With Fairport just off on their annual Autumn tour around the nether regions of the UK, this book is a timely reminder of why they are such a beloved musical institution.
The Fairport Convention story stretches back more than 55 years, and their annual festival, Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, has been going for over 45. ‘Cropredy Capers’ follows on from 2022’s ‘Gonna See All My Friends’ and is another slice of Fairport history in the words of fans, with stories of seeing and meeting the band in its many guises over the years.
A scrapbook of photos, and reminiscences, compiled by Richard Houghton into a 300-page love letter to the band. You can read it from front to back and build up a picture of how Fairport have grown and progressed through tours all over the world from Washington to St Petersburg and back to Cropredy, or you can dip into it as a page catches your eye. Doing this led me to Andy MacLeod’s remembrance of Cropredy Village Fete in 1977. If there is one entry that sums up what Fairport mean to their fans, then it’s this one.
Having said that you can flick to almost any page and find a sense of warmth and camaraderie. Personal interactions with the band, past and present are filled with the sort of familiarity which few bands encourage. The family portraits, grainy stage pictures form the 70s, tour flyers and press clippings all contribute to an intimate, feel which few music books of this sort manage.
There are very few of the gushing best band in the world, “I’ve seen them more times than you have” oneupmanship pieces that the internet seems to thrive on. This may be down to Houghton’s editing skills or may just be because Fairport don’t attract that sort of fan.
Many bands would have filled this with famous friends. While Simon Nicol and Dave Pegg were involved with its compilation, and Ric Sanders and Chris Leslie make contributions this is a collection of words and pictures about the people who follow the band as much as the band themselves. Anecdotes and tributes to absent friends and family are the bedrock of this engaging book. While I’m sure there are in jokes and well-known names in the community mentioned, they were lost on me as a casual listener and reader. But I didn’t feel excluded from the club. If anything, I felt that this is a place where anyone with a love for the music would be welcome. A taste for a good pint probably doesn’t hurt either.
One recommendation I would have if you’re reading this book is read Dave Pegg’s postscript first, as it is actually a really good introduction to the atmosphere you’ll find inside. The other suggestion is turn to page 170 and read Paul Melhuish’s introduction to Cropredy in 1989. If that doesn’t make you book tickets for the next festival and wonder, why you have missed it all these years I’ll be amazed.
The view from the crowd at Cropredy 2022. I’d bet many of the contributors to this book are out there…
