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It's forty four years since Fairport first convened at a now legendary gig, a Mass Conversion, in North London.
However, it would be inaccurate to say that they've "been together now for forty four years....and it don't seem a day too long" because of the original band, only Simon Nicol remains – the man after whose family home the band was named – and even he took time out.
In fact, there wasn't a truly consistent line-up of Fairport until years after the band officially broke up. But, as Simon has pointed out, Fairport Convention works more like a football team or a Northern Brass Band; the elements may change completely but the concept and the spirit remain. In this respect there is nothing else like them in popular music.
So here we are, forty four years on. Fairport has been part of our lives for most of our time on earth. Despite being ever-changing, they are a constant. Unlike many other long-running bands, they have never got too big for their boots, turned into their own tribute band, sold out to the chicken-in-a-basket circuit, gone with the flow, or descended into unfortunate self-parody.
Fairport Convention was born when the vinyl single was still the main music format, when the term 'rock music' had not been invented, when Radio One still seemed wonderful and the only radio came from the BBC. John Peel, a great supporter of Fairport from the outset, shortly before his death described Fairport as "one of the genuinely reliable things in a changing world."