Jill Karla Schwarz, 'Tam Lin', ''Fairies and Elves'', 1984 Source I'm going to use this post as the perfect opportunity to direct you to my favorite song from the folk band Fairport Convention from their 1969 album 'Liege & Lief', Tam Lin (which, I'm sure, I've posted about at some point)

Robert Plant and Sandy Denny

‘On my way’, June 2023, ph Erik Gigengack

Sandy Denny, 1971

Richard Thompson  *April 3, 1949

“They will turn me in your arms into a wild wolf,

but hold me tight and fear me not, I am your own true love,”

The ballad of Tam Lin (Child 39) is one of my all time favorite songs/folk stories. I find it to be such a fascinating glimpse at how stories change over such long periods of time. This piece was mostly inspired by the Anaïs Mitchell cover, but I also am quite fond of the Fairport Convention version as well.

Sandy Denny photographed by Brian Cooke, 1975

Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Fairport Convention’s Sandy Denny outside Melody Maker’s Annual Poll Awards in London on September 15th, 1970. 

That night, Robert won Best Male Singer, while Sandy was chosen Best Female Singer. A year later the two dueted on the track ‘The Battle of Evermore’ for Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album, which ended up being the only time a guest vocalist appeared on a LZ song.

Fairport Convention - Royal Festival Hall, London, England, September 24, 1969

We listened to Dave Swarbrick with Martin Carthy in 1968 last week ... now let's listen to Swarb about a year later with Fairport Convention. His first gig as a Fairporter, actually! This Royal Festival Hall show was the band's return to the stage after the tragic accident that took the life of their original drummer Martin Lamble in the spring of 1969.

Amazingly, FC rallied and reconvened and managed to create a lasting masterpiece — Liege & Lief, which makes up most of the Royal Festival Hall setlist. A historic occasion, for sure; unfortunately the only surviving document is a fairly awful-sounding audience tape. But the general excitement (and sheer volume!) of the evening comes across if you can deal with the lo-fi vibes, from the rousing opening of "Come All Ye" to the radical rough-n-tumble turnarounds of "Tam Lin." A good start for this era of Fairport — but close to the end, too. Sandy Denny and Ashley Hutchings would quit the band before the year ended.

Swarb says: Did we feel like we were making history? Sometimes, just a little; the sound that was being produced was so exciting for me. To hear a song that I knew from folk clubs take on such power was exhilarating. Nothing like it existed.

A footnote — the openers for the Royal Festival Hall show were John & Beverly Martyn and none other than Nick Drake. "[Nick] had a certain charisma, but did not attempt to ingratiate himself with listener in any way," Richard Thompson remembered years later. "His need to tinker between songs was even more acute than John Martyn's, because every song he played seemed to require a different tuning. He never spoke to the audience; he played and sang exquisitely, but the crowd got restless and were less inclined to pay attention." Makes sense! Still — I'd like to hear a tape, no matter how lo-fi ...

Fairport Convention - Million Dollar Bash (1969)

A fun and rollicking version of Dylan’s Basement Tapes tune.

Fairport Convention - Sloth

‘I do not count the time’, June 2023, ph Erik Gigengack

Barite print here

7:24 PM EDT April 26, 2024:

Fairport Convention - "Tam Lin" From the album Liege And Lief (December 1969)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

More here, if you'd like

Sandy Denny, 1975