Wishfulness Waltz is a reissue of the 1997
Fairport Convention album Who Knows Where the Time Goes?, with four bonus tracks recorded at that year's
Cropredy Festival. 1997 marked the 30th year of
Fairport's existence, and the band began yet another chapter in their continuing saga with a new studio album and a couple of live tracks. Enter fiddle/mandolin/guitar player and
Albion Band alumnus
Chris Leslie.
Leslie's "John Gaudie" leads off; a mid-tempo, vintage 1973-type rocker featuring the two violin players and
Leslie's dulcet tenor. Fellow fiddler
Ric Sanders composed "The Bowman's Retreat" as a "welcome aboard" gesture in which each bowman gets to showcase his considerable talents along with the other members. It is debatable whether
Fairport has ever rocked as blatantly as they do on "Spanish Main," which actually has
Simon Nicol and
Leslie trading incendiary guitar licks. Likewise, "Dangerous" further explores that aggressive edge rarely visited in the band's later years. "Here's to Tom Paine," a
Steve Tilston song, is a posthumous salute to that embroiled English writer/American revolutionary. "Golden Glove" is a fairy tale of love and romance in which
Leslie supplies some sure-footed mandolin playing. This album's title asks the obvious question, but given
Fairport's dignified and productive aging process, who cares? The four bonus tracks are in keeping with the two live tracks that concluded the original version of the album, songs from
Fairport's past with past members taking the lead. "Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman," featuring
Richard Thompson and
Dave Swarbrick, was intended for the 1970 album Full House; "Rosie" is
Swarbrick's showcase from the 1973 album of the same name; "Jack O'Diamonds," again featuring
Thompson, dates back to the 1968 self-titled debut album; and "Come All Ye," with an uncredited
Vikki Clayton standing in for
Sandy Denny, led off 1969's Liege & Lief. ~ Dave Sleger and William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
