Red & Gold

"Red & Gold" is a 1988 album by folk rock band Fairport Convention. The album was released on the Rough Trade label, leading David Fricke, Rolling Stone's reviewer to comment "Britain's oldest surviving folk-rock band allied to the archetypal indie punk record label! Even for Fairport Convention, which has defied time, tide and trauma in its pursuit of the electric folk dream, that's pushing it." The title track was written by Ralph McTell, and tells the story of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, which occurred in 1644 during the English Civil War. The location has strong links with Fairport Convention, being the venue of their annual music festival; the story is told from the perspective of a farm worker, Will Timms, who describes "red and gold" as "royal colours", while the red itself represents the spilled blood of combatants and the gold the wheat fields in which the battle took place. The album entered the UK album chart on 28 January 1989, spending one week at No. 74.