 | Meet On The Ledge
Fairport Convention
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Still going strong today, Fairport Convention are now well-established as Britain鈥檚 best-loved folk-rock band. But in 1969 when they released this, their second single, they were still being referred to as a 鈥淏ritish Jefferson Airplane鈥.
When Fairport first played together in the summer of 1967, their repertoire consisted largely of covering American songs but by the time Sandy Denny joined the following year, Fairport鈥檚 precocious guitarist, Richard Thompson, was beginning to find his voice as a writer.
Fairport鈥檚 second album, What We Did On Our Holidays, boasted three Thompson originals, including the perennial favourite 鈥楳eet On The Ledge鈥. Today, there is still something stately and timeless in this pensive reflection on life, and death - and it鈥檚 hard to believe that Thompson was still in his teens when he wrote it.
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Richard Thompson talks to Richard Skinner about what Fairport Convention were trying to achieve musically. |
 | A very English blues, anticipating the sound of Fleetwood Mac鈥檚 Rumours line-up which followed eight years later. Unusual seven-bar verses, with a memorable move to the dominant minor (on bar four at 鈥漵ongs鈥), which also acts as key component of the chorus, where the vocal harmonies are earthy, gutsy and frayed. This singular production features an eccentric serial piano figure after the first chorus, and King Crimson-style psychedelic drum fills. Dominic King |  |
Over the years, the composer has been evasive about the song鈥檚 actual meaning, although a schoolfriend believes that Thompson had in mind a school reunion on Hampstead Heath, beneath a tree branch they knew as 鈥渢he ledge鈥.
On its release, Disc & Music Echo wrote of 鈥楳eet On The Ledge鈥: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hit for me personally, but could get lost in the Christmas rush.鈥 While the song never was a hit, it has become inextricably linked to Fairport - and every summer, the band鈥檚 yearly reunion at Cropredy closes with twenty thousand fans singing 鈥楳eet On The Ledge鈥. Because, as the song鈥檚 chorus reminds you: 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna see all my friends鈥 if you really mean it, it all comes round again!鈥
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