Fav. Tracks: Fairport Convention – Babbacombe Lee

Babbacombe Lee – St Ninian’s Isle/Trumpet Hornpipe.

This album is a recent purchase for me; although the album was released in 1971!  The reason I purchased this was because I went to see Fairport playing in Exeter last year (2010) and they played the whole of this album as their first track – a brave thing to do.

The album is about a true story and as such is difficult to pick a track as a favourite.  So, I have chosen an instrumental hornpipe track as an example of their music – I guess you have to like folk/rock to like this album.

So far so good – Fav. Tracks continued

Well that completes the list of my favourite tracks of albums whose name begins with number or the letter A!  So we are 1/26th of the way there!

K

Fav. Tracks: Blackmore’s Nights – Autumn Sky

Autumn Sky – Highland.

Somewhere between the 1990s and today I missed the information that Richie Blackmore, disenchanted with Deep Purple’s musical style, turned away from rock to pursue his interest in folk music and early minstrel style music in particular (quite a change in style).  A friend played me a track off on of Blackmore’s Nights’ albums and I was hooked!

The style is an interesting mixture of rock and folk with a tinge of Mike Oldfield style storylines and some riffs that might have interested people in the middle ages!  This track is more typical of the folk/rock style, but there are tracks that remind me of Amazing Blondel, with a huge influence from early musical styles.  Candice Night’s voice, quite beautiful in my opinion, is wonderfully illustrated in this track.

I think anyone who enjoys folk/rock will enjoy this music and I foresee myself buying a few more albums yet.

Fav. Tracks: Eric Clapton – August

August – Hold on.

This is quite an unusual album for Eric Clapton – not really that much a blues album, but more rock.  The guitar playing is of course excellent, but this track, co-written with Phil Collins, is very unusual with a drum opening and a typical Phil Collins sound to it.  Something of a love song I would say the track is almost borderline pop music style, but easy to listen to.

This album is worth listening to.

Fav. Tracks: Counting Crows – August and Everything After

August and Everything After – Sullivan Street.

I can never decide whether Counting Crows are a rock band with a folky sound or a folk/rock band.  The lead singer, Adam Duritz, has an unusual slightly “stretched” voice, which provides the band with a very distinctive sound.  the track Mr Jones provided an early hit for the band, but my favourite track of this debut album is Sullivan Street.

This is more folky than the rest of the album and has quite a gently beginning that I really like.  For some reason the song reminds me of traveling across The Mersey to see an old girlfriend – strange!