''Jewel In The Crown'' is the eighteenth studio album by

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

band

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

which is viewed by many as the best record produced by the line-up which had been formed in 1985 for the one-off project

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 Simo ...

. While few of the tracks were self-penned, it features tracks from many of the band's favourite writers including Huw Williams,

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

and

Julie Matthews Julie Matthews (born 1963) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. She has been a member of some of the most influential British folk duos and groups and is acknowledged internationally as a major songwriter ...

History

The album was recorded in two stages. Initially a few tracks were partially recorded with recording engineer Tim Matyear. Matyear's departure from Dave Pegg's Woodworm Studio led to producer-engineer Mark Tucker being hired to continue with recording the remaining material. At a very late stage in the production, producer

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No ...

made a contribution to the mixing of the songs "Jewel In The Crown", "The Naked Highwayman", "Closing Time" and "Red Tide". Some subtractive edits were made to "The Naked Highwayman" as Dudgeon felt the song was too long. Overall it is generally considered one of the most satisfying of Fairport's releases since ''

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

''. It was also the last studio album recorded by the Nicol, Pegg, Mattacks, Allcock and Sanders line-up.

Track listing

# "Jewel in the Crown" (

) – 3:32 # "Slip Jigs and Reels" (

Steve Tilston Steve Tilston (born 26 March 1950) is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist. Early life Steve Tilston was born in Liverpool and brought up in Leicestershire. A graphic designer before taking up music in 1971, Tilston lived in Bristol ...

) – 4:52 # "A Surfeit of Lampreys" (

Maartin Allcock Maartin Allcock (born Martin Allcock; 5 January 1957 – 16 September 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer. Biography Born in Middleton, Greater Manchester, Middleton, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), E ...

) – 3:19 # "Kind Fortune" (Traditional; arranged by

) – 2:37 # "Diamonds and Gold" (Ben Bennion, Maartin Allcock) – 4:14 # "The Naked Highwayman" (Steve Tilston) – 4:32 # "The Islands" (

, Maartin Allcock) – 4:33 # "The Youngest Daughter" (Traditional; arranged by Maartin Allcock) – 2:06 # "London Danny" (

Jez Lowe John Gerard "Jez" Lowe (born 14 July 1955) is an English folk singer-songwriter. Lowe was born and raised in County Durham, in a family with Irish roots. He is known primarily for his compositions dealing with daily life in North-East England, ...

) – 3:50 # "Summer in December" (

Ric Sanders Richard Sanders (born 8 December 1952) is an English violinist who has played in jazz-rock, folk rock, British folk rock and folk groups, including Soft Machine and Fairport Convention. Biography Sanders' first experience with a professional ...

) – 4:57 # "Travelling by Steam" (Huw Williams) / "Travel by Steam" (Traditional, arranged by Ric Sanders) – 3:47 # "

She's Like the Swallow "She's Like the Swallow" (Roud 2306) is a folksong from Newfoundland. According to folklorist Neil V. Rosenberg, the song "appears never to have been widely known and sung in oral tradition" and the popularized version of the song differs signific ...

" (Traditional; arranged by Maartin Allcock) – 3:14 # "Red Tide" (Rob Beattie) – 4:36 # "Home Is Where the Heart Is" ( Clive Gregson) – 4:41 # "Closing Time" (

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

) – 5:40

Production

* Produced by Fairport Convention at the band's Woodworm Studios * Mixed and engineered by Mark Tucker and Fairport, with contributions from Gus Dudgeon * "Jewel In The Crown", "Diamonds And Gold", "The Naked Highwayman", "The Islands", "Red Tide" and "Closing Time" were mixed by Gus Dudgeon and Mark Tucker.

Personnel

;Fairport Convention *

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the ...

– lead vocal, acoustic guitar and 12-string guitar *

– electric and acoustic guitar, keys, bouzar, bodhran, accordion, triangle, backing vocals *

– violins *

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 ...

– bass guitar, acoustic bass, electric guitar, mandolin, backing vocals *

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer. Best known for his work with Fairport Convention, Mattacks has also worked both as a session musician and as a performing artist. Apart from playing the drums, he i ...

– drums, percussion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewel in the Crown 1995 albums Fairport Convention albums Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon