The Return of The Other Boot & The Third Leg
PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 06/07/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Brotherhood" is in fact highlights of two years of the Cropredy Festival. Disc One represents 1986 , with Iain Matthews taking on many lead vocal duties. With great renditions of Reno Nevada, Keep On Sailing & Suzanne this is the closest to 1968 as the modern Fairport has ever sounded. A glorious "Bird From The Mountian" features a rare lead vocal from Peggy. Lead guitar duties are shared by Richard Thompson and Jerry Donahue and the both come close to setting the homefield on fire! The title tune "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" is spot-on with Cathy Lesurf giving a truely moving performance. Iain Matthews (with help) revisits "Woodstock" his Number One hit acapella, this is really a Festival one-off event ! 17 minutes of "Sloth " comes next with cosmic fiddle, bass solo , guitars from Jupiter, The Works. On to" Mr. Lacey " and " Meet On The Ledge" to finish up Disc One. Disc Two was an Event as this the 20th year of Fairport as a band. Cropredy 1987 is when the modern Fairport Convention begins. The two new chaps shine brightly in 86, but on Disc Two Maartin Allcock & Ric Sanders feel more comfortable and all performances reach new heights due to their stellar talents. The best Cropredy mood-bringer "The Lark In The Morning" is here in the finest version played at Homefield. Richard Thompson is back and "Hand Of Kindness" and "Saturday Rolling Around" are top-league performances by the master. Dave Swarbrick comes to bat and gives "Rosie" to the crowd and another peak is reached. Ian Anderson & Martin Barre dip back into the 1968 tunebag and out comes "Serenade To A Cuckoo" now this gives Ric a chance to go head-on with Ian Anderson and he again takes things up to the next level. Disc Two comes to an end with "Matty Groves" and "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" featuring Cathy Lesurf on vocal duties and emotional fiddle and guitar by Mr. Sanders and Mr. Thompson. A Brilliant closer. So why not give this box the 5 stars it deserves? Simple, as great as this is, there is not enough!!! You need Two more disc's of Both shows. The Other Boot was released as two 60 minute audio cassettes as was the Third Leg (which contained 30 more minutes of bonus material.] Woodroom Records released both sets on three compact discs in 2001. The outstanding quality of material and performances of these two shows merits more of this material needs to see the light of day! (How about some Super Boots Peggy?) After all that , this an attractive box with real informative liner notes included with all the details. A bonus DVD of Simon Nicol and Peggy being inviewed is included as well. A great value for your dollar, But there is more out there and it deserves to be released in it's complete form."
