Fairport Convention - Glady's Leap - Blue vinyl - VINYL LP

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. From a bunch of school friends setting out to be 'the British Jefferson Airplane', over the course of their first quartet of releases, the group metamorphosed into the leading exponents of British folk rock. In the way American folk and blues had looked back to gospel songs and spirituals, Fairport mined a seam a traditional English folk song, and then combined them with rock rhythms to create something ground- breaking and quickly emulated. For many, this is the first time the considerable talents of Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, Ian Matthews, Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks would have been heard on record. Although all of that would have been difficult to ascertain on their jaunty, hippy 1968 Polydor debut Fairport Convention. Recorded in November 1967, it's a lovely sunny, suburban take on the summer of love; the vocal blend of Ian Matthews and Judy Dyble, the guitar interplay of Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson and rhythm section of Ashley Hutchings and Martin Lamble highlights their incredible potential. There are two covers of Joni Mitchell's songs, when Mitchell was something of an obscure overseas delicacy- Chelsea Morning, highlights Dyble's sweet delivery, while the drifting, ruminative guitar on I Don't Know Where I Stand points again to the group's longevity.

Vinyl LP pressing. Aja is the sixth studio album by Steely Dan, originally released in 1977. On the album, band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker pushed Steely Dan further into experimenting with different combinations of session players, enlisting the services of nearly 40 musicians, while pursuing longer, more sophisticated compositions and arrangements.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. From a bunch of school friends setting out to be 'the British Jefferson Airplane', over the course of their first quartet of releases, the group metamorphosed into the leading exponents of British folk rock. In the way American folk and blues had looked back to gospel songs and spirituals, Fairport mined a seam a traditional English folk song, and then combined them with rock rhythms to create something ground- breaking and quickly emulated. For many, this is the first time the considerable talents of Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, Ian Matthews, Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks would have been heard on record. Ian Matthews left the group during Unhalfbricking, and they decided not to replace him. The album was recorded between January and April 1969 and shows the band gaining confidence. The material is strong, and their covers of three Bob Dylan songs (including material from the then- bootleg The Basement Tapes) yielded a Top 30 UK hit single, Si Ti Dois Partir - a cover of If You Gotta Go, Go Now, sung in French. Sandy Denny contributes her keynote song Who Knows Where The Time Goes, and most remarkable of all is A Sailor's Life, a traditional folk song arranged by Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson. The ballad builds over 11 minutes into a full- on wig- out with a guest performance by Dave Swarbrick on fiddle.