Simon Nicol: Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny & Their Early Years
The Strange Brew Podcast
1,450 views
Fairport Convention made a £5 profit from their first gig, at St Michael's Church Hall in Golders Green on 27 May 1967. About 30 or 40 people turned up, and the band had printed the tickets and hired the hall themselves. Simon Nicol, whose house gave the group its name, was a professional musician at the age of 16.
Here he talks to Jason Barnard on The Strange Brew as Fairport prepare for an autumn 2026 UK tour, a seated acoustic run that includes village halls and social clubs, and for the 60th anniversary shows in May 2027.
Nicol grew up in North London, where Ashley Hutchings lived just down the road and his father was Pete Quaife's doctor. He saw the Kinks play their last gig as the Ravens and their first as the Kinks two weeks later. Fairport's own break came when Joe Boyd watched them support Pink Floyd at UFO and signed them, though their debut single, "If I Had a Ribbon Bow", sank without trace. Judy Dyble then left and Sandy Denny arrived, and Nicol says she "made a huge impression musically and personally". The band made What We Did on Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking and Liege & Lief within 11 months, a stretch that also included the May 1969 motorway crash that killed Martin Lamble. Reflecting on those 60 years, Nicol explains why Fairport have remained active while "not a tribute band to ourselves".
Chapters
0:00 The autumn 2026 tour and the four-piece lineup
1:52 Village halls, the May 2027 shows and sixty years of Fairport
5:18 Listening in the early 1960s
6:38 North London, the Kinks and Ashley Hutchings
9:26 Leaving school at 15 and signing with Joe Boyd
10:35 West Coast influences and John Peel
12:45 John Penhallow, the first gig and Martin Lamble
15:23 Judy Dyble, Pink Floyd at UFO and Joe Boyd
18:11 Iain Matthews joins
20:11 "If I Had a Ribbon Bow", the first album and the BBC sessions
22:38 Why Judy Dyble left
24:35 Sandy Denny joins
26:56 Three albums in 11 months, the crash and Liege & Lief
31:53 Dave Swarbrick joins and Ashley Hutchings leaves
33:34 "Who Knows Where the Time Goes"
34:32 Why Fairport have lasted
Further information
Fairport Convention's autumn 2026 UK tour has 24 dates, opening at The Brewhouse in Burton-on-Trent on 6 October and finishing at The Regal in Tenbury Wells on 1 November.
The 60th anniversary concerts are at Perth Concert Hall on 24 May 2027, Manchester New Century Hall on 25 May, Birmingham Town Hall on 26 May and the Union Chapel in London on 27 May. Cropredy Festival returns in August 2027.
Tour dates and tickets: https://www.fairportconvention.com/
Buy me a coffee https://ko-fi.com/strangebrewpod
Hundreds more interviews at https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/
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Simon Nicol: Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny & Their Early Years
The Strange Brew Podcast
1,450 views
Fairport Convention made a £5 profit from their first gig, at St Michael's Church Hall in Golders Green on 27 May 1967. About 30 or 40 people turned up, and the band had printed the tickets and hired the hall themselves. Simon Nicol, whose house gave the group its name, was a professional musician at the age of 16.
Here he talks to Jason Barnard on The Strange Brew as Fairport prepare for an autumn 2026 UK tour, a seated acoustic run that includes village halls and social clubs, and for the 60th anniversary shows in May 2027.
Nicol grew up in North London, where Ashley Hutchings lived just down the road and his father was Pete Quaife's doctor. He saw the Kinks play their last gig as the Ravens and their first as the Kinks two weeks later. Fairport's own break came when Joe Boyd watched them support Pink Floyd at UFO and signed them, though their debut single, "If I Had a Ribbon Bow", sank without trace. Judy Dyble then left and Sandy Denny arrived, and Nicol says she "made a huge impression musically and personally". The band made What We Did on Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking and Liege & Lief within 11 months, a stretch that also included the May 1969 motorway crash that killed Martin Lamble. Reflecting on those 60 years, Nicol explains why Fairport have remained active while "not a tribute band to ourselves".
Chapters
0:00 The autumn 2026 tour and the four-piece lineup
1:52 Village halls, the May 2027 shows and sixty years of Fairport
5:18 Listening in the early 1960s
6:38 North London, the Kinks and Ashley Hutchings
9:26 Leaving school at 15 and signing with Joe Boyd
10:35 West Coast influences and John Peel
12:45 John Penhallow, the first gig and Martin Lamble
15:23 Judy Dyble, Pink Floyd at UFO and Joe Boyd
18:11 Iain Matthews joins
20:11 "If I Had a Ribbon Bow", the first album and the BBC sessions
22:38 Why Judy Dyble left
24:35 Sandy Denny joins
26:56 Three albums in 11 months, the crash and Liege & Lief
31:53 Dave Swarbrick joins and Ashley Hutchings leaves
33:34 "Who Knows Where the Time Goes"
34:32 Why Fairport have lasted
Further information
Fairport Convention's autumn 2026 UK tour has 24 dates, opening at The Brewhouse in Burton-on-Trent on 6 October and finishing at The Regal in Tenbury Wells on 1 November.
The 60th anniversary concerts are at Perth Concert Hall on 24 May 2027, Manchester New Century Hall on 25 May, Birmingham Town Hall on 26 May and the Union Chapel in London on 27 May. Cropredy Festival returns in August 2027.
Tour dates and tickets: https://www.fairportconvention.com/
Buy me a coffee https://ko-fi.com/strangebrewpod
Hundreds more interviews at https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/