Fairport Convention Angel Delight Vinyl LP 2024

1. Lord Marlborough
2. Sir William Gower
3. Bridge Over The River Ash
4. Wizard Of The Worldly Game
5. The Journeyman's Grace
6. Angel Delight
7. Banks Of The Sweet Primroses
8. Instrumental Medley: The Cuckoo's Nest; Hardiman the Fiddler; Papa Stoor
9. The Bonny Black Hare
10. Sickness & Diseases

This re-issue faithfully replicates the original 1971 Island Records UK release in gatefold sleeve and is pressed onto high quality 180g vinyl. Released in June 1971, Angel Delight was the first of two albums of Fairport Convention as a four-piece, after the departure of founder member Richard Thompson that January. The band were living in a converted pub, The Angel, in Hertfordshire where they worked up the material for the album, another blend of the traditional and the original. The title track – a pun on the time they were having at the pub, and a nod to the popular British dessert of the same name – was a jolly catalogue of their life at the moment, referring to producer John Wood as 'John The Wood' and drummer Dave Mattacks as 'Dave The Drum.' It also mentions the day a lorry crashed into the pub, which, had Dave Swarbrick been in his room at the time could well have killed him.

The album – Fairport's only Top 10 album in the UK chart – is also known for its traditional medley of jigs and reels, The Cuckoo's Nest, the beautiful ballad Wizard Of The Worldly Game and the group's version of the salty English song The Bonny Black Hare.