Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist (Denny did not appear on the group's 1968 debut album), as well as the first to feature future long-serving personnel Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks on violin/mandolin and drums, respectively, as full band members (Swarbrick had previously guested on Unhalfbricking). It is also the first Fairport album on which all songs are either adapted (freely) from traditional British and Celtic folk material (for example "Matty Groves", "Tam Lin"), or else are original compositions (such as "Come All Ye", "Crazy Man Michael") written and performed in a similar style. Although Denny and founding bass player Ashley Hutchings quit the band before the album's release, Fairport Convention has continued to the present day to make music strongly based within the British folk rock idiom, and are still the band most prominently associated with it.
LP originally released in 1969. Expanded remaster originally released 2002. Recorded: Tracks 4 - Oct 16, 1969; Track 8 - Oct 19; Tracks 2 & 3 - Oct 22; Tracks 1, 6, 7 & 10.1 - Oct 29; Track 9 - Nov. 1. Tracks 9 & 10.1 are previously unreleased. although take 4 of "Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood" was issued on the compilation Who Knows Where The Time Goes in 1985. Track 10.3 is unlisted. Tracks 9 & 10.1 mixed at Universal Studios January 2002. CD package design at Waldo's Design & Dream Emporium. This compilation: ℗ 2002 Universal Island Records Ltd. © 2002 Universal Island Records Ltd. A Universal Music Company The copyright in this compilation and artwork is owned by Universal Island Records Ltd. Made in the EU. All songs published by Warlock Music Ltd. except track 7 by Sparta Florida Music Group Ltd.
