#fotheringay

Fotheringay - The Sea (1970)

After Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention, she formed Fotheringay. Here's a highlight of their first LP.

Former Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull Drummer Gerry Conway Dies at 76

Drummer Gerry Conway, who spent nearly a quarter-century with Fairport Convention and also played with Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull and others, has died, his son said.

Conway, 76, died March 29; no cause was given.

“Rest in peace, Gerry,” said Fairport Convention, the band Conway left in 2022 after 24 years.

“Thank you for your music and friendship. Our thoughts are with Gerry’s family and friends at this extremely sad time.”

Winter Wilson toured with Fairport in 2018 and Dave Wilson was profoundly impacted by watching Conway at work.

“What struck me about his playing was the subtleties; he wasn’t afraid of silence, he knew how effective a gentle brush across a cymbal could be,” Wilson said of Conway. “And then, when he did go all guns blazing, it had an amazing impact.”

The drummer got his start in the 1970s with Fotheringay and appeared on the debut albums of Sandy Denny and Joan Armatrading. He went on to spend several years in Stevens’ band, drum for Jethro Tull in the 1980s and record and tour alongside Richard Thompson and others before joining Fairport in 1998.

The artist now known as Yusuf/Cat Stevens eulogized his “great old drummer” on social media.

“What a lad, and what ingenuity and style,” Stevens wrote of Conway. “May God grant him the beautiful reward of peace everlasting.”

Martin Barre was “devastated” at the loss of his “dear friend” and onetime bandmate.

“I have been so lucky to have shared a stage with (Conway) so many times, and I always had a big smile when I would look over to him playing next to me,” the former Tull guitarist said.

“He was one of those rare people who gave out so much warmth and friendship.”

Mary Queen of Scots

Que suis-je hélas? Et de quoi sert ma vie? Je ne suis fors qu'un corps privé de coeur, Une ombre vaine, un objet de malheur Qui n'a plus rien que de mourir en vie. Plus ne me portez, O ennemis, d'envie A qui n'a plus l'esprit à la grandeur. J'ai consommé d'excessive douleur Votre ire en bref de voir assouvie. Et vous, amis, qui m'avez tenue chère, Souvenez-vous que sans coeur et sans santé Je ne saurais aucune bonne oeuvre faire, Souhaitez donc fin de calamité Et que, ici-bas étant assez punie, J'aie ma part en la joie infinie.

Fairport Convention - Fotheringay