Fairport Convention
Album: Rising For The Moon (Deluxe Edition)
Label: Universal
Tracks: 16+16
Website: http://www.fairportconvention.com/

This is certainly a gift to everyone interested in Folkmusic: The re-release of a very special Fairport convention album: Rising to the Moon from 1975. It's the last Fairport Convention album to be recorded with Sandy Denny. And she certainly is the star of this very good album. All of the musicians on this album are technically very good of course: Dave Swarbrick, Dave Pegg, Dave Mattacks/ Bruce Rowland, Trevor Lucas and Jerry Donahue. Yet, it is Sandy Denny who makes the album so special. Without her distinctive voice and interpretation this album might have been a very good but regular Folk album. It's especially her own songs that make this album a musical delight: Stranger to Himself and What is True

From a music historical perspective the additional compilation is the even more interesting part of this double CD. It's a collection of unheard demos and a live recording from the LA Troubadour in 1974. On this record songs can be heard that have never been performed again afterwards like Ballad Of Ned Kelly and Down Where The Drunkards Roll. So for fans of Fairport Convention and of Sandy Denny this album should be of even greater importance. Songs as Like an old fashioned Waltz and Sandy Denny's most famous song Who knows where the time goes make this record shine brightly and they certainly make it well worth the purchase.

Dagmar Brudnitzki