Personnel: Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, Simon Nicol (vocals, guitar); Dave Swarbrick (vocals, mandolin, violin, viola); Ashley Hutchings (vocals, bass guitar); Dave Mattacks (drums).

In the decades since its original release, more than one writer has declared Fairport Convention's Liege & Lief the definitive British folk-rock album, a distinction it holds at least in part because it grants equal importance to all three parts of that formula. While Fairport had begun dipping their toes into British traditional folk with their stellar version of "A Sailor's Life" on Unhalfbricking, Liege & Lief found them diving head first into the possibilities of England's musical past, with Ashley Hutchings digging through the archives at the Cecil Sharp House in search of musical treasure, and the musicians (in particular vocalist Sandy Denny) eagerly embracing the dark mysteries of this music. (Only two of the album's eight songs were group originals, though "Crazy Man Michael" and "Come All Ye" hardly stand out from their antique counterparts.) Liege & Lief was also recorded after a tour bus crash claimed the lives of original Fairport drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson's girlfriend; as the members of the group worked to shake off the tragedy (and break in new drummer Dave Mattacks and full-time fiddler Dave Swarbrick), they became a stronger and more adventurous unit, less interested in the neo-Jefferson Airplane direction of their earlier work and firmly committed to fusing time-worn folk with electric instruments while honoring both. And while Liege & Lief was the most purely folk-oriented Fairport Convention album to date, it also rocked hard in a thoroughly original and uncompromising way; the "Lark in the Morning" medley swings unrelentingly, the group's crashing dynamics wring every last ounce of drama from "Tam Lin" and "Matty Groves," and Thompson and Swarbrick's soloing is dazzling throughout. Liege & Lief introduced a large new audience to the beauty of British folk, but Fairport Convention's interpretations spoke of the present as much as the past, and the result was timeless music in the best sense of the term. ~ Mark Deming

The advertisements for Fairport Convention's epoch-making fourth album ran: "the first (literally) British folk rock LP ever." While that's not (literally) true, LIEGE & LIEF created the template for all subsequent recordings in that style. It also represented a catharsis for the band, which reconvened after a traumatic road accident that killed drummer Martin Lamble. Once again focused and with redoubtable folk fiddler Dave Swarbrick now permanently involved, Fairport threw themselves into the electrification of ballads, myths, and rollicking jigs. The results were both innovative and stimulating. The union was blessed. If you sat down and tried to imagine a dream folk-rock band, it still would not match the potential here. From the lusting pace of "Matty Groves" to the tender cooing of "Crazy Man Michael," Sandy Denny's voice and Richard Thompson's virtuosic guitar are the perfect conduits for this milestone, which has been imitated a thousand times, but never equalled.