I love a good story song, and Budapest is one. There are a lot of "oh, the burden of being a pampered rock star on the road" songs, but there are a few really good ones, and this is one of the best. Also, musically, this is really interesting and varied, and orchestral. I just love listening to it. I also like "Said She Was a Dancer", which, I admit, is very similar, but stands on its own nonetheless. And there are several other tunes here that kick ass as well.
"Baxter's" maybe doesn't seem that earth-shattering to, um, those of a younger generation %^), but you have to take these things in context. We were used to Runaround Sue and that ilk. The Beatles had started to shake things up, to be sure, but even they largely plowed the Fields We Know. Then came the San Francisco Sound, and specifically Jefferson Airplane. Surrealistic Pillow gave us an inkling of what was in the offing, but "Baxter's" just kicked over all the tables. Listen to a couple hours of popular music from the early to mid sixties, and then listen to "Baxter's".
Liege and Lief was the beginning of "British Folk-Rock". As Ashley Hutchings says on the video history of FC (which I have to loan you), their concert in which they first played this was a rare thing: the clear and indisputable beginning of a genre. Steeleye and all the rest: it started here. And it's marvelous stuff. I was at that horrible triple-bill too, and I agree. But give 'em another chance. They've waxed amazingly good and cringingly bad over the years, and you have to follow the personnel changes carefully, but the good is worth seeking out.
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Date: 2008-09-08 12:21 am (UTC)"Baxter's" maybe doesn't seem that earth-shattering to, um, those of a younger generation %^), but you have to take these things in context. We were used to Runaround Sue and that ilk. The Beatles had started to shake things up, to be sure, but even they largely plowed the Fields We Know. Then came the San Francisco Sound, and specifically Jefferson Airplane. Surrealistic Pillow gave us an inkling of what was in the offing, but "Baxter's" just kicked over all the tables. Listen to a couple hours of popular music from the early to mid sixties, and then listen to "Baxter's".
Liege and Lief was the beginning of "British Folk-Rock". As Ashley Hutchings says on the video history of FC (which I have to loan you), their concert in which they first played this was a rare thing: the clear and indisputable beginning of a genre. Steeleye and all the rest: it started here. And it's marvelous stuff. I was at that horrible triple-bill too, and I agree. But give 'em another chance. They've waxed amazingly good and cringingly bad over the years, and you have to follow the personnel changes carefully, but the good is worth seeking out.