What We Did on Our Holidays

The second album and the first with Sandy Denny, mixing traditional songs, American covers and the band's own writing.
Fairport Convention, 1968

Released: 13 December 1968
Studio: Sound Techniques and Olympic Studio No. 1, London
Label: Island Records

Denny joined in May 1968 and had been touring with the band for months before the sessions began. Simon Nicol said she stood out like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes. The album mixed reworkings of traditional songs such as "Nottamun Town" and "She Moves Through the Fair", covers of Dylan's "I'll Keep It with Mine" and Joni Mitchell's "Eastern Rain", and original songs including Denny's "Fotheringay" and Thompson's Meet on the Ledge.

Lamble and Denny drew the sleeve, a sketch of the band performing on a blackboard in a classroom at the University of Essex. In the US it was released by A&M as Fairport Convention. Pitchfork, reviewing the 2008 reissue, said the best material may be the band's own, naming "Mr. Lacey", "No Man's Land" and "Meet on the Ledge". Nicol named it his favourite album in 2008.

Track listing

Fotheringay3:06
Mr. Lacey2:55
Book Song3:13
The Lord Is in This Place....How Dreadful Is This Place.2:01
No Man's Land2:32
I'll Keep It with Mine5:56
Eastern Rain3:36
Nottamun Town3:12
Tale in Hard Time3:29
She Moves Through the Fair4:14
Meet on the Ledge2:50
End of a Holiday1:07

Personnel

Sandy Denny vocals, guitars, organ, piano, harpsichord
Iain Matthews vocals, congas
Richard Thompson guitars, piano, accordion, vocals
Ashley Hutchings bass, backing vocals
Simon Nicol guitars, electric autoharp, electric dulcimer, backing vocals
Martin Lamble drums, percussion, violin
John Wood engineer

More from Fairport Convention

Liege & Lief (1969), Unhalfbricking (1969), Full House (1970), Rising for the Moon (1975)

Sources

What We Did on Our Holidays, Wikipedia
Fairport Convention: What We Did on Our Holidays / Unhalfbricking, Pitchfork (2008-05-02)
A History of Fairport, Fairport Convention