Fairport Convention : 'Celebration' Granada TV (UK), 1981 

the other members rightly have legendary status, but for my money Simon Nichol is one of THE most underdated musicians and singers

The chasm between Richard Thompson's incredible guitar playing & his choice of a tee-shirt is astounding ...

In his lifetime of dodgy facial hair Swarb surely never outdid this moustache

I'm glad this show is out here on RU-vid. Having been a Fairport fan from the beginning & having seen them on the "Full House" American tour, a few comments. As all will agree, Richard is a musical genius. Singer/guitarist/songwriter extraordinare, who somehow continues to get better with age, especially with regard to his singing voice. Swarb (RIP) was a fine fiddler & singer, & wrote some great Fairport songs in collaboration with RT. DM is just a rock solid drummer who can play in any musical format. Check out his CV. Simon has become a very fine lead vocalist & an underrated guitarist. That brings us to Peggy. He's Fairport's somewhat hidden weapon, his strong, melodic & at times unpredictable bass lines add so much to their sound. He joined the band in 1970 after a "courtesy" audition set up by Swarb. The other members weren't expecting much as Peggy was known as a folk player. To quickly move on, the band had him play "Matty Groves" while playing it faster & faster, trying to lose him. Didn't happen & he's still with Fairport. I see them every chance I can.

One of the best rhythm sections of all time - Dave Pegg & Dave Mattacks

Fabulous!!! Pegg and Mattacks always incredible!!! Fairport Convention FOREVER AND EVER!!!

I lived in Dublin in the seventies. My housemate was friends with Sandy Denny. She visited us a few times. We sat by the fire, sang, and drank tea all night. I’ll never forget her or Swarb.

The real ale version of the Grateful Dead. National treasures all.

Superb playing by Fairport, disappointed no mention of Sandy Denny who got it all up and running with those timeless songs of hers

Outstanding performance from a band who would have been as big as the Beatles if there was any real justice in the world....

Lyrics Let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time Let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time You can waste your time on the other rides This is the nearest to being alive Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death You can go with the crazy people in the Crooked House You can fly away on the Rocket or spin in the Mouse The Tunnel Of Love might amuse you Noah's Ark might confuse you But let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death On the Wall Of Death all the world is far from me On the Wall Of Death it's the nearest to being free Well you're going nowhere When you ride on the carousel And maybe you're strong But what's the good of ringing a bell The switchback will make you crazy. Beware of the bearded lady Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death Let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time Oh let me ride on the Wall Of Death one more time You can waste your time on the other rides This is the nearest to being alive Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death Let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death Oh let me take my chances on the Wall Of Death Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Richard John Thompson

What a lineup! And Linda Thompson as a bonus.

What a gem this is! I'm sorry this line up couldn't have stayed together (in the early 80s) long enough to record a couple more albums- Linda could've been included too- they were my favorite lineup of Fairport

Reading Peggy's book "Off the Pegg" this summer, oh wow I'm trying to track videos along the way. This is wonderful!

Amazing band, amazing music.

Interesting to hear an early version of Wall of Death, and i'm glad Thompson kept working on it. This version sounds fine, but what ultimately was released with that jangly Byrds-like guitar sound, was exhilirating.

This had to be one of the first -- if not THE first -- public performances of "Wall of Death." Richard and Linda had recorded the song in 1980 for the long-legendary Gerry Rafferty demo sessions, but it remained unreleased. The classic version on the album "Shoot Out The Lights" was not recorded until November 1981, or 3-4 months after this performance.

Full House is a great album.

What a wonderful surprise - I never knew of the existence of this, fabulous stuff. It is nice to hear the band with a female voice, as nothing quite beats the "Sandy" era. It makes you wonder what they could have achieved with Linda.

In Thompson's recent book :Beeswing", he mentions why he left Fairport in 1971. Mainly, the music was way too fast for his liking, and the other guys refused to slow down (Swarb liked to take speed too). Listen to the 1970 "Live at the Troubador" album; they practically sound like the Pogues. I wonder if, in this 1981 reunion, they had to promise Richard they wouldn't get too crazy-fast?

As classic lineups go, this is surely the best. Thanks so much for sharing

Anyone notice the resemblance of Dave Pegg to Brian Cant from Playaway?

Mike Harding is hilarious with his classically English understated humor, wryly and surreptitiously interspersed with helpful information.

That's was an awesome trip down memory lane for me brilliant footage of fairport convention although I never saw them. Thanks mike 👌🇬🇧🎸🎤🥁❤

Holy SHIT!!! Never knew this existed! Thank you!

Great, thanks, Mike Harding must have borrowed his specs from Timmy Mallett.. Richard doesn't look too happy, though he smiles on the mandolin trio. Top sound, camera work and vision mixing, GTV was ahead of the game back in the day.

Fabulous - even living in the UK I had no idea this programme existed! Many thanks.

How many times did Simon change his shirt? All excellent stuff!

Good morning. I ask where can I have this "electric folk family tree". Thanks.

Another name for "Sword Dance" is "Ghillie Callum." My daughter is a highland dancer and my son was a dance piper at times, so it is ingrained into my brain.

Mike Harding's dreadful cringe patter nearly ruins this.

Linda sounds great on Sloth

The musicianship here is superlative.

Must have seen them 20 plus times,,,great band

Pity they didn't interview the band...they are always hilarious

@Folk rock. Australian rock. More. -- thanks for this post, from one of your subscribers. i've watched a few clips from this show here and there. It's great to see the whole thing. Sloth is special - Pegg's bass solo is quiet and fn great. Lots to like all the way through.

Richard Thompson, the ‘Man from C&A’ years. What a genius musician.

And 40 years later the buggers are still going!!!

Why did he grow that bloody moustache

Lovely to see this. According to Patrick Humphries' book Meet On The Ledge, they also played Now Be Thankful with the CWS band but it had to be dropped for making the show too long.

So cool to hear Richard and Linda sing Wall of Death

The commentary is completely delightful!

my goodness...what a treat! Musical heroes...

This is so steeped into the Old English ways,that makes me so proud

great line up, and live sound, harking back to the very best days of fairport, and performances at uni, and showing what a grta live ban thye were at their best-sorry i never saw them with sandy though...

So cool to see this. Thank you 😊

jeez I remember Mike Harding on TV many many mons ago......I loved Fairport

Great period of Fairport.

Great broadcast- first time viewing for me Dec 4, 2019...!!

Bloody brilliant :-)

Sandy's SO much better.

Good clean version of Sloth at the end, well mixed, but no fiddle solo

With Linda Thompson on vocals on "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman". One of my all time favourite bands. They came to Perth, Western Australia to promote "Rosy" and again with the addition of Sandy Denny to promote "Nine". At the time I preferred the "Rosy" line-up because of the awesome instrumental work of Dave Swarbrick and Jerry Donohue. Their solos were less prominent on the Sandy tour.

Recall an evening with Richard, Linda and Simon at Manchester Uni Folk night. about the time of wanna see the bright lights tonight. Starter as Folk/rock but in second set was Rock. Around 15 of us in audience. A night to remember.

I saw Fairport when they reformed in around 1984 with Simon Nicol, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Pegg and Bruce Rowland at the Brighton Dome. Fond memories.

Jethro Tull really owes these guys a lot

I have loved you guys since,oh say 1972 when I was 12yrs old. When I was 20 I sang one misty misty morning and Alison Grose to my children when they were little babes. Im just so sorry that it didnt skyrocket off the planet for sure! God Bless my fair and lovely Englishmen and women! You are truly a real and beautiful force. My favorite song is Gaudete, so rich and old English. The Latin words are so neat sounding! Thank you for sharing them all with all the world. Keep rocking your style!

😂 awesome.

This is a true gem.... I am obsessed with all things beatles, and every new "beatley" footage I welcome..., and this is MY Beatles.... simly love it, with all its flaws and imperfections.....

This is obviously great music, but having seen the band many timesrecently it's amazing how much better they are now. The line up here is good, but moving on now with Ric Chris and Dave Mattocks, it's like fine wine ready to drink. Just great.

Wonderful

thompson looks utterly bored and unemotional

there he is again with a cig in his mouth. dave van ronk has a song called singing cancer blue the said the thinking mans cigarette smoke pot

Swings like the clappers! Absolute killer!

"...With a Bob Dylan song, in French". :-)

I would fight and die like a Viking for this band and banner ip68jd xxx

I never knew Linda got to FC gig. No Matty Grove's or tam lin or sailors tale. :-( Guessing she didn't want to tamper with her friend Sandy's legacy. If I am not mistaken this is the R&L Thompson band of that era with swarb. Nice to see Simon k keeping up with RT/swarb on dirty linen. Never knew he was picking along with that. A real treasure. Still haven't heard House full, this will do for now.

Wow. Thanks so much for sharing this.

The host's glasses have got to go.

Thanks for putting this on. A classic line-up.

Its Mr Harding !.....I saw Mike H. twice at Leeds University. Actually it could have been four times as I was slightly drunk and seeing double. I can still recite "Napoleons Retreat from Wigan". I'm afraid I thought this Fairport lineup was too dominated by the Fiddle and the loss of Ashley Hutchings and Sandy Denny was a hole too big to fill.

Excellent, ta!!! ♥

Great group. Love Closing Time as the best exit song.

The whole thing minus ads? Not for me. The first song was interrupted half way through crassly by an ad and the exact same thing happened on the second Swarbrick tune at which point I've given up. Why does everything have to be bloody monetised? Waste of time

Host got spider eyes!

What's with the glasses?

is there dvd to buy??????????????

This is new. Wow!

Wait why did Simon sing Richards part...?

11:34 ash drop

Sorry, but Linda's voice compromised all the songs in which she appeared. I know she can sing better than this !

29:02 Peggy’s solo

To put this in perspective,the band was broken up,this was a temporary line up just for the show hence Linda guesting, when the band got going again it was a different set of musicians, classic Fairport was Sandy Denny, Ian Matthews as singers , the and that plays now has players from this era,but can never recreate it exactly as sadly both Swarb and Sandy have passed on.......

Wow! Celtic soul at it's best! Heard of this band but never HEARD the band until now. While I can hear American influences in these songs they still have the imprint of Celtic folk in there also. Over here it would almost certainly be compared to bluegrass. I can see why Jimmy Page and the rest of Zep loved Sandy Denny even though she had probably passed by the time this was filmed.Looking up her music, its pretty amazing stuff too! Great band!

For me Linda's voice adds nothing. In fact it sounds terrible. I know this may be sacrilegious to many, but there it is.

❤️

Originally, they were trying for a Jefferson Airplane sound. They never got there; the Airplane lightyears beyond, yet Fairport could get close certainly on a skillful level Richard's guitar going in an amazing and soaring direction/feel and Sandy equally as gifted. Thanks for this!

What's Linda doing there?

Nerdy but good.

Dave Swarbrick I turn off bye