(As usual, the link to the Good Stuff is at the bottom, after the setup...)Back in '79, when Fairport Convention broke up (only to reform in '85), after the end of the tour, Simon Nicol and Dave Swarbrick were staying in neighbouring houses for a while. Swarb (who was already having hearing problems, i understand, was planning to retire and to move up to a farm he'd bought in Scotland - and thereby, as they say, hangs a tale...Simon and Swarb and the friends Swarb was crashing with had been up farly late, solving all the world's problems with the aid of a bottle or two of good Scotch.Simon headed next door and bedwards relatively early, but Sawrb and his host apparently cracked (at least) one more bottle and kept on exercising their elbows.When Simon awoke fairly late the next morning, he realised two things.

{A} It was the First of April
{B} Swarb, if he was awake at all, must be suffering even worse a hangover than he was himself

Therefore, a tap was rigged to the telephone and routed to the stereo downstairs, a tape was set recording, and Simon made a call, passing himself off as a member of the Aberdeen constabulary...
Swarb's wife caught the original call, and then, after calling Swarb to the phone, ran next door to bear the news of the apparent disaster to their friends. It is said that the loudest laughter audible at the end of the recording is hers...

(A Warning: There is a reason that "*The Cropredy Box* (the *Thirtieth Annicersary Concert*":http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00001NFFC/mikewebersweberw set), which includes this as a bonus track, has a little parody of a Parental Advisory label reading "Contains Explicit Swarbrick". The tape continues rolling after Swarb realises he's been conned...)
"*Click Here to hear April Fool*":http://electronictiger.com/avail/fool.mp3. (Or right click and choose "Save Target" [or whatever your browser calls it] to download a copy.)