 Liege & Lief (1970) [ larger cover art ] |
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A holiday, a holiday, and the first one of the year.
Lord Darnell's wife came into church, the gospel for to hear
And when the meeting it was done, she cast her eyes about,
And there she saw little Matty Groves, walking in the crowd.
“Come home with me, little Matty Groves, come home with me tonight,
Come home with me, little Matty Groves, and sleep with me till light.”
“Oh, I can't come home, I won't come home and sleep with you tonight,
By the rings on your fingers I can tell you are Lord Darnell's wife.”
“What if I am Lord Darnell's wife? Lord Darnell's not at home.
For he is out in the far cornfields bringing the yearlings home."
And a servant who was standing by and hearing what was said,
He swore Lord Darnell he would know before the sun would set.
And in his hurry to carry the news he bent his breast and ran,
And when he came to the broad mill stream he took of his shoes and he swam.
Little Matty Groves, he lay down and took a little sleep,
When he awoke, Lord Darnell was standing at his feet.
Saying “How do you like my feather bed? And how do you like my sheets?
How do you like my lady who lies in your arms asleep?”
“Oh, well I like your feather bed, and well I like your sheets.
But better I like your lady gay who lies in my arms asleep.”
"Well, Get up, get up", Lord Darnell cried "Get up as quick as you can,
It'll never be said in fair England that I slew a naked man.”
“Oh, I can't get up, I won't get up, I can't get up for my life.
For you have two long beaten swords and I not a pocket-knife.”
“Well it's true I have two beaten swords, and they cost me deep in the purse.
But you will have the better of them and I will have the worse."
"And you will strike the very first blow, and strike it like a man,
I will strike the very next blow and I'll kill you if I can.
So Matty struck the very first blow and he hurt Lord Darnell sore,
Lord Darnell struck the very next blow and Matty struck no more.
And then Lord Darnell he took his wife and he sat her on his knee,
Saying, “Who do you like the best of us, Matty Groves or me?”
And then up spoke his own dear wife, never heard to speak so free.
"I'd rather kiss from dead Matty's lips, than you with your finery.
Lord Darnell he jumped up and loudly he did bawl,
He struck his wife right through the heart and pinned her against the wall.
“A grave, a grave!” Lord Darnell cried, “to put these lovers in.
But bury my lady at the top for she was of noble kin."
| dew34 (Wisconsin-quite woodsy) | Posted: Jul 01, 2012 - 17:19 ScottishWillie wrote: stevetheshoe wrote: Doesn't get much better than Sandy Denny singing and Richard Thompson playing the lead guitar. Agreed. Ignore the lightweights bleating on that’s its to long.I couldn't agree more!  |
| gypsyman (just passing through....) | Posted: Jul 01, 2012 - 17:19 Haven't heard this in awhile, even though I have it on vinyl. Infidelity and calumny in the middle ages! Absolutely excellent! |
| smackiepipe (Western North Carolina) | Posted: Mar 28, 2012 - 09:06 The length was not the problem for me. Hell, I can listen to ELP's 36 minute live version of Tarkus any old time. Length doesn't bother me. The point was that there wasn't a point to the lengthy solo after the first 2-3 minutes of it. |
| ScottishWillie (The Scottish Lowlands) | Posted: Mar 28, 2012 - 08:36 stevetheshoe wrote: Doesn't get much better than Sandy Denny singing and Richard Thompson playing the lead guitar. Agreed. Ignore the lightweights bleating on that’s its to long. |
| smackiepipe (Western North Carolina) | Posted: Mar 28, 2012 - 08:35 Well, I liked the first half, then the beginning of the end jam, but damn.... Had to knock my rating down a notch. |
| TJS (Bradley, Il) | Posted: Mar 28, 2012 - 08:29 I've never heard this before. It's dated-sounding to me, but it has a happy grove. |
| rtrudeau (Bay Area, California) | Posted: Feb 25, 2012 - 16:19 This is the musical equivalent of a flashing light that induces seizures. Ugh. |
| Alexandra (PNW) | Posted: Feb 25, 2012 - 16:15 Singer/songwriter/author Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding) wrote an entire novel based on the premise of this classic tune. |
| Foot (NorCal / Wine) | Posted: Feb 25, 2012 - 16:15 Matty Groves must be related to Shady Grove, identical twins I'd say. |
| zink | Posted: Feb 25, 2012 - 16:14 Augustus wrote: I'm convinced that the tori amos cover before this is only played to "cleanse" the palate and allow better appreciation of songs like this. tori amos - smells like teen spirit just before this song again in 2012 and I have to say this wrecked the vibe I had going |
| steelinox51 (San Francisco Bay Area, Calif.USA) | Posted: Jan 24, 2012 - 23:28 It's been a long time since I've heard this......it still sounds great.....what a group! |
| hbs47 (SE England) | Posted: Dec 24, 2011 - 05:36 It doesn't get any better. 10+ |
| cousinhub (Paris) | Posted: Dec 24, 2011 - 05:34 babacool mais ça coule bien H |
| WBOB (Oshkosh (b'gosh) Wisconsin) | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 12:00 An old gem indeed. Sandy Denny was an original hippie, concur with the long ending comments. |
| Augustus (Columbus, OH) | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 11:58 I'm convinced that the tori amos cover before this is only played to "cleanse" the palate and allow better appreciation of songs like this. |
| mistabird | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 11:55 why  |
| gloriajanell | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 11:54 please...make...it...stop!  |
| dasfeuer (Loading...) | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 11:54 6-7 |
| WBOB (Oshkosh (b'gosh) Wisconsin) | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 11:53 An old gem indeed. Sandy Denny was an original hippie, concur with the long ending comments. |
| stevetheshoe (wayfaraway) | Posted: Nov 22, 2011 - 11:52 Doesn't get much better than Sandy Denny singing and Richard Thompson playing the lead guitar. |
| GProkopo (Greenville, NC) | Posted: Aug 19, 2011 - 21:05 I first heard a fragment of this (or perhaps it was Tam Lin) on WABX (or perhaps it was CJOM) in 1969 (or perhaps it was 1970). Anyway, I remember it like it was yesterday. Searched for several years to find the album it was from. Once I found it, rationed myself to one listening a year, usually around Halloween, so I would not lose the ethereal sense of a glimpse into a distant, magical time and place that the album first evoked for me. Eventually learned more about Cecil Sharp and Francis James Child, listened to Steeleye Span's albums, learned to play traditional tunes on the fiddle, and came to appreciate even more what Fairport Convention had accomplished. 10. |
| david1045 (Madison Wisconsin) | Posted: Aug 19, 2011 - 20:52 Tedious. |
| gatorade (Peninsuland) | Posted: Aug 19, 2011 - 20:48 A million trillion 10's. |
| helgigermany (Germany) | Posted: Jul 19, 2011 - 12:08 To long kills nice! |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Jul 19, 2011 - 12:02 mute^2 |
| ncollingridge (Knebworth, UK) | Posted: May 17, 2011 - 05:10 Amusing when you look into the history of this song. The Wikipedia entry for the 18th century Shady Grove (Shady Grove (song)) says only "The melody is strikingly similar to that of an old English ballad, Matty Groves", but if you look at the Wikipedia entry for the 17th Century British song Matty Groves (Matty Groves) it says "In the United States the song was transformed into the less graphic "Shady Grove", which has itself become a traditional." |
| BLADERUNNER (Wilmington,NC) | Posted: May 17, 2011 - 05:08 as a youngin i despised this sort of music, but, now, later on i can appreciate the beauty of this song. but.......why the long instrumental at the end? i can listen to Sandy Denny sing for hours, but the ending seems to go on FOREVER. oh well, it was still a hoot to hear this old gem. |
| Poacher (Brighton, UK) | Posted: May 17, 2011 - 05:03 fredriley wrote: Quite, some two decades before the latest upstarts of the Nu-nu-folk movement (Decemberists, Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes et al), and IMO Fairport Convention beat the socks off these interlopers. Best part of four decades Fred. . . |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: May 17, 2011 - 05:00 Mike_Sneade wrote:  This is where folk rock started.Quite, some three decades before the latest upstarts of the Nu-nu-folk movement (Decemberists, Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes et al), and IMO Fairport Convention beat the socks off these interlopers. |
| Mike_Sneade (Nr Oxford UK) | Posted: Apr 15, 2011 - 15:25 This is where folk rock started. |
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: Apr 15, 2011 - 15:25 rtrudeau wrote: How long is this thing??? That's kind of a personal question, don't you think?  ba-dum-dum...Is this an audience or an oil painting? |
| unclelonghair | Posted: Apr 15, 2011 - 15:23 I can never say anything bad about a pretty Celtic accent singing over a jaunty Celtic tune! This song dates back more than 200 years. Always interesting to hear new interpretations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shady_Grove_(song) |
| ncollingridge (Knebworth, UK) | Posted: Mar 15, 2011 - 05:44 SO much better than the lame Mudcrutch effort called "Shady Grove". This has all the character and shade and light you could want, coupled with the wonderful tones of Sandy Denny. A magnificent telling of the tragic tale. |
| Moonflower31 (Flagstaff) | Posted: Feb 11, 2011 - 19:42 Just love it when you go old hippie... love it Bill, thx! |
| nicolewe | Posted: Feb 11, 2011 - 19:41 yee hawww!!!   |
| Hannio (Austin, TX) | Posted: Jan 11, 2011 - 13:14 Great song. I love Sandy Denny's voice, but prefer Maddy Prior. |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Jan 11, 2011 - 13:13 mute |
| xkolibuul (Chuckanut sandstone) | Posted: Dec 10, 2010 - 23:13 Alas majesty is wasted upon you. tkay73 wrote: One word- Yuck! When will it ever end, make it stop!! |
| xkolibuul (Chuckanut sandstone) | Posted: Dec 10, 2010 - 23:12 Not nearly long enough. Delicious. rtrudeau wrote: How long is this thing??? |
| Dillinquent (Hertford, UK) | Posted: Nov 09, 2010 - 04:05 johnjconn wrote: This song sounds like a British Hillbilly song It is. We call it "Folk music" |
| ClaireWild (Ireland) | Posted: Oct 08, 2010 - 16:48 I like this version the best, loads better than "Little Musgrave" that's for sure! This is a brilliant English version, it seems to me. Sandy Denny had a really good voice and a fantastic delivery, I bet she'd be doing great things now if she'd not died. |
| johnjconn (chicago land) | Posted: Oct 08, 2010 - 16:45 Netto wrote:  cute kitty This song sounds like a British Hillbilly song |
| Dgradeworkunit (Shenandoah Valley) | Posted: Oct 08, 2010 - 16:45 Wonderful! |
| Netto (Khimki, Russia) | Posted: Oct 08, 2010 - 16:42 |
| Poacher (Brighton, UK) | Posted: Sep 06, 2010 - 16:10 Just in case you have no idea about Sandy; Denny is considered a founder of the British folk rock movement and perhaps its most important female singer, songwriter and personality. Over a ten year career Sandy Denny left an extensive legacy and remains influential. She is remembered for her pivotal involvement with the British folk rock scene, where, as a member of Fairport Convention, she moved the band away from west coast American cover versions and into performing traditional material and original compositions. |
| rosedraws (close to the edge) | Posted: Aug 05, 2010 - 15:55 at least it got lumped in with Tori Amos so I didn't have to unmute... |
| AvoidingWork (Home of Big Boy #4004) | Posted: Aug 05, 2010 - 15:53 rtrudeau wrote: How long is this thing??? I think they realize it's going on too long and that is why they sped the song up at the end. Cause if they didn't it would just take waaay to long.  |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Aug 05, 2010 - 15:49 rtrudeau wrote: How long is this thing??? Long enough to require chapters. . .  |
| Colandrio | Posted: Aug 05, 2010 - 15:48 Good to hear from the Sandy Denny -Fairport Convention golden age. A great album. Crazy Man Michael Please! |
| dogpound (the island on which I belong) | Posted: Jul 04, 2010 - 18:58 rtrudeau wrote: How long is this thing??? I'm hoping it will end by next 4th of july |