Old New Borrowed Blue
Encyclopedia
Old New Borrowed Blue is a 1996 album by folk rock
band Fairport Convention
, although for this release, they were billed as "Fairport Acoustic Convention" as it was the band's first all-acoustic album in 29 years. Part studio, part live, it was recorded to publicise a tour of the United States
and consisted of cover version
s, new songs and classic tracks dating back to the band's early career. Dave Mattacks
, who had provided drums and electronic instrumentation for previous albums, was absent.
Allmusic praised the album, saying "The playing is exquisite and the vocalizing by Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg is extraordinary".
Live tracks
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, although for this release, they were billed as "Fairport Acoustic Convention" as it was the band's first all-acoustic album in 29 years. Part studio, part live, it was recorded to publicise a tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and consisted of cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s, new songs and classic tracks dating back to the band's early career. Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks
Dave Mattacks is a rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician, and as a performance artist...
, who had provided drums and electronic instrumentation for previous albums, was absent.
Allmusic praised the album, saying "The playing is exquisite and the vocalizing by Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg is extraordinary".
Track listing
Studio tracks- "Woodworm Swing" (Ric SandersRic SandersRichard 'Ric' Sanders is a British violinist who has played in jazz-rock, folk rock, electric folk and folk groups, including Soft Machine and Fairport Convention.-Biography:...
) - 3:08 - "Men" (Loudon Wainwright IIILoudon Wainwright IIILoudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
) - 3:45 - "Aunt Sally Shuffle" (Dave PeggDave PeggDave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
) - 1:22 - "There Once Was Love" (Paul Metsers) / Innstück (Maartin AllcockMaartin AllcockMaartin Allcock , also known as Martin Allcock, is a multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer.-Biography:...
) - 4:45 - "Frozen Man" (James TaylorJames TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
) - 4:20 - "Mr Sands Is in the Building" (Maartin Allcock) - 2:06
- "Lalla Rookh" (Words: Chris Leslie / Music: Maartin Allcock) - 4:27
Live tracks
- "Foolish You" (Wade HemsworthWade HemsworthAlbert Wade Hemsworth was a Canadian folk singer and songwriter. Although he was not a prolific composer, having written only about 20 songs during his entire career, several of his songs — most notably "The Wild Goose", "The Black Fly Song" and "The Log Driver's Waltz" — are among the most...
) - 3:34 - "Crazy Man Michael" (RichardThompson/Dave SwarbrickDave SwarbrickDave Swarbrick is an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British, and many World folk violin players that have followed him...
) - 5:09 - "The Widow of Westmorland's Daughter" (traditionalTraditional musicTraditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, arrangement by Fairport Convention) - 4:05 - "Genesis Hall" (Richard Thompson) - 4:13
- "The Deserter" (John RichardsJohn Richards (songwriter)John Richards is a UK singer, songwriter, guitarist, mandolinist and bouzouki player. He was born 1951 in Wolverhampton and subsequently raised in the Coseley area in the UK Black Country. He is principally known for his songs covered by other artists, but has gigged regularly both solo and with...
) - 5:43 - "The Swimming Song" (Loudon Wainwright III) - 3:24
- "Struck It Right" (Huw Williams) - 4:26
- "The Hiring Fair" (Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
/Dave MattacksDave MattacksDave Mattacks is a rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician, and as a performance artist...
) - 6:07 - "Matty GrovesMatty Groves"Matty Groves" is an English folk ballad that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It dates to at least the 17th century, and is one of the Child Ballads collected by 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child...
"/"Dirty Linen" (Trad. Arr. Fairport Convention) - 10:06
Personnel
- Simon NicolSimon NicolSimon John Breckenridge Nicol is a guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founder member of British folk rock, or electric folk group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band...
: vocals, acoustic guitar - Ric SandersRic SandersRichard 'Ric' Sanders is a British violinist who has played in jazz-rock, folk rock, electric folk and folk groups, including Soft Machine and Fairport Convention.-Biography:...
: violin - Dave PeggDave PeggDave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
: acoustic bass guitar, mandolineMandolineA mandoline is a cooking utensil used for slicing and for cutting juliennes; with suitable attachments, it can make crinkle-cuts. It consists of two parallel working surfaces, one of which can be adjusted in height. A food item is slid along the adjustable surface until it reaches a blade mounted...
, backing vocals - Maartin AllcockMaartin AllcockMaartin Allcock , also known as Martin Allcock, is a multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer.-Biography:...
- acoustic guitars, bouzar, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, mandocelloMandocelloThe mandocello is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It has eight strings in four paired courses, tuned in 5ths like a mandolin, but is larger, and tuned CC-GG-dd-aa . It is to the mandolin what the cello is to the violin.-Construction:Mandocello construction is similar to the...
, bodhranBodhránThe bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
, backing vocals
Release history
- 1996, May : Woodworm Records WRCD 024, UK & Australia LP
- 1996, June : Green Linnet 3114, US CD
- 1999, August : SSE Communications SSE-7301, Japan CD
- 2007 : Talking Elephant 110, US CD