Fairport Convention - "Sloth" - live at Taverne de l'Olympia, Paris, France, 1970. Original broadcast: "Pop 2" French TV show - 5 December 1970. Additional audio/video editing by me. Visit too: ragnarockgold.blogspot.com/se...
Great video. As always the interplay between Richard and Swarb is simply stunning. And a reminder that they all had hair, though Dave Mattacks doesn't seem to change at all.
This song showcases, or rather exemplifies the astounding dynamics of this band. Dave Mattacks drum work, "just a roll, just a roll", and Dave Pegg's bass are there on the march. Building up to the exchange at 6:00 between Richard Thompson's searing guitar lead and Dave Swarbrick's dialogical exploration that leads at 8:00 to Swarbrick's beautiful plucking solo. And Simon Nicol's rhythm guitar weaves the cloak together. As a young violinist (from age 6 in '55), hearing this music in 1969, was a major influence on me to take playing seriously, once again. The album, "Full House" has a good studio version of "Sloth", but I think this live performance is compelling musically. Probably also the times: "Just a roll on the drum, and the war has begun." Not to bring you down! Quite the opposite. Awareness has it's price; the question in general- the question: Would you rather know, or not? Hearing this music, for me, is part of knowing.
Awesome. Thanks Rafa A for finding this. Hats off as always to French and German TV of the time for having the good taste to film stuff like this and the good sense to hold onto the tapes rather than wiping them!
How wonderful to see them in action on Sloth! I do wish the cameraman had shown us a little less of their backs and paid more attention to who was playing what bits.
Sadly, this is the typical "Pop 2" shoot style. This is a great TV show, but the camera angles in the concerts are not so great. In fact, this personal (and maybe inovator) "Pop 2" shoot style created some interesting ambience, but I think that the producers and cameras should alternate this unocnventional angles with more conventional angles. I think, then, that this balance would be a better way.
@@rafaa151 yes, I think sometimes the desire to be creative gets in the way of getting the message across, which in this case is getting to appreciate the musicians in their art.
