Fairport C

Recorded Live at the Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, USA 1987. Featuring members of Fairport Convention. There seems to be at least two other versions of this concert: Jethro Tull - Upper Darby 1987 and Jethro Tull - Live At The Tower Theatre, Philadelphia - USA '87.

Myths and Heroes is the twenty-seventh studio album from Britain's best-known folk-rock band Fairport Convention. Featuring thirteen new songs and tunes, this eagerly-awaited release is the first new Fairport studio album for four years. The tracks on Myths and Heroes include five compositions by Chris Leslie and two by Ric Sanders (both members of Fairport) and six guest compositions including a new song from renowned songwriter Ralph McTell. Recorded and mastered by John Gale, the album epitomizes Fairport Convention's consummate musicality - Myths and Heroes shows British folk-rock's founding fathers at the top of their game.

Fairport Convention's only concept album was built around the story of John "Babbacombe" Lee, a convicted killer who survived three attempts to hang him. Cut by the four-man Fairport lineup of Simon Nicol, Dave Swarbrick, Dave Mattacks, and Dave Pegg, the original album was a self-contained work with a specific beginning and ending. It's also never been much more than cult item in the group's early catalog, despite some spirited playing on "Little Did I Think," "I Was Sixteen, Pt. 2," "St. Ninian's Isle/Trumpet Hornpipe," and "Sailor's Alphabet." The slipcased "Island Remasters" keeps the concept and the original album's content intact – with killer sound as expected, and each song now getting its own index number – and appends a pair of bonus tracks that justify the purchase. The first is "Farewell to a Poor Man's Son," a "lost" song by the group from the BBC program on John Lee that was the inspiration for the album, and "Breakfast in Mayfair," both from an earlier lineup of the band featuring Jerry Donahue.

After the disastrous "Gottle O' Geer" album from the previous year (which had been intended as a Dave Swarbrick solo album), stalwart Simon Nicol returned to the group and provided the group with the crucial ingredient it had been missing since he departed in 1972 with his perfectly sympathetic guitar. Here we have them sounding like Fairport Convention again, tackling traditional fare with great enthusiasm and aplomb. Their joy in playing as a reconstituted group shines through on tracks like "The Eynsham Poacher", with its lovely harmonies, and as a formidable instrumental group it's tracks like bassist Dave Pegg's "Jams O'Donnell's Jigs" that satisfy most. The title track is one they attempted clear back in 1970 and is a sure-fire jaw-dropping classic. A fine return to form.