November
21, 1998, the Continental Drifters served ably as house band
for "Listen, Listen: The Music of Sandy Denny", presented
as part of The Arts at St. Ann's in Brooklyn, New York. We
backed up more than a dozen talented singers, as some of the
most criminally ignored songwriting in recent history was
partially put to right for the night.
The late Sandy Denny and her erstwhile bandmate Richard Thompson
have established two of the great canons of contemporary songwriting,
largely unheard by the listening public. Their blend of modern
smarts, intelligent melodies and the roots of great folk tradition
is as moving now as it was over thirty years ago; it's never
been bettered, but we sure have a lot of fun playing it.
The
band has kept a bunch of the songs we learned in circulation
since the St. Ann's show; "Ditching Boy", we began playing
when Iain Matthews graciously joined us in New Orleans for
a set of his beautiful music May 19, 1998. "Bright Lights"
was a song Susan and I have sung together since we first met
in the early '90s. Robert suggested we work up "Need Somebody"
a few years ago, and it's always been a crowd pleaser. They're
all presented in glorious, undistorted acoustic trappings
for you, courtesy of Hot*FM's recording skills and the magic
of Mike Mayeux.
Enjoy,
enjoy!
Peter Holsapple
Produced
by Continental Drifters
Mixed and Mastered by Mike Mayeux
Track 1 recorded at Ground Floor Studios, Meraux, LA - August
13, 2001 by Mike Mayeux
Tracks 2-7 recorded at Hot*FM, Hof, Germany - July 5, 2000 by
Otto Geymeier
Peter
Holsapple - Accordion, Mandolin, 6 & 12 String Acoustic Guitar,
Vocals
Susan Cowsill - Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Shaker, Vocals
Robert Maché - Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Vicki Peterson - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Mark Walton - Electric Bass
Russ Broussard - Drums
Photography
by Rick Olivier
Design
by Roland Heckmann / Ab. Art. Graphix
(Original cover of Liege & Lief by Fairport Convention and Roberta
Nicol w/ design coordination by Diogenic Attempts Ltd.)
Special
Thanks to:
Richard, Sandy, Iain, and everybody who has played a part in
the Fairport Convention story; Linda Kenis; Dana, André, Jonathan
and Ian Walton; Miranda Victoria Cowsill Holsapple; Nicolas
Broussard; Candace Cox Maché; Kim, Spencer, Lindsey and Allison
Grace Mayeux; Michael Paz; Edgar and Beate Heckmann; Razor &
Tie; Dave Richman; Bob Stein; Carsten Eckermann; Janine Nichols
and David Schnirman; Joe Boyd and John Wood; Pam Winters; George
Kalogerakis; Joanna Spock Dean; Kevin Salem; Siby Weidner; June
Lowrey; North Carolina School of the Arts |
