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Fact #132687

When:

Short story:

Fairport Convention are travelling home from Birmingham, England, UK, to London, when their driver falls asleep. their van crashes down a 40ft embankment, killing drummer Martin Lamble and fashion designer/seamstress Jeannie Franklyn who was, at the time, the girlfriend of Fairport guitarist Richard Thompson. Franklyn's death will inspire a number of musical endeavours, including Jack Bruce's 1969 LP Songs For A Tailor and the song I'll Bet She Knew It by Jack Nitzsche. It is also often speculated that the 1971 Bernie Taupin/Elton hit Tiny Dancer was about Jeannie, although Taupin has denied the connection.

Full article:

Ashley Hutchings (Fairport Convention) : We were totally fractured, in more ways than one. It seemed like I was in hospital for months. When I woke up at the side of the M1, I thought I'd lost my sight. As it was, it was just that both eyes were terribly cut and bruised, and eventually, that improved. But I had a broken nose, broken cheekbone, a lot of head injuries, a broken pelvis, a bad ankle injury. All of those things took a long time to heal. People were asking us about the future, but we couldn't conceive of planning one.
(Source : interview with John Harris, The Guardian, 2007)

Richard Thompson (Airport Convention) : We were very traumatised, and there was this feeling: 'Should we carry on? Has the stuffing been knocked out of us?' But eventually, we made a conscious effort. We got together and said, 'Yes, we are carrying on.'
(Source : interview with John Harris, The Guardian, 2007)