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**Fairport Convention - What We Did On Our Holidays**
★★★★☆

In the annals of British folk rock, few albums capture the bittersweet essence of artistic triumph shadowed by personal tragedy quite like Fairport Convention's "What We Did On Our Holidays." Released in January 1969, this third studio effort stands as both a creative peak and a haunting monument to what might have been, forever marked by the automobile accident that would claim drummer Martin Lamble and guitarist Richard Thompson's girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn just months after its completion.

The album emerged from a band hitting their stride with remarkable confidence. Following the departure of original vocalist Judy Dyble and the arrival of the luminous Sandy Denny, Fairport had discovered their true voice – quite literally. Denny's crystalline vocals and Thompson's increasingly sophisticated guitar work had transformed them from Dylan-obsessed folkies into something entirely their own: pioneers of what would become known as British folk rock, though they were still finding their way toward the full-blown traditional material that would define their later masterpiece "Liege & Lief."

What strikes you immediately about "What We Did On Our Holidays" is its remarkable diversity – a quality that might have seemed scattershot in lesser hands but here feels like a band gleefully exploring every corner of their expanding musical universe. The opening track, "Fotheringay," remains perhaps Sandy Denny's finest composition, a medieval ballad that showcases her ability to inhabit ancient stories with startling emotional immediacy. Her voice floats over Thompson's delicate fingerpicking like morning mist over a Scottish loch, while the song's tale of doomed love feels both timeless and urgently present.

The album's greatest triumph, however, is their sprawling interpretation of Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine." At nearly seven minutes, it transforms Dylan's intimate offering into something approaching a spiritual experience. Denny's interpretation is both more vulnerable and more powerful than Dylan's own version, while the band creates a sonic landscape that builds from whispered confession to soaring anthem. It's the sound of musicians completely in sync, each member contributing to a collective vision that transcends individual ego.

Equally compelling is their take on Joni Mitchell's "Eastern Rain," which they somehow make sound more British than Canadian, filtering Mitchell's introspective folk through their own emerging aesthetic. Thompson's guitar work throughout the album is particularly noteworthy – he was developing the distinctive style that would influence generations of British guitarists, combining traditional folk techniques with rock sensibilities and an increasingly personal voice that hinted at the solo career to come.

The album's original compositions reveal a band growing in confidence as songwriters. "Meet On The Ledge," Thompson's meditation on friendship and mortality, has become something of an anthem for the band and their followers, its message of enduring connection taking on additional poignancy given the tragedy that would soon befall them. The song's gentle harmonies and circular guitar pattern create an almost hypnotic effect, while its lyrics speak to the bonds that transcend physical presence – a theme that would resonate deeply with fans in the wake of Lamble's death.

Perhaps most adventurous is their nearly fourteen-minute exploration of "A Sailor's Life," which points toward the full-blown traditional direction they would embrace on subsequent releases. Here, they take an ancient ballad and stretch it into an epic journey, with Thompson's guitar work becoming increasingly exploratory and the rhythm section creating a hypnotic foundation that allows the story to unfold at its own pace.

The production, handled by Joe Boyd, captures the band at their most natural, avoiding the over-polished sheen that would mar some later folk rock efforts. There's an intimacy to the recording that makes you feel like you're sitting in on a particularly inspired session, with each instrument clearly defined yet part of a cohesive whole.

"What We Did On Our Holidays" stands as a bridge between Fairport's early incarnation and their later role as guardians of British traditional music. It's an album that rewards repeated listening, revealing new details and emotional depths with each encounter. While it may lack the focused vision of "Liege & Lief," it captures a band at a moment of pure creative joy, exploring possibilities that would soon be curtailed by tragedy but never forgotten by those who witnessed their brief, brilliant flowering.