''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 Martin ...

, 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 where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

. Simon Nicol later wrote

Dave Pegg Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...

later said Following the release of Tippler's Tales, Fairport Convention did not record for the following seven years until the ''

Gladys' Leap ''Gladys' Leap'' is the fourteenth studio album by Fairport Convention originally released in August 1985. It was recorded in April and May 1985 at Woodworm Studios, Barford St. Michael, Oxfordshire, UK. It was produced and engineered by Simon ...

'' album in 1985. Several of the

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

folk songs had previously been recorded by A. L. Lloyd accompanied by

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

. The version of "John Barleycorn" here is close to the version recorded by

Traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

, as

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his distin ...

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 fa ...

. The tune is based on "Wir Pflügen" by

Johann Schultz Johann Friedrich Schultz, also known as Johann Schultz (11 June 1739, Mühlhausen – 27 June 1805, Königsberg), was a German Enlightenment Protestant theologian, mathematician and philosopher. He is best known as a close personal friend ...

, better known as " We Plough the Fields and Scatter", an old English

harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual 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 places. ...

hymn.

Reception

''Tipplers Tales'' was described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

as "not a concept album, even though alcohol is a recurrent motif in many of the traditional numbers", but nonetheless "doing what the band members do best – taking some fine old traditional English jigs, reels, and traditional narratives and putting their own distinctive folk-rock stamp on them".

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 English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. In ...

" – 4:39

Personnel

;Fairport Convention *

–

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

, mandolin,

mandocello The mandocello ( it, mandoloncello, Liuto cantabile, liuto moderno) 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 paire ...

, vocals * Simon Nicol – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals,

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of th ...

, piano *

– bass guitar, guitar, mandolin, vocals *

Bruce Rowland Bruce Rowland (born 9 May 1942 in Melbourne) is an Australian composer. Biography Rowland composed the soundtrack for the 1982 movie '' The Man from Snowy River'', as well as the soundtrack for its 1988 sequel ''The Man from Snowy River II'' ...

– drums, percussion, electric piano ;Technical *Barry Hammond – engineer

Release history

*1978, May :

9102022 UK LP *1989, October : Beat Goes on Records BGO LP72 UK LP *2002, November : Vertigo 512988-2 UK CD (with '' The Bonny Bunch of Roses'') *2007, February : Vertigo 984305-2 UK CD

References

{{Authority control Fairport Convention albums Vertigo Records albums 1978 albums