(Fairport-Zitate im Laufe der Jahre; quotes of and about Fairport over the the years)
updated 19.08.07
partly in English
Teilweise Deutsch, teilweise Englisch; partly German, partly English
**************************************************************************************************
"The only difference between me and the Eagles is, the Eagles have got 50 guitars. And they have an
employee for every guitar. Tunes employees. So they just change guitars. I have to change tunes."
(Richard Thompson, Mai 1984, Mannheim)
"Germany is a great place to tour. The food is great, the beer is wonderful, the scenery is fab,
and the people are absoluteley fantastic ... we made a lot of friends ... "
(Martin Allcock im Internet, 1996)
"Ich liebe Tourneen. Wirklich ! Es ist einem normalen Lebenswandel mehr als vorzuziehen ...
manchmal, wenn Du einen prallen terminplan hast, wirst Du Dir bewußt, daß Du den Job eines jungen
Menschen im Körper eines alten menschen machst. Du brauchst für alles ein wenig mehr Zeit als früher.
Zur gleichen Zeit aber sammelst Du sehr viel Erfahrungen"
(Simon Nicol zu "Forever Young" im August 1995)
"Ja, wir fuhren stundenlang in der brütenden Hitze durch die Wüste, kamen dann in diesem Lokal an, wo das
Konzert stattfinden sollte. Hinter der Theke stand ein klappriger alter Mann ohne Zähne, und wir fragten ihn, ob
die Dinge gut stünden, worauf er kaum verstehbar antwortete: 'Not really !' Beim Konzert waren dann 4 Leute und
1 Hund anwesend, wobei zwei Leute keinen Eintritt bezahlten, weil sie einen Presseausweis hatten.
Während des Konzerts lief eine 1,50 m lange Echse in den Saal, hörte, den Kopf hin- und herwiegend,
2 Minuten lang zu und verschwand dann wieder. Wir waren uns sicher, daß sie mehr auf Heavy Metal stand."
(Ric Sanders über den legendären Gig in Murray Bridge, Australien, 1986)
"Ich glaube, die Gesellschaft zur Vermeidung menschlicher Ansammlungen"
(Ric Sanders auf meine Frage, wer denn dieses Konzert organisiert habe)
"The next number is an instrumental, a medley of two tunes. The first one was written by Mister Martin Allcock,
on my left, your right. And this is in the unlikely time signature of 7/4. You have to jump in the air every 7 beats.
He made us learn this when he joined our band a while ago, to prove that we wanted it."
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann, mir steckt's auch im Blut, so wandere ich froh, solang ich kann,
und schwenke meinen Hut. The next song is called The hiring fair, es ist über ein Bahnhofarbeiter
und sein Mädchen"
(Martin Allcock, Tübingen, Germany, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"I believe he's correct"
(Simon Nicol, dto.)
"This is the sort of song Thomas Hardy would have written, if he'd been Ralph Mc Tell"
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"I ought to explain that this is a song with a lot of atmosphere. So maybe, you will use the other light"
(Dave Mattacks, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"Have you seen the film 'Spinal Tap?' You must have heard of it. It's very funny, it's about this English
group Spinal Tap. Please, go and see it when it gets to Germany !"
(Dave Pegg, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"The correct syntax here is ' when it comes to Germany' "
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"It's the story of a folk hero, who nearly made England into a republic in 1351. He got very close to
doing it, and lost at the last hurdle, as we say. He fell at the last hurdle, because the Lord mayor of
London pulled out a sword and cut his head off .. the gentleman's name was Wat Tyler. He lead a
peasant's revolt 600 and somewhat years ago. So it seems reasonable to me singing a song about him
in Tübingen in 1985, because this is a global village."
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"Jetzt zwei Tanzmelodien aus Irland, zwei Jigs. Der erste heißt 'Con Casey's Jig', weil er ist für ein Mann,
der heißt Con Casey generiert ist worden sein hat. Und der zweite ist 'Trippin' up stairs', which has absolutely
nothing to do with drugs"
(Martin Allcock, Stuttgart, 26.03.91)
"In England hatten wir bis letzte Woche eine Steuer, das sehr unpopularisch war, ein Kopfsteuer.
Der erste Mal, daß die Regierung diese Steuer introdiert hat war in 1381, und es war auch unpopulär.
And two people complained, and the man who shouted the loudest, hatte his head abgeschnitten.
His name was Wat Tyler, and it's a song about Wat Tyler, and it's called Wat Tyler"
(Martin Allcock, Stuttgart, 26.03.91)
"Es gab in England bis letzte Woche ein Steuer, das sehr unpopularisch war, ein Kopfsteuer.
Und jetzt ist es weg gegangen geworden ist war geworden. Aber de erste mal, daß die Regierung
ein solche Steuer imposiert hat, war in 1381. Und der Mann, der war de Leiter von de Revolution
... mmh, the people who didn't like it. He shouted very loud about this tax, and as a result he had
his head abgeschnitten. His name was Wat Tyler"
(Martin Allcock, Basel, Switzerland, 27.03.91)
"Everybody is tuning furiously ... because we care for your ears"
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"Das war der erste Tag, daß ich je eine gebrochen Geigensaite gesehen habe geworden sein machen"
(Martin Allcock, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"I wish I knew what he was talking about. It's very frustrating to be in a band and have somebody
introducing the next song and you do not really understand it. It just makes you realize, what a shame it was
you didn't pay more attention ... I hope you're paying attention !"
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"They were all strung up by the neck in the market place in Northampton. And they were all from one
village, quite near where we live. And this happened only 200 years ago. They were the last people to
be executed in public in a group .. if you ignore, what's happened tonight ... "
(Simon Nicol, Tübingen, Germany, 06.11.85)
"Jetzt ein Medley von drei Stückchen. Der erste Stück ist ein Mandoline-Duett an diese Seite
des Bühnes. Die zweite ist ein glückliche Mörder-Ballad, und de dritte ist zwei Hooligan
Fiddle Melodien von unsere Hooligan Fiddle Player, Ric Sanders from Birmingham"
(Martin Allcock, Stuttgart, 15.10.87)
"We're going to do one song of Simon's excellent solo record tonight, and on this one I put my
Rick Wakeman cape on, and Dave Pegg is going to pick up his Karen Carpenter slim line
drum stick for this one. It's called Over The Lancashire Hill"
(Dave Mattacks, Stuttgart, 15.10.87)
"These are reels. The first one is called 'A Cup Of tea', and it's dedicated to anybody who has ever
tried to get a decent cup of tea in America. The second tune is called 'A Loaf Of Bread', and it's
dedicated to anybody who has ever tried to get a decent loaf of bread in Manchester. The third tune
is called 'Miss Monahan's'. The second tune I wrote as a test piece for mandolin, that's why I play
the bass."
(Martin Allcock, Stuttgart, 15.10.87)
"This is a song called 'Put a sock in it', oder auf Deutsch: 'Halt's Maul'"
(Martin Allcock, Stuttgart, 15.10.87)
"I should point out that, although England is an island nation, it doesn't have all its towns situated
on the water. This song comes from Wolverhampton, which is about as far from the sea as we are now.
So this is not really a true story, it's make believe. It's called 'Honour and praise'"
(Simon Nicol, Basel, Switzerland, 27.03.91)
"Jetzt noch ein ganz neues Lied. es ist ein Lied über eine Verrückte. es ist ein Lied, das heißt
'Ginnie', not Jimmy but Ginnie, like Ginnie & Tonichi"
(Martin Allcock, Basel, Switzerland, 27.03.91)
"This was a career choice, when bands had to be of a certain type. And you were either a druggy type,
you were into californian dream drugs, or you were an exotic eastern religion type. We didn't wanna do either
of those. We pretended to like drink ... which was a career move stretching nearly a quarter of a
century now ... So we do the odd drinking song ... We don't drink at all, we just read good books"
(Simon Nicol, Basel, Switzerland, 27.03.91)
"There is no rock-star hype, you don't have to be somebody who met an agent who used to work
with the drummer who left"
(über die Atmosphäre in Cropredy aus dem Buch
"The Woodworm Era - The Story Of Today's Fairport Convention"; about the special atmosphere at Cropredy)
"Well we were at Middle Earth. We were going to do a gig ... in the dressing room ... and we were singing
If You Gotta Go, Go Now, and we thought it would be very nice to give it a sort of a Cajun beat with
accordion and things like that, violin, and translate it into a sort of americanised French ... So we announced
over the PA that we desperately needed some french people who happened to be in the audience, and they rushed
into the dressing room and stormed in, and they spent about an hour translating the words into French, and that's
how we got it, and we decided to record it ..."
(Sandy Denny in der BBC über das Entstehen von "Si tu dois partir";
Sandy Denny at the BBC about how Si Tu Dois Partir came about)
"It's more likely than Marvin Gaye recording Tear Stained Letter"
(Simon Nicol in Cropredy 1995 auf die Frage von Joachim Bongers, einem alten Kumpel von
Forever Young, ob Fairport an diesem Abend I heard It Through The Grapevine spielen werde;
Simon Nicol answering a friend's question at Cropredy 1995 if Fairport will play I Heard It Through the Grapevine tonight)
"It's very easy to play like that"
(Richard Thompson im Video "Cropredy Capers" auf die Frage, seit wann er so unverkennbar Gitarre spielen könne;
richard Thompson answering a question, how he learned to play guitar like that)
"You know it took me six hours to record this solo. Can you please mention it in your next issue"
(Dave Pegg zu Forever Young telefonisch im Juli 1995 über das Gitarrensolo in
Home Is Where The Heart Is auf "Jewel In The Crown")
"Das kam deshalb zustande, weil sie in unserem Studio aufnahmen. Ich wußte schon vorher, wenn sie es
schaffen würden, mich ins Pub mitzunehmen und mich in einen entspannten Zustand zu versetzen, daß ich
dann wahrscheinlich meine Gitarre von der Wand herunternmehmen, und einfach loslegen würde.
So, und nicht anders, kam es hierzu."
(Dave Pegg in einem Interview mit Forever Young im August 1995 über sein Gitarrensolo
auf The Electric Guitar Is King der "Ashley Hutchings All Stars")
"Ich traf Rory sehr oft, und jedes Mal sagte ich ihm 'Du mußt kommen und in Cropredy spielen', Aber es
klappte halt nie, und das ist sehr schade, denn hier hätten sie ihn geliebt"
(Dave Pegg im selben Interview über Rory Gallagher)
"Did you like the element of surprise and unexpectedness and uncertainty that was inheriting the whole
cosmic ethos of that arrangement? Or did you just think 'what the fuck are they gonna do next?'"
(Simon Nicol, Tamworth, 1994)
"You don't have to count yourself in, Gerry. You're in to start it with the bass drum"
(Simon Nicol zu Gerry Conway vor "Tam Lin", Cropredy 2006)
Wird von Zeit zu Zeit fortgesetzt
Will be continued from time to time