| Full House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1970[citation needed] | |||
| Recorded | February – April 1970 | |||
| Studio | Sound Techniques (London) | |||
| Genre | British folk rock | |||
| Length | 35:08 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Joe Boyd | |||
| Fairport Convention chronology | ||||
| ||||
Full House is a 1970 album byBritish folk rock groupFairport Convention, their fifth since their debut,Fairport Convention in 1968, and their first without a female vocalist.
The album was their first without a female vocalist, asSandy Denny had left to formFotheringay. Founder memberAshley Hutchings had also left forSteeleye Span, andDave Pegg had joined on bass.Richard Thompson was to leave the band for a solo career early the following year.[1]
As their previous album,Liege & Lief, had reinterpreted a number of traditional folk tunes, so didFull House. Many were sewn into two medleys, "Dirty Linen" and "Flatback Caper". The album also featured the nine-minute track "Sloth", which remained part of the group's live set for many years and has been described as "haunting, moody, dazzling".[1]
The original issue ofFull House was intended to comprise the following tracks:
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Walk Awhile" | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Doctor of Physick" | 3:37 |
| 3. | "Dirty Linen" | 4:17 |
| 4. | "Sloth" | 9:19 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Sir Patrick Spens" | 3:30 |
| 6. | "Flatback Caper" | 6:24 |
| 7. | "Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman" | 5:31 |
| 8. | "Flowers of the Forest" | 4:04 |
Test pressings were made following this sequence, but before the album was officially released, Richard Thompson requested that "Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman" (written by Thompson & Swarbrick) be removed, since he was not happy with his lead vocal; this removal was done at such a late stage that the firstLP sleeves had already been printed with the song shown on the track listing. A black block had to be printed over the original list with the revised track listing overprinted in gold, but a few sleeves were issued to the public without the overprinting and with the incorrect track listing. All subsequent printings had the corrected track listing despite the fact that the sleeve notes still referred to the missing track.[2]
The album cover was a non-laminated gatefold sleeve featuring notes by Richard Thompson; these take the form of descriptions of spoof folk-games in which various characters participate, completed by a round-up of eventual scores. For example:
AT MAIDS MONEY: Some of the hottest dice-throwing for years. The Doctor's Druids egg stood him in good stead. Later protests by 11,000 Virgins of Cologne against cruel sports. Wandering Jew killed in brawl with Hangman, hacked in two with a ploughshare.[3]
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian (Kent Music Report) | 16[4] |
Full House entered the British album charts on 18 July 1970, where it stayed for 11 weeks, peaking at number 13.[5]
Rolling Stone magazine's reviewer was enthusiastic, describing the album as "... an English equivalent toThe Band ... they have soaked up enough of the tradition of their countryfolk that it begins to show all over, while they still maintain their roots in rock".[6]
AllMusic described the album as "actually more viscerally exciting than its predecessor,Liege & Lief, if not quite as important as that record".[7]
AtFairport's Cropredy Convention 2022, the album's line-up ofRichard Thompson,Simon Nicol,Dave Mattacks,Dave Pegg, withChris Leslie filling in for the lateDave Swarbrick, took to the Cropredy stage to perform the entire album. On 3 January 2023, the album was released to the public as a CD.fairportconvention
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Walk Awhile" | Richard Thompson,Dave Swarbrick[8] | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Dirty Linen[9]" | Traditional; arranged by Swarbrick | 4:17 |
| 3. | "Sloth" | Thompson, Swarbrick | 9:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Sir Patrick Spens" | Traditional; arranged by Fairport Convention | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Flatback Caper[10]" | Ronald Cooper, Turlough O'Carolan, Traditional; arranged by Fairport Convention | 6:24 |
| 6. | "Doctor of Physick" | Thompson, Swarbrick | 3:37 |
| 7. | "Flowers of the Forest" | Traditional; arranged by Fairport Convention | 4:04 |
In 2001,Island Records re-issued an expanded edition ofFull House that included the 8 tracks of the original intended track ordering and included four additional tracks:
"Now Be Thankful" and "Sir B. McKenzie's..." were originally released as a 1970Island, UK single, WIP-6089. Both songs were recorded on 22 July 1970 at Sound Techniques, London.
Fairport Convention's studio recording of "Sir B. McKenzie's..." consisted of "Biff, Bang, Crash" (Trad.), "The Kilfenora" (Trad.), and "Boston Tea Party" (Dave Swarbrick)". By the time the single was issued, the band was playing the medley as "Bonny Kate" (Trad.), "The Kilfenora," "Boston Tea Party," and "Biff, Bang, Crash." Within a few years, "Sir B. McKenzie's..." consisted of the amended medley followed by "Tail Toddle" (Trad.). By the late 1970s, the medley also included the traditional tune "Up The Chimney."
The title "Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament For the 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits of Loch Knombe, In The Year of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion of the Announcement of Her Marriage to the Laird of Kinleakie" was the band's attempt to get into theGuinness Book of Records for the longest song title.
"Bonny Bunch of Roses", recorded one month after theFull House sessions atGold Star Studios in Los Angeles, was finally mixed 18 years later, for the release on theFairport Convention compilationMeet on the Ledge: The Classic Years (1967–1975), issued onA&M Records in 1999.
The stereo mix of "Now Be Thankful" (an entirely different mix from the one that appears on Richard Thompson'sWatching the Dark compilation) was created by Lee Hamblin and Frank Kornelussen and previously released onIsland Life, 25 Years ofIsland Records in 1988.
