Talk:Rosie (Fairport Convention album)

Gerry Conway

The Fotheringay article says Conway joined Fairport with the others but left again. What was his status when recording these tracks ? -- Beardo (talk) 01:28, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

Rosie was recorded when FC were in a state of flux following the departures of Simon Nicol in December 1971 and Dave Mattacks in February 1972. Sandy Denny's band Fotheringay had split up in early 1971, and in late 1971/early 1972 most of their ex-members (Jerry Donahue excepted), plus several former Fairport members (including Dave Mattacks), and a few other friends, got together as The Bunch, who recorded Rock On. Meantime, Dave Swarbrick had started work with Dave Pegg on a solo/duo project, with a varying selection of guest musicians (including some of the musicians from The Bunch); but Island were pushing FC for an LP, so Swarb's intended solo LP was put out as a Fairport Convention album. Recording was spread over several months, using at least three different studios and at least eleven musicians. Jerry Donahue's sleeve notes for the 2004 reissue imply that the band had no permanent drummer, until it was time to set up a tour to promote the the finished album, when Dave Mattacks agreed to rejoin (his photo is shown on the front cover) - on the recordings, three guest drummers were used, Gerry Conway, Timi Donald and Dave Mattacks, who appeared on three tracks each ("Me With You" excepted). Of the three that Conway played on, "Rosie" was recorded early on, before Jerry Donahue and Trevor Lucas arrived, when it was still intended to be a Swarb/Pegg album; whilst "Knights of the Road" and "The Plainsman" were both Trevor Lucas songs intended for Fotheringay, they were recorded fairly late in the sessions. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 15:42, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks. I guess the Fotheringay article needs rewording. (I have noticed various inconsistencies in the various interrelated articles). -- Beardo (talk) 23:09, 22 March 2021 (UTC)