The one where the British folk-rock pioneers went even more folky. An absolute belter of traditional sounds and the odd wig-out.

Released in 1969, Unhalfbricking was the third album from Fairport Convention and captured the band in the midst of profound transformation—both musically and personally. Fairport had been formed two years earlier by guitarists Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, and bassist Ashley Hutchings. Martin Lamble had joined soon after on drums, and vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews had appeared on their first two albums. Dyble had been replaced by folk singer Sandy Denny ahead of Unhalfbricking, with Matthews contributing backing vocals to the album before leaving also. It was recorded early in 1969 with folk royalty Joe Boyd producing, further cementing the traditional British sound, and was released on Island in the July of the same year. Tragically, two months before the album debuted, drummer Martin Lamble and Jeannie Franklyn, the girlfriend of guitarist Richard Thompson, were killed in a road accident as the band returned from a concert in Birmingham. Unhalfbricking would be the only time that Fairport Convention appeared in that lineup—a rare and fleeting moment if ever there was one.

Although the progression towards a more folk-rooted sound was clear - especially with Denny’s timeless and melancholic voice and influence on the writing - there were still lingering transatlantic influences, in particular with three cover versions of Bob Dylan, and the eleven-plus minute reimagining of the traditional ballad ‘A Sailor's Life’ into an epic psychedelic romper. The album ends with Dylan’s ‘Percy’s Song’ and ‘Million Dollar Bash’ back to back, both I believe unreleased at the time, with Fairport especially inspired by Dylan’s work with The Band for The Basement Tapes. The third cover is ‘If You Gotta Go, Go Now’, rendered quite sublimely in French as 'Si Tu Dois Partir'. Sandy Denny’s voice is so spookily-commanding - especially as I don’t strictly speaking know what she is saying - and she is a central character of the album throughout, in particular on ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes?’ (that she had actually written pre-Fairport) which is one of the most defining songs and affecting deliveries of the era. Thompson’s influence also gives the album such an eccentric energy, with biting solos above Cajun rhythms, surf melodies and even Brian Wilson-esque orchestrations. There is magic.

From the off-cuff title (Unhalfbricking is a made-up word), to the now iconic sleeve image (photographed outside Sandy Denny’s parents’ house with the band just visible beyond the garden wall), its humour and restraint, the melding of traditional stories and joyous instrumentations - Unhalfbricking is above all else, distinctively British. The band would release work that was even more seminal in the folk revivalism movement and they would also rip stages to psychedelic shreds too, but Unhalfbricking is a transcendental meeting point of the two and it really sounds not like anything else.