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The Heart of Fairport Convention

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 08/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the BIG ONE, twenty-five years of highlights of the Cropredy Festival. Spread over four CD's these four disks have were produced by the right people, Free Reed Records, Nigel Schofield, Neil Wayne, Dave and Christine Pegg.



I will admit I have never attended Cropredy and feel as a bit of an outsider on this subject. When talking to the band members of Fairport Convention at shows here in the United States one of the questions they will ask you is " So, have you been to the Festival yet? " Now we all can answer a mighty YES to that question.



With many Fairport releases already out there already covering many Cropredy shows ( Moat on the Ledge, The Boot, The Other Boot, The Third Leg, In Real Time, 25th Anniversary Concert, The Cropredy Box, Cropredy '98, Beyond The Ledge, Cropredy 2001, Another Year... Another Palindrome ) on CD, VHS and DVD . You will have to decide if this Box Set is needed.



With 65 tracks ( each of the four disks clock in just under 80 minutes apiece ) A 135 page booklet giving you tons of info and pictures of every year from 1976 through last years festival of 2003. A second booklet is included to walk you through the streets of Cropredy Village and Oxfordshire. Also in this set is a "build your own Cropredy" model of the Festival Field ( the five band members included. )



The music has all the 'regular' Fairport tracks such as Walk Awhile, Rosie, Crazy Man Michael, Sloth, Matty Groves, Meet on the Ledge, but in band versions ( with guests ) never before released ( as is over 80% of the music presented here ) . But the rare material is the best reason to own this set. Rising for the Moon (acapella ), Level Pegging, Percy"s Song, Mason's Apron, Breakfast in Mayfair, Fotheringay are all fantastic. Guest artists include Robert Plant, Ian Anderson and Vikki Clayton. Former band members are all here as well: Richard Thompson, Iain Matthews, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Swarbrick and Trevor Lucas.



This is a ' must-have' set for any Fairport Fan and would prove to be just as interesting to new listeners.



A great box set and a good buy here in America ( it costs a little bit more in the UK ). The first 2000 numbered sets are signed by all members of the band.



FIVE STARS!"

High hopes not realized

K. Buckholtz | Shreveport, Louisiana USA | 03/03/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"All in all a rather lackluster set of music from the legendary Cropredy music festival. It does underscore just how big a loss Sandy Denny was.The set relies heavily on a bunch of female singers,trying to fill the void of the late Sandy Denny.For the most part they fall way short.There are a few fantastic performances scatterred about the 4 discs,but for the most part the music left me unimpressed at best."

Lots Of Live

Michael L. Knapp | Placerville, CA United States | 02/08/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This set would have been a lot more impressive if Fairport hadn't already released so many live albums from Cropredy, what with Live In '87, Moat On The Ledge, Road To Cropredy, Festival, 30th & 35th Anniversory multi disk sets, The Boot, The Other Boot, The 3rd Leg, the bonus disk the other Free Reed box plus live "bonus" tracks on reissues of some of their later albums, the DVDs & various bootlegs makes this set sort of feel like you've been there before. This is not to say this box isn't great or worth having. Most of the performances are amazing & even the ones that aren't are at least interesting and if you've ever gone to Cropredy you'll most likely find some tracks from the festivals you personally went to. Ther is not a better live band around than Fairport on a good night & it's always a good night at Cropredy!"