Gladys' Leap

Gladys' Leap
Studio album by Fairport Convention
Released	August 1985
Recorded	April-May 1985 at Woodworm Studio, Barford St. Michael, Oxfordshire
Genre	Folk rock
Length	38:01
Label	Woodworm WR007
Producer	Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg
Fairport Convention chronology
Tipplers Tales (1978) Gladys' Leap (1985) Expletive Delighted! (1986)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Gladys' Leap is a folk rock album by Fairport Convention originally released in August 1985. It was recorded in April and May 1985 at Woodworm Studios, Barford St. Michael, Oxfordshire, UK. It was produced and engineered by Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg and the assistant engineers were Tim Matyear and Mark Powell. The album features the first contributions to a Fairport album by founding member Richard Thompson since Rosie in 1973. Thompson wrote the opening track "How Many Times" and played lead guitar on "Head in a Sack".

The title comes from Gladys Hillier, who was a postwoman for Cranham, a village near Stroud in Gloucestershire, England. As a short-cut, to save a two mile walk, she used to jump the three feet (~ 1 metre) across a stream on her round.^[2] In 1977 the Ordnance Survey agreed to name the spot in her honour, and in 2005 a footbridge was built across the stream.^[3] Fairport heard the story, and named the album in Gladys' honour.

Track listing

Side one (The Folkside)

1. "How Many Times" (Richard Thompson) - 3:29
2. "Bird from the Mountain" (Ralph McTell) - 4:51
3. "Honour and Praise" (John Richards) - 5:21
4. "The Hiring Fair" (Ralph McTell, Dave Mattacks) - 5:53

Side two (The Backside)

1. Instrumental Medley '85 - 5:08
   1. "The Riverhead" (Dave Pegg)
   2. "Gladys' Leap" (Dave Pegg)
   3. "The Wise Maid" (traditional, arrangement by Simon Nicol/Dave Pegg)
2. "My Feet are Set for Dancing" (Cathy Lesurf, Arranged by Bill Martin) - 4:01
3. "Wat Tyler" (Ralph McTell/Simon Nicol) - 5:36
4. "Head in a Sack" (Dave Whetstone) - 4:23

Personnel

• Simon Nicol - vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
• Dave Pegg - bass guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, double bass, vocals
• Dave Mattacks - drums, drum machine, keyboards, percussion

Additional personnel

• Ric Sanders - violin ("Bird from the Mountain", "The Hiring Fair", Instrumental Medley)
• Richard Thompson - electric guitar ("Head in a Sack")
• Cathy Lesurf - vocal ("My Feet Are Set for Dancing")
• Harold Wells - spoken intro to "Bird from the Mountain"

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Location: 51°48′26″N 2°09′36″W / 51.80718°N 2.15987°W
3. Hamilton, Alan (August 11, 2005). "A bridge too late to spare a country postwoman's muddy boots". The Times (London). Retrieved 2008-05-17.

External links

• Fan site with trivia and reissue details