "If I were rich enough" and follows up with another couplet using a different word. For example the second part of the first verse runs;

"If I could pitch enough
You'd realize what a little country bread can do"

This song is credited on the album and other sources to Richard Thompson and Ian MacDonald, then both members of Fairport Convention.

It is also worth noting that some websites list this as another Joni Mitchell song, but I am going with the credits on the LP cover.

Ian MacDonald left Fairport Convention in 1969 and founded the band Matthews Southern Comfort, changing his name in the process, firstly to Ian and subsequently Iain Matthews.

Answer: Shuffle the Pack

The odd song out is "Shuffle the Pack", a version of a military drinking song recorded by Fairport on the album "The Five Seasons".

The other options are all songs written and recorded by Bob Dylan
Although no song by the name "Jack O'Diamonds" can be found credited to him, the words for this track were listed as one of the poems on the cover of the album "Another Side of Bob Dylan". The music is credited to the name Carruthers, possibly a certain sometime American actor and musician Ben Carruthers.

Answer: George Painter

The music for the track "The Lobster" is a collaboration by Ashley Hutchings and Richard Thompson. Both of them were founder members of Fairport Convention but left in 1969 and 1971 respectively, Ashley Hutchings to found Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson to start a solo career.

George Painter was a poet and writer, winner of the 1965 Duff Cooper literary prize and the 1977 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography for his biographies.

Answer: Stormy

A strange song, credited to Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings. The first verse runs;

"Looking through the window, to see which way the wind blows
It seems as though a hurricane is due today, sunny on the outside
Stormy on the inside, stormy weather's always best for making hay"

A very early example of the writings of Thompson and Hutchings.

Answer: Dying

The opening lines of this song are: "Dying's not easy today, trying but can't get away". The song is credited as being written by Richard Thompson, Paul Ghosh and Andrew Horvitch. I can find no details of the last two people, whether they are responsible for the words of a poem or a tune or something else. Wikipedia lists them as back-up singers on the next Fairport album for at least one track, but I can find nothing to confirm this.

Reading the verses, the theme of the song is a broken heart and the voice of the song wishing to fade away. This makes me think of the darkness of later Richard Thompson songs.

Answer: Giovanni Boccaccio

Only one of the Italians listed was on this planet prior to the nineteenth century. Maybe to be more precise, only one of these was a famous Italian in the relevant period, lesser known namesakes are a possibility.

I couldn't say if there is a connection between the song and the 100 stories of Boccaccio's "Decameron" so I will give my interpretation of the song.

There are three verses, the first starts; "She doesn't see the day today". The next; "He didn't see the summer go". The final verse starting; "They listened to his voice grow pale". I am sure there are many possible meanings but to me it is two parents grieving at the loss of a child.

Answer: Chelsea Morning

All of the options are songs written by Joni Mitchell however the only one of the four that appears on this album is "Chelsea Morning". The lyrics I have listed are separated by a few others. A slightly longer extract including both phrases shown;

"And the light poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses
Oh won't you stay? We'll put on a day and we'll talk in present tenses

Now the curtain closes and the rainbow runs away
I'll bring you incense owls by night"

My copy of "Birds of North America" doesn't identify an Incense Owl so I suspect it isn't referring to an avian.

Answer: M1 Breakdown

"Dirty Linen" was an instrumental medley recorded by the group on the 1970 album "Full House".

Considering the ever changing line-ups of Fairport in the early years, "Revolving Doors" would seem suitable. From the members of the line-up on this album the only person who was still a member 50 years later was Simon Nicol (although with a break in the 1970s). But "Revolving Doors" and "Back in 50 Years" are both fake names of tunes.

However Simon Nicol is one of the two listed composers of the tune" M1 Breakdown", along with Ashley Hutchings. The reason I described the title as prophetic is that the year after this released, the van carrying Fairport Convention were involved in a fatal crash while travelling on the M1 motorway. One band member, drummer Martin Lamble, died along with the partner of another band member.