This is just a sampling of the many book reviews found in Dirty Linen #61.

With its pouty little red book design and shimmering lights of Fairport blasting out a Cropredy number on the cover, The Woodworm Era: The Story of Today's Fairport Convention is a smart and resourceful companion piece to the first Fairport book, Meet on the Ledge (no longer in print) by Patrick Humphries. While Humphries recounted a history of the early cast of characters, Redwood and Woodward spend time explaining and highlighting the annual Fairport Reunions at Cropredy and exploring the personalities of Fairport's current line-up: Ric Sanders, Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Maartin Allcock, and Dave Mattacks. They give the complete low-down on what to drink (Wadworth of Devizes, brewers of the legendary 6X), where to sit (try and snuggle your way up front), and what to wear (frayed shorts and parka). There is a list of who has played at Cropredy from 1979 to 1995 in the appendix.

Great photos abound... like the one with the band gathered around the bar ("Fairport Convention are to real ale what the Grateful Dead were to acid" -- Mojo Magazine), Robert Plant and Jerry Donahue at Cropredy in 1986, Mattacks carefully assembling his drum kit, Nicol on the Art Garfunkel tour of 1988, and Ian Anderson balancing a huge balloon off the top of his head in 1989.

Of interest to fans are chapters on Dave Pegg's Woodworm studios, the behind-the-scenes look at the making of Expletive Delighted and Jewel in the Crown, the "new boys" Sanders and Allcock and how they joined Fairport, and the organization and operation of the Cropredy Festival each second week in August in England.
[U.K. 9.95 pounds sterling, outside U.K. 12 pounds sterling (international money order) or US$25 cash or US$25 check drawn on a U.S. bank, includes postage & packing; Jeneva Publishing/ P.O. Box 5918/ Thatcham, Berks RG18 9YY/ England]
- T.J. McGrath (Hamden, CT)