Festival Bell
Encyclopedia
Festival Bell is a 2011 studio album from electric folk
band Fairport Convention
. The name of the album (as well as the cover and the title track) is a reference to the bell of the same name that currently rings in St Mary's Church in Cropredy
, Oxfordshire
. The track Ukulele Central features guest appearances from comedian Frank Skinner
and singer Joe Brown
.
. It consists of 14 tracks, mixing original compositions with four cover versions including a reworking of the title track from the band's 1975 album Rising for the Moon
. Record Collector
magazine's 4 star review of the album stated: "Festival Bell is a work of maturity and depth, yet delivered with a lightness of touch that will delight fans old and new".
Guest musicians:
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
band Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
. The name of the album (as well as the cover and the title track) is a reference to the bell of the same name that currently rings in St Mary's Church in Cropredy
Cropredy
Cropredy is a village and civil parish on the River Cherwell, north of Banbury in Oxfordshire.-Early history:The village has Anglo-Saxon origins and is recorded in the Domesday Book...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. The track Ukulele Central features guest appearances from comedian Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...
and singer Joe Brown
Joe Brown (singer)
Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...
.
Release and critical reception
The album was released four years after the band's previous studio work, Sense of OccasionSense of Occasion
Sense of Occasion is a 2007 studio album by British folk-rock veterans Fairport Convention. The title comes from the fact that 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the band ....
. It consists of 14 tracks, mixing original compositions with four cover versions including a reworking of the title track from the band's 1975 album Rising for the Moon
Rising for the Moon
Rising for the Moon is a Fairport Convention album. It reached number 52 in the UK albums charts. This was the last Fairport album to feature Sandy Denny....
. Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
magazine's 4 star review of the album stated: "Festival Bell is a work of maturity and depth, yet delivered with a lightness of touch that will delight fans old and new".
Track listing
- "Mercy Bay" (Chris LeslieChris LeslieChristopher Julien Leslie is an English electric folk musician.- Early years :Leslie grew up in Banbury, Oxfordshire. His brother John steered him toward The Watersons' Frost and Fire, Dave Swarbrick, and The Corries...
) - "Rui's Guitar" (Chris Leslie)
- "Danny Jack's Chase" (Ric SandersRic SandersRichard 'Ric' Sanders is a British violinist who has played in jazz-rock, folk rock, electric folk and folk groups, including Soft Machine and Fairport Convention.-Biography:...
) - "Reunion Hill" (Richard ShindellRichard ShindellRichard Shindell is an American folk songwriter. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York. He currently lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife, a university professor, and their children....
) - "Wouldn't Say No" (Chris Leslie)
- "Around the Wild Cape Horn" (Ralph McTellRalph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
) - "Celtic Moon" (Mark and Carolyn Evans)
- "Ukulele Central" (Chris Leslie / Ric Sanders)
- "Albert and Ted" (Ric Sanders / Dave PeggDave PeggDave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
) - "Darkside Wood" (Chris WhileChris WhileChris While is an award-winning songwriter, singer and musician, known particularly for her powerful and moving vocals and the quality of her compositions and live performances. She has enjoyed success both as a solo artist, a songwriter and as a member of a number of notable and influential...
) - "London Apprentice" / "Johnny Ginears" (Ralph McTell / Ric Sanders)
- "Rising for the Moon" (Sandy DennySandy DennySandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
) - "Danny Jack's Reward" (Ric Sanders)
- "The Festival Bell" (Chris Leslie)
Personnel
- Simon NicolSimon NicolSimon John Breckenridge Nicol is a guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founder member of British folk rock, or electric folk group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, bass ukuleleUkuleleThe ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings.... - Dave PeggDave PeggDave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
- vocals, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, ukulele, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, acoustic guitar - Chris Leslie - vocals, mandolin, bouzuki, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, Portuguese guitarPortuguese guitarThe Portuguese guitar or Portuguese guitarra is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings, strung in six courses comprising two strings each. It is one of the few musical instruments to use Preston tuners. It is most notably associated with fado.-History:The origin of the Portuguese...
, ukulele, whistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and... - Ric SandersRic SandersRichard 'Ric' Sanders is a British violinist who has played in jazz-rock, folk rock, electric folk and folk groups, including Soft Machine and Fairport Convention.-Biography:...
- backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, violin, ukulele, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, bass ukulele - Gerry ConwayGerry Conway (musician)Gerald Conway is an English folk and rock drummer/percussionist, best known for having performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and currently a member of Fairport Convention as well as his side projects...
- drums, percussion
Guest musicians:
- Frank SkinnerFrank SkinnerFrank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...
- banjo ukuleleBanjoleleThe banjolele is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. "Banjolele," sometimes also spelled "banjelele" or "banjulele" is a generic nickname given to the instrument, which was derived from the "banjulele-banjo", introduced by Alvin D...
on "Ukulele Central" - Joe BrownJoe Brown (singer)Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...
- ukulele, backing vocals on "Ukulele Central"