What We Did on Our Holidays

by Fairport Convention

Overview

Sandy Denny's haunting, ethereal vocals gave Fairport a big boost on her debut with the group. A more folk-based album than their initial effort, What We Did on Our Holidays is divided between original material and a few well-chosen covers. This contains several of their greatest moments: Denny's "Fotheringay," Richard Thompson's "Meet on the Ledge," the obscure Joni Mitchell composition "Eastern Rain," the traditional "She Moves Through the Fair," and their version of Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It with Mine." And more than simply being a collection of good songs (with one or two pedestrian ones), it allowed Fairport to achieve its greatest internal balance, and indeed one of the finest balances of any major folk-rock group. The strong original material, covers of little-known songs by major contemporary songwriters such as Dylan and Mitchell, and updates of traditional material were reminiscent of the blend achieved by the Byrds on their early albums, with Fairport Convention giving a British slant to the idiom. The slant would become much more British by the end of the '60s, though, both gaining and losing something in the process. Confusingly, What We Did on Our Holidays was titled Fairport Convention in its initial U.S. release, with a different cover from the U.K. edition, although Fairport's very first album from 1968 had used the title Fairport Convention as well. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	05/14/2021
Label:	Universal
UPC:	4988031423004
Rank:	65782

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fairport Convention   Primary Artist
Gerry Conway   Primary Artist
Richard Thompson   Primary Artist,Primary Artist,Guitar
Sandy Denny   Primary Artist,Keyboards,Guitar,Vocals
Linda Peters   Primary Artist
Ian Matthews   Vocals
Martin Lamble   Drums
Simon Nichol   Guitar (Rhythm)
Tyger Hutchings   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Simon Nicol   Guitar

Technical Credits

Richard Thompson   Composer,Composer
McKinley Morganfield   Composer
Dave Swarbrick   Composer
Ian Matthews   Composer
Felice Bryant   Composer
John Wood   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Ashley Hutchings   Composer
Gary Hobish   Reissue Mastering
Martin Lamble   Composer,Group Member
Richard Bennett Zeff   Photography
Annie Light Brown   Cover Photo
John Woods   Engineer
Nathaniel Russell   Reissue Design,Reissue Layout
Padraic Colum   Composer
Filippo Salvadori   Reissue Producer
Joni Mitchell   Composer
Sandy Denny   Composer
Trevor Lucas   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Simon Nicol   Composer,Group Member
Bob Dylan   Composer
Boudleaux Bryant   Composer
Joe Boyd   Producer,Audio Production
Fairport Convention   Arranger