Fairport Convention - Babbacombe Lee (1971)

By 1971, Fairport Convention only had one original member left, in guitarist Simon Nicol. The core of the "classic" lineup was held by fiddle player Dave Swarbrick who now took vocal duites and drummer Dave Mattacks. Bassist Dave Pegg joined the group for Full House in 1970 and eventually joined Jethro Tull, filling for John Glascock while he was sick during the Stormwatch tour, joining full time after his death. Without Sandy Denny and now without Richard Thompson and Tyger Hutchings, the band looked done, but they soldiered on. While perusing a junk shop, Swarbrick found a file of newspaper clippings dating from 1908. They were about John "Babbacombe" Lee, a man found guilty of murder, sentenced to death by hanging. Swarb brought this to the band and they wrote an album based on the life and trials of the man and the album is cited as the first ever folk rock opera. While the original album was 5 long songs with even longer titles, I'm going to focus on the CD version, which splits up the tracks into actual songs. The purist in me is crying it's eyes out, but there's no way in hell I'm typing those long titles.

1. The Verdict - The title says it all. It's the verdict of Babbacombe Lee saying that he will be put to death by hanging. The narrator has a really cool voice though.

2. Little Did I Think - After the Judge reads his verdict, John reflects on his life, starting with his boyhood in abject poverty. When he turned 15, his father tells him to work for a woman named Miss Keyes who needed someone to look after her horse. He works for her for 18 months and she becomes like a mother to him. Eventually he sees men in boats around the town and decides that is the life for him.

3. I Was Sixteen/John My Son/I Was Sixteen (Reprise) - Starting with an almost funky electric guitar line, I Was Sixteen is a rollicking fiddle led instrumental section, it then moves into a vocal section with mandolin. The melody is really great here. It really gives off a feel of a little British seaside town. John My Son has John's father telling him not to join the navy and stay in his little town. Where I Was Sixteen is light and bouncy, John My Son is slow and dark, to show John's sadness of his father's refusal to his dreams. But he eventually talks to his mother and she persuades his father to sign the papers to let him join. The instrumental section here is like a military dervish, which is really cool.

4. St. Ninian's Isle/Trumpet Hornpipe - This is the only non-original song on the album with St. Ninian's Isle a perfect sailor romp, written by Ronald Cooper and Trumpet Hornpipe being a traditional song, arranged by Dave Swarbrick.

5. Sailor's Alphabet - You can just picture this being sung by a bunch of drunken Irish yobs in a pub. With it's flutes and accordions and the vocals make it a perfect sea shanty waltz. They go through the entire alphabet with nautical themes for the verses, before singing all together for the chorus.

6. John Lee - Taking a more modern sound than the last two song with a more rock feel, John now had to leave the navy due to illness and his body not holding up to the rigorous work. He is stuck doing menial jobs like bellboy when he gets a letter from Ms. Keyes asking to come back and work for her again. He works returns to her and is now back in Torquay where he started. The chorus is fantastic and really gets stuck in your head.

7. Newspaper Reading - This is another spoken word section, with the actual newspaper clipping telling that Miss Keyes, 68 years old was found dead in her home. It said that there were three wounds on her wounds and her throat had been cut open. Apparently the murderer also tried to burn the corpse. Jesus. That's heavy stuff.

8. Breakfast In Mayfair - A very beautiful song, that reminds one of a previous Fairport song, Who Knows Where The Time Goes. This seems to be sung from the point of view of maybe a fellow villager ruminating on the town being in an uproar about the current murder of Ms. Keyes. At the end it's revealed that the man in court is in fact our titular her, John Lee. He seems to be in a world of shit now, doesn't he?

9. Trial Song - John is now put in prison and awaiting trial but his lawyer can't come defend him due to illness. Typical. He is eventually found guilty, but he swears he's innocent and says that the Heaven's knows of his innocence. This style was done a bit better in earlier songs on the album, but it does have a nice guitar solo.

10. Cell Song - Starting with the melody of the last song, this time on electric piano, which is a weird instrument for Fairport Convention to use. The sad piano works well with the subject matter of John being stuck in his cell, only being able to see things outside through a crack in the wall. It's a nice, little pretty song, but nothing major. Just nice filler.

11. The Time Is Near - Written by bassist by Dave Pegg, John now is awaiting his death and sends letters to his family and his sweetheart. He once again claims his innocence but knows it's futile.

12. Dream Song - John falls asleep and dreams. I really don't know what the song is about other than that. Is it the guards watching him sleep and saying they'll follow him even into his dreams? Or is it his mind, taking him away from the cell? Either way, like the last three songs, it's not very strong.

13. Wake Up John (The Hanging Song) - Finally, the album picks up again. Now this song kicks ass. With a country style guitar pickin' and bass drum accompaniment the song gets a heavy upbeat feel, offsetting John, eventually going to his death. The strength of the song lies in Swarb's vocals. The way he sings the lines, affecting certain lines is great. John is now standing there, with a bag over a head, noose around his neck. They drop the door, but it barely moves. They move him while a carpenter fixes the door. They try it again, but alas, John survives once again. A third time, but to no avail and John's life is spared. He was innocent all along and through some circumstances he survived.

Like many concept albums, the album drags around the end and gets a bit boring but the last song picks it up for a rousing finish. I've yet to hear any other Fairport albums from this period, but if they're anything like this one, I'm sure to enjoy them as much as I enjoyed Babbacombe Lee.

Favorite Tracks: Little Did I Know, I Was Sixteen, John Lee, Breakfast In Mayfair, Wake Up John (The Hanging Song)