Fairport Convention (every album, every song)

Fairport Convention are a great British institution - or, at least, they should be. For more than 50 years they have helped to keep traditional music alive and kicking by injecting it with a healthy dose of electric rock 'n' roll. Their finest albums - including What We Did On Our Holidays, Liege And Lief, Full House - are landmarks is the development of British music and should be listened to by everyone before they die. In this exhaustive and illuminating book Kevan Furbank looks at all the studio albums in detail - from their uncertain debut in 1968 to their most recent release celebrating half a century of music-making. He chronicles the stories behind each recording, touching on the highs and lows, the successes and tragedies, the pleasure and pain, and examines the songwriting, arrangements and traditions that inspired each track. In doing so, he also looks at the contributions made by the many great musicians who have passed through Fairport's 'revolving-door' line-ups, including guitar wizard Richard Thompson, angel-voiced Sandy Denny, demon fiddler Dave Swarbrick and the 'guv'nor' of British folk-rock, Ashley Hutchings. From Muswell Hill to Cropredy, Fairport Convention's musical story is as dramatic as any soap opera, with tragedies as low as they can go but with joys as high as they can reach. It's about talent, innovation and sheer dogged determination against all the odds. If you have never heard any Fairport this book is the perfect introduction. If you have, you will want to go back and revisit the music this band has made over the last 50 years. Because, in the words of Richard Thompson, it all comes round again.