''Tipplers Tales'' is a 1978 album by
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...
, the band's thirteenth studio album since their debut in 1968. Recorded in only ten days,
it was the last album the band recorded for
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
.
Simon Nicol later wrote
Dave Pegg later said
Following the release of ''Tipplers Tales'', Fairport Convention did not record for the following seven years until the ''
Gladys' Leap'' album in 1985.
[
Several of the traditional folk songs had previously been recorded by ]A. L. Lloyd
Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982A. L. Lloyd – Music Biography, Credits and Discography AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English ...
accompanied by Dave Swarbrick. The version of "John Barleycorn" here is close to the version recorded by Traffic
Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...
, as Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...
had been taught the song by the Watersons
The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous f ...
. The tune is based on "Wir Pflügen" by Johann Schultz, better known as " We Plough the Fields and Scatter", an old English harvest festival
A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...
hymn.
Reception
The ''Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' deemed the album "traditional songs and ballads with an uncompromising rock backing," and praised the "undimmed vigour".
''Tipplers Tales'' was described by AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
as "not a concept album, even though alcohol is a recurrent motif in many of the traditional numbers",[
]
Track listing
All tracks credited as "Traditional" unless otherwise stated
;Side one
# "Ye Mariners All" (including "Bottom of the Punch Bowl" / "East Nuke of Fyfe") – 4:29
# "Three Drunken Maidens" – 2:46
# "Jack O'Rion" (Including "Turnabout" / "Tiree" / "Miss Stevenson's" / "Do It Again" / "March of the Last" / "Turnabout") – 11:04
;Side two
#"Reynard the Fox" – 3:02
# "Lady of Pleasure" (Allan Taylor) – 2:34
# "Bankruptured" (Dave Pegg) – 1:55
# "The Widow of Westmorland" – 3:23
# "The Hair of the Dogma" (Dave Pegg) – 1:48
# "As Bitme" (Dave Pegg, Bruce Rowland) – 1:40
# "John Barleycorn
"John Barleycorn" is an England, English and Scotland, Scottish folk song. The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the beer made from it. In the song, he suffers indignities, attacks, and death that corres ...
" – 4:39
Personnel
;Fairport Convention
* Dave Swarbrick – fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
, mandolin, mandocello
The mandocello () is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It is larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. Its eight strings are in four paired courses, with the strings in each course tuned in ...
, vocals
* Simon Nicol – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, dulcimer, piano
* Dave Pegg – bass guitar, guitar, mandolin, vocals
* Bruce Rowland – drums, percussion, electric piano
;Technical
*Barry Hammond – engineer
Release history
*1978, May : Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
9102022 UK LP
References
{{Authority control
Fairport Convention albums
Vertigo Records albums
1978 albums