Sandy Denny
Encyclopedia
Sandy Denny born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English
singer and songwriter
, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock
band Fairport Convention
. She has been described by Allmusic's Richie Unterberger
as "the pre-eminent British folk rock
singer".
After briefly working with British folk band The Strawbs
, Denny joined Fairport Convention in 1968, remaining with that band until the end of 1969. She formed the short-lived band Fotheringay in 1970, releasing one album with them (another unreleased album would surface some three decades later), before focusing on a solo career. Between 1971 and 1977, Denny released four solo albums: The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
, Sandy
, Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
, and Rendezvous
. She is also noted as the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin
studio album, when she shared a duet with Robert Plant
for "The Battle of Evermore
" on Led Zeppelin IV
(1971).
Music publications Sunday Express, Uncut
and Mojo
have each called Denny Britain's finest female singer-songwriter. Her composition Who Knows Where the Time Goes? has been recorded by numerous artists as diverse as Judy Collins
, Nina Simone
and Cat Power
.
, London. She studied classical piano as a child. Her Scottish grandmother was a singer of traditional songs. At an early age Denny showed an interest in singing, although her strict parents were reluctant to believe there was a living to be made from it. Sandy Denny attended Coombe Girls' School
in Kingston upon Thames
. After leaving school, she started training as a nurse at the Royal Brompton Hospital
.
, John Renbourn
. After her first public appearance at the Barge in Kingston-Upon-Thames Denny started working the folk club circuit in the evenings with an American-influenced repertoire, including songs by Tom Paxton
, together with traditional folk songs.
Denny made the first of many appearances for the BBC
at Cecil Sharp House on 2 December 1966 on the Folk Song Cellar programme where she accompanied herself on two traditional songs; Fhir a Bhata and Green Grow the Laurels.
Her earliest professional recordings were made a few months later in mid-1967 for the Saga Records label, featuring traditional songs and covers of folk contemporaries including her boyfriend of this period, the American singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank
. They were released on the albums Alex Campbell and his Friends
and Sandy and Johnny
with Johnny Silvo. Sandy Denny: The Original Sandy Denny These songs were collected on the 1970 album It's Sandy Denny
where the tracks from Sandy and Johnny
had been re-recorded with more accomplished vocals and guitar playing. The complete Saga studio recordings were issued on the 2005 compilation Where The Time Goes.
By this time she had abandoned her studies at art college and was devoting herself full-time to music. While she was performing at The Troubadour folk club, a member of the Strawbs heard her, and in 1967, she was invited to join the band. She recorded one album with them in Denmark which belatedly came out in 1973 as Sandy Denny and the Strawbs All Our Own Work
. The album includes an early solo version of her best-known (and widely recorded) composition, Who Knows Where the Time Goes
. A tape of that solo version found its way into the hands of American singer Judy Collins
, who chose to cover it as the title track of an album of her own
, released in November 1968, thus giving Denny international exposure as a songwriter before she had become widely known as a singer.
and Johnny Silvo, Denny looked for a band that would allow her to stretch herself as a vocalist, reach the wide audiences of rock, and have the opportunity to display her songwriting. She said, “I wanted to do something more with my voice”. After hooking up briefly with The Strawbs
on All Our Own Work
Denny remained unconvinced that they could provide that opportunity, and so she ended her relationship with the band.
Fairport Convention
conducted auditions in May 1968 for a replacement singer following the departure of Judy Dyble
after their debut album, and Denny became the obvious choice. Or rather, as group member Simon Nicol
has often told the story, they auditioned for her, since her strong personality and confident musicianship made her stand out from the other hopefuls "like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes". Beginning with What We Did On Our Holidays
, the three albums she made with the band in the late sixties are the first peaks of her career. Furthermore, her arrival had a decisive effect on the band: Denny is credited with encouraging Fairport Convention to explore the traditional British folk
repertoire, and is thus regarded as a key figure in the development of British folk rock. The Fairport she joined was a promising group playing mostly West Coast covers. The band she left eighteen months later had invented British folk rock. Denny brought with her the traditional repertoire she had honed in the clubs, including the important 'A Sailor's Life' featured on their second album together Unhalfbricking
. Framing Denny's performance with their own electric improvisations, her bandmates discovered a direction which provided the inspiration for an entire album, the influential Liege & Lief
(1969), and has continued to underpin Fairport's style ever since. Prior to her arrival, Fairport Convention had never performed a traditional song and Richard Thompson had yet to emerge as a composer. Her arrival with some of her own compositions, an interest in traditional music and a voice that could handle anything had a decisive effect on all concerned.
Denny left Fairport Convention
in 1969 to develop her own songwriting more fully. To this end, she formed her own band, Fotheringay
, which included her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas
formerly of the group Eclection
. They created one well regarded self-titled album (a second left unfinished in 1970 was finally released to acclaim in 2008) which included arguably her greatest traditional recording Banks of the Nile, and some of her most beautiful compositions including The Sea and Nothing More, the latter marking her first composition on the piano which was to take over as her primary instrument from now on. The group dissolved when producer Joe Boyd
left to take up a job at Warner Brothers in California.
Sandy Denny now began the sequence of solo albums that established her among Britain's finest singer-songwriters. Built mostly around her own compositions, they chart the development and diversity of her writing. Throughout the sessions she was supported by distinguished musicians, many of them friends and former colleagues including Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick
, Jerry Donahue
, Sneaky Pete Kleinow
(of Flying Burrito Brothers fame) Robin and Barry Dransfield
, John (Rabbit) Bundrick
, Allen Toussaint
, Diz Disley
, Steve Winwood
and Acker Bilk. The first solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
was released in 1971 and is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies. Highlights included Late November, inspired by a dream and the death of Fairport band member Martin Lamble
, and Next Time Around a cryptogram about Jackson C. Frank
, one of her many portraits in song.
Sandy
with a cover photograph by David Bailey followed in 1972 and remains her most cohesive musical statement as a singer and songwriter. Sure-footed and sympathetically produced by Trevor Lucas
, its songs range from glorious melody driven invocations to the power of music like Listen, Listen and The Lady to beguiling narrative songs like Bushes and Briars and It Suits Me Well.
The album also marked her last recording of a traditional song, The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood (words by Richard Fariña
), with Denny's ambitious multi-tracked vocal arrangement inspired by the Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic.
Melody Maker
readers twice voted her the "Best British Female Singer" in 1970 and 1971 and together with contemporaries including Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings
, she participated in a one-off project called The Bunch to record a collection of rock and roll
era standards released under the title of Rock On
which further demonstrated her versatility as a vocalist. During this period, Denny also appeared in a brief cameo on Lou Reizner
's version of The Who
's rock opera, Tommy
, and duetted memorably with Robert Plant
on The Battle of Evermore
from Led Zeppelin's 1971 album (Led Zeppelin IV
), becoming the only guest vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin album.
In 1973, she married long term boyfriend and producer Trevor Lucas
and recorded a third solo album Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
a nostalgic panoramic song-cycle detailing many of her personal preoccupations: loss, loneliness, fear of the dark, the passing of time and the changing seasons. The album contained one of her best loved compositions, "Solo", and featured a cover image by Gered Mankowitz
.
In 1974, she returned to Fairport Convention (where her husband
was now a member) for a world tour (captured on the 1974 album Fairport Live Convention
) and a studio album, Rising for the Moon
in 1975. Integrating her back into the band was not without problems as her development as a soloist and songwriter had taken her further away from the folk roots direction the band had pursued since Liege & Lief
. Nonetheless, seven of the eleven tracks on Rising for the Moon were either written or co-written by her including two of her most admired songs Stranger to Himself and One More Chance. Her charisma and extraordinary alto voice were never in doubt, but the punishing world tour with Fairport Convention
throughout 1974 and 1975 coupled with Denny's heavy drinking and smoking inevitably took a toll on her voice; some of its bell-like purity had gone, but the control and power remained along with her subtle phrasing and characteristic grace notes.
Denny and Lucas left Fairport Convention
at the end of 1975 and embarked on what was to become her final album Rendezvous
. The record shows someone continuing to widen and deepen her songwriting craft, and responsive to new influences: Gold Dust with its Caribbean influence, the soulful torch songs Take Me Away and I'm A Dreamer and most ambitious of all, an eight minute orchestral tribute to the English pastoral style of Vaughan Williams called All Our Days. Released in 1977, the album is now generally thought to be overproduced despite containing some of her finest compositions notably the aforementioned I'm A Dreamer and the strange and beautiful One Way Donkey Ride. Having relocated to the village of Byfield
in Northamptonshire in the mid-seventies, Denny gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Georgia in July 1977.
A UK tour to promote Rendezvous
in the autumn of 1977 marked her final public appearances. The closing night at the Royalty Theatre
in London on 27 November 1977 was recorded for a live album, Gold Dust
, which due to technical problems in the recording of the electric guitar, was belatedly released in 1998 after most of the guitars had been re-recorded by Jerry Donahue
.
(as well as possibly heroin). Linda Thompson
told The Guardian that shortly after Georgia's birth, Denny "was crashing the car and leaving the baby in the pub and all sorts of stuff." Thompson also noted that the child was premature
, yet Denny seemed to have little concern for her new baby.
In March 1978, while on holiday with her parents, husband and baby in Cornwall, Denny was injured when she fell down a staircase and hit her head on concrete. Following the incident, Denny suffered from intense headaches; a doctor prescribed her the painkiller Distalgesic, a drug known to have fatal side effects when mixed with alcohol. Denny was able to perform one last concert several days after the fall. Concerned with his wife's erratic behaviour and fearing for his daughter's safety, Denny's husband Trevor Lucas fled the UK back to his native Australia with their child several weeks after the accident.
On 17 April, Denny collapsed and fell into a coma
while at friend Miranda Ward's home. Four days later, she died at Atkinson Morley Hospital
in Wimbledon
. Her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain haemorrhage and blunt force trauma to her head. The funeral took place on 27 April 1978 at Putney Vale Cemetery
. After the vicar had read Denny's favourite psalm - Psalm 23
(The Lord is my Shepherd) - a piper played The Flowers of the Forest, a traditional song commemorating the fallen of Flodden Field. The inscription on her headstone reads, "'The Lady'" Alexandra Elene MacLean Lucas (Sandy Denny) 6.1.47 - 21.4.78."
and Joe Boyd
and included many rare and previously unreleased tracks. This was the first public indication that a large cache of unreleased material existed. In 1991, Joe Boyd issued a new version of Denny's All Our Own Work
album with The Strawbs
called Sandy Denny and the Strawbs
on his Hannibal Records
label. The album had strings added to some tracks including "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" and further tracks with Denny on lead vocal.
The Australian label Raven Records
issued a CD in 1995 called Sandy Denny, Trevor Lucas and Friends: The Attic Tracks 1972-1984 that included 12 previously unreleased Denny songs including the original piano version of "No End", demos recorded at home in Byfield, Rendezvous
album session outtakes (including her final studio recording, a cover of Bryn Haworth
's "Moments") and three songs from the final concert at the Royalty Theatre
.
A one-disc compilation of Denny's solo BBC recordings was released on Strange Fruit Records
as The BBC Sessions 1971-1973 in 1997 that due to rights issues was withdrawn on the day of release, thereby creating a highly collectible disc (up until the release of the comprehensive Live at the BBC
box set in 2007). This release was quickly followed in 1998 when Denny's final performance at the Royalty Theatre, entitled Gold Dust
, was issued on CD.
In 2005, remastered versions of all her solo albums came out with bonus tracks. Prior to their release, in 2004 a second comprehensive five-CD box set was released on the Fledg'ling record label called A Boxful of Treasures
that included many unreleased recordings, in particular a whole disc of acoustic demos, many recorded at her home in Byfield
that was highly prized amongst fans and critics alike, who had long asserted that her solo performances showed her work in its best light, revealing the true quality of her vocal style and compositions. When the Live at the BBC
box set came out in September 2007 it was rapturously praised by The Sun newspaper.
In 2008, Jerry Donahue
completed the unfinished second Fotheringay
album begun in the autumn of 1970. It was released to general acclaim as Fotheringay 2
and contained some notable Denny performances, in particular earlier versions of two Denny compositions "Late November" and "John the Gun", and performances of the traditional songs "Gypsy Davey" and "Wild Mountain Thyme
".
In 2010, a complete retrospective box set, simply titled Sandy Denny
, was released by Universal/Island Records in a limited edition of 3000. It contained Denny's entire catalogue of studio recordings, including her work with The Strawbs, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, and as a solo artist. The comprehensive, 19-CD release also included a large number of outtakes, demos, live recordings, radio sessions and interviews.
The box set was released to good reviews, including a 5-star review in Uncut
and a 4-star review in The Guardian
amongst others.
Further recordings were released in 2011 including a German recording of Fotheringay
in concert released as Essen 1970 on the Garden of Delights label. The performance was re-mastered by original band member Jerry Donahue
. This release was followed by 19 Rupert Street, a home recording of a rehearsal featuring Sandy and Alex Campbell recorded at his flat in August 1967. This release is notable for the fact that Sandy performs a number of tracks that are not available in any other versions, including a cover of “Fairytale Lullaby” by John Martyn
. This CD was put out by Sandy’s former Strawbs band-mate Dave Cousins
on his Witchwood label.
of Fairport Convention recorded the tribute "Song for Sandy" on his 1983 solo album The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone
. Dave Cousins
of Strawbs wrote "Ringing Down the Years
" in memory of Sandy Denny shortly after her death. Fellow Brit folk pioneers Spriguns changed the title of their 1978 album to Magic Lady after hearing of Denny's death while recording. In 1998, a variety of Daylily
was named after her.
Denny's songs have been covered by hundreds of artists in the years since her death. Some of the notable acts to have covered her music include Yo La Tengo
, former Marillion
frontman Fish
, Cat Power, Judy Collins and Nina Simone. Kate Bush
named Denny in the lyric of "Blow Away (For Bill)", a track on her 1980 album Never for Ever
.
Several radio specials have been produced about Denny's life and music, including BBC Radio 2
's The Sandy Denny Story: Who Knows Where the Time Goes. In 2007, Denny also BBC 2's 2007 Folk Award for "Favourite Folk Track of All Time." In 2010, she was recognized by NPR
in their 50 Great Voices special series.
In April 2008, a tribute concert was held at The Troubadour in London, to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Denny's death. Those taking part included Martin Carthy
, Linda Thompson
and Joe Boyd
. A more extensive tribute was given later that year in December at Southbank in the Queen Elizabeth Hall called The Lady: A Tribute to Sandy Denny with a band composed of members of Bellowhead
, the evening featured a mix of young folk acts like Jim Moray
and Lisa Knapp alongside those that had known and worked with Sandy such as Dave Swarbrick
and Jerry Donahue
. These acts were joined by performers from outside the world of folk like PP Arnold and Marc Almond
. The concert which featured primarily songs written by Sandy, received a four-star review in The Guardian.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
. She has been described by Allmusic's Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
as "the pre-eminent British folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
singer".
After briefly working with British folk band The Strawbs
The Strawbs
Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964. Although the band started out as a bluegrass group they eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, glam rock and progressive rock...
, Denny joined Fairport Convention in 1968, remaining with that band until the end of 1969. She formed the short-lived band Fotheringay in 1970, releasing one album with them (another unreleased album would surface some three decades later), before focusing on a solo career. Between 1971 and 1977, Denny released four solo albums: The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies.-Chronology:Denny became a solo artist because...
, Sandy
Sandy (Sandy Denny album)
Sandy is the second solo album by Sandy Denny, and is generally considered to be her best. The album was released in 1972 and begun just a fortnight after her UK tour promoting her debut solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens ended in early November 1971.The first song recorded for the...
, Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
Like an Old Fashioned Waltz is the third solo album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny, released in June 1974. The album featured a more pop and jazz influenced production style, a marked change from Denny's previous folk rock albums as lead vocalist for Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, The...
, and Rendezvous
Rendezvous (Sandy Denny album)
Rendezvous is a 1977 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, and was her last release before her death.Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and Denny embarked on Rendezvous in the spring of 1976. Trevor Lucas produced the album with a...
. She is also noted as the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
studio album, when she shared a duet with Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
for "The Battle of Evermore
The Battle of Evermore
"The Battle of Evermore" is a folk rock duet sung by Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their untitled fourth album , released in 1971...
" on Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin IV
The fourth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. No title is printed on the album, so it is generally referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, following the naming standard used by the band's first three studio albums...
(1971).
Music publications Sunday Express, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
and Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
have each called Denny Britain's finest female singer-songwriter. Her composition Who Knows Where the Time Goes? has been recorded by numerous artists as diverse as Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
and Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
.
Childhood
Denny was born on 6 January 1947 at Nelson Hospital, Kingston Road, Merton ParkMerton Park
Merton Park is a place in the London Borough of Merton. It is a quiet and leafy suburb situated between Wimbledon, Morden, South Wimbledon and Wimbledon Chase. It is 7.3 miles south-west of Charing Cross...
, London. She studied classical piano as a child. Her Scottish grandmother was a singer of traditional songs. At an early age Denny showed an interest in singing, although her strict parents were reluctant to believe there was a living to be made from it. Sandy Denny attended Coombe Girls' School
Coombe Girls' School
Coombe Girls' School is an all-female secondary school and 6th Form Centre in New Malden, England.The school is a Specialist Language College, Leading Edge School and now a high performing Training School....
in Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
. After leaving school, she started training as a nurse at the Royal Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital
Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the United Kingdom .The hospital is part of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust is a national and international specialist heart and lung centre based in Chelsea, London and Harefield, Middlesex...
.
Early career
Her nursing career proved short-lived. In the meantime she had secured a place on a foundation course at Kingston College of Art, which she took up in September 1965, becoming involved with the folk club on campus. Her contemporaries at the college included guitarist and future member of PentanglePentangle (band)
Pentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...
, John Renbourn
John Renbourn
John Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
. After her first public appearance at the Barge in Kingston-Upon-Thames Denny started working the folk club circuit in the evenings with an American-influenced repertoire, including songs by Tom Paxton
Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer and singer-songwriter who has been writing, performing and recording music for over forty years...
, together with traditional folk songs.
Denny made the first of many appearances for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
at Cecil Sharp House on 2 December 1966 on the Folk Song Cellar programme where she accompanied herself on two traditional songs; Fhir a Bhata and Green Grow the Laurels.
Her earliest professional recordings were made a few months later in mid-1967 for the Saga Records label, featuring traditional songs and covers of folk contemporaries including her boyfriend of this period, the American singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank
Jackson C. Frank
Jackson Carey Frank was an American folk musician.-Early life:When Jackson Frank was 11, a furnace exploded at his school, sending a ball of flames down corridors until it ended up in Frank's music classroom in the Cleveland Hill Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New York...
. They were released on the albums Alex Campbell and his Friends
Alex Campbell and his Friends
Alex Campbell and his Friends is an album by Alex Campbell with: Sandy Denny, Johnny Silvo and the Johnny Silvo Folk Group featuring Roger Evans and David Moses, Paul McNeill and Cliff Aungier....
and Sandy and Johnny
Sandy and Johnny
Sandy and Johnny is a split album featuring early recordings by Sandy Denny and Johnny Silvo, recorded for Saga Records in 1967. Despite being credited to both singers, the album consists of solo songs by each.-Background:...
with Johnny Silvo. Sandy Denny: The Original Sandy Denny These songs were collected on the 1970 album It's Sandy Denny
It's Sandy Denny
It's Sandy Denny is a collection of songs Sandy Denny recorded for Saga Records in 1967, released in 1970.Sandy Denny contributed to two Saga albums: Alex Campbell and his Friends , that features Alex Campbell with Sandy Denny, Johnny Silvo, Paul McNeill and Cliff Aungier, recorded March 1967 and...
where the tracks from Sandy and Johnny
Sandy and Johnny
Sandy and Johnny is a split album featuring early recordings by Sandy Denny and Johnny Silvo, recorded for Saga Records in 1967. Despite being credited to both singers, the album consists of solo songs by each.-Background:...
had been re-recorded with more accomplished vocals and guitar playing. The complete Saga studio recordings were issued on the 2005 compilation Where The Time Goes.
By this time she had abandoned her studies at art college and was devoting herself full-time to music. While she was performing at The Troubadour folk club, a member of the Strawbs heard her, and in 1967, she was invited to join the band. She recorded one album with them in Denmark which belatedly came out in 1973 as Sandy Denny and the Strawbs All Our Own Work
All Our Own Work
All Our Own Work is a studio album by Sandy Denny and the Strawbs. Recorded in 1967, it contains one of Sandy Denny's best known songs "Who Knows Where the Time Goes".-Side one:#"On My Way" – 3:03...
. The album includes an early solo version of her best-known (and widely recorded) composition, Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Who Knows Where the Time Goes
"Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" is a song written by the English folk-rock singer and songwriter Sandy Denny. Denny originally recorded the song as a demo in 1967, singing and playing guitar on the track...
. A tape of that solo version found its way into the hands of American singer Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, who chose to cover it as the title track of an album of her own
Who Knows Where the Time Goes (Judy Collins album)
Who Knows Where the Time Goes is a 1968 album by Judy Collins. It peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.Produced by David Anderle with numerous well-known musicians including Stephen Stills, the album had a rock-country-arthouse feel, typically eclectic for Collins, and included...
, released in November 1968, thus giving Denny international exposure as a songwriter before she had become widely known as a singer.
Professional career
After making the Saga albums with Alex CampbellAlex Campbell
Alexander Bradshaw Campbell, PC is a former politician of Prince Edward Island, Canada. He is the son of former premier Thane A. Campbell and Cecilia L. Bradshaw. He entered politics by winning a seat in the legislature through a 1965 by-election in 5th Prince...
and Johnny Silvo, Denny looked for a band that would allow her to stretch herself as a vocalist, reach the wide audiences of rock, and have the opportunity to display her songwriting. She said, “I wanted to do something more with my voice”. After hooking up briefly with The Strawbs
The Strawbs
Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964. Although the band started out as a bluegrass group they eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, glam rock and progressive rock...
on All Our Own Work
All Our Own Work
All Our Own Work is a studio album by Sandy Denny and the Strawbs. Recorded in 1967, it contains one of Sandy Denny's best known songs "Who Knows Where the Time Goes".-Side one:#"On My Way" – 3:03...
Denny remained unconvinced that they could provide that opportunity, and so she ended her relationship with the band.
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
conducted auditions in May 1968 for a replacement singer following the departure of Judy Dyble
Judy Dyble
Judith Aileen Dyble, better known as Judy Dyble , is an award winning British singer/songwriter most notable for being one of the vocalists with, and founder members of, Fairport Convention and Trader Horne; in between these she was very briefly with Giles, Giles and Fripp, which evolved into...
after their debut album, and Denny became the obvious choice. Or rather, as group member Simon Nicol
Simon Nicol
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol is a guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founder member of British folk rock, or electric folk group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band...
has often told the story, they auditioned for her, since her strong personality and confident musicianship made her stand out from the other hopefuls "like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes". Beginning with What We Did On Our Holidays
What We Did on Our Holidays
- Personnel :* Sandy Denny - vocals, acoustic & 12-string acoustic guitars, organ, piano, harpsichord* Iain Matthews - vocals, congas* Richard Thompson - electric, acoustic & 12-string acoustic guitars, piano accordion, vocals...
, the three albums she made with the band in the late sixties are the first peaks of her career. Furthermore, her arrival had a decisive effect on the band: Denny is credited with encouraging Fairport Convention to explore the traditional British folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
repertoire, and is thus regarded as a key figure in the development of British folk rock. The Fairport she joined was a promising group playing mostly West Coast covers. The band she left eighteen months later had invented British folk rock. Denny brought with her the traditional repertoire she had honed in the clubs, including the important 'A Sailor's Life' featured on their second album together Unhalfbricking
Unhalfbricking
The band's male vocalist Iain Matthews left during the recordings for Unhalfbricking to make his own album Matthews' Southern Comfort, after recording just one track, "Percy's Song". Sandy Denny sang lead vocals on all the other songs, including her own compositions, "Autopsy", and "Who Knows Where...
. Framing Denny's performance with their own electric improvisations, her bandmates discovered a direction which provided the inspiration for an entire album, the influential Liege & Lief
Liege & Lief
Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the English rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third and final album the group released in the UK in 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist...
(1969), and has continued to underpin Fairport's style ever since. Prior to her arrival, Fairport Convention had never performed a traditional song and Richard Thompson had yet to emerge as a composer. Her arrival with some of her own compositions, an interest in traditional music and a voice that could handle anything had a decisive effect on all concerned.
Denny left Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
in 1969 to develop her own songwriting more fully. To this end, she formed her own band, Fotheringay
Fotheringay
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
, which included her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas
Trevor Lucas
Trevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
formerly of the group Eclection
Eclection
Eclection were a British-based folk rock band, originally formed in 1967 in London by Norwegian-born Georg Kajanus , Canadian Michael Rosen, Australians Trevor Lucas and Kerrilee Male, and Britisher Gerry Conway...
. They created one well regarded self-titled album (a second left unfinished in 1970 was finally released to acclaim in 2008) which included arguably her greatest traditional recording Banks of the Nile, and some of her most beautiful compositions including The Sea and Nothing More, the latter marking her first composition on the piano which was to take over as her primary instrument from now on. The group dissolved when producer Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
left to take up a job at Warner Brothers in California.
Sandy Denny now began the sequence of solo albums that established her among Britain's finest singer-songwriters. Built mostly around her own compositions, they chart the development and diversity of her writing. Throughout the sessions she was supported by distinguished musicians, many of them friends and former colleagues including Richard Thompson, Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick is an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British, and many World folk violin players that have followed him...
, Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.-Biography:Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band...
, Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Sneaky Pete Kleinow
Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow was an American country-rock musician, songwriter, and a motion picture special effects artist...
(of Flying Burrito Brothers fame) Robin and Barry Dransfield
Barry Dransfield
Barry Dransfield is an English folk singer, fiddler, cellist and guitarist. He has appeared as a session musician on numerous albums by other artists, and has released his own albums as well. Lord of All I Behold was voted Melody Maker folk album of the year...
, John (Rabbit) Bundrick
John Bundrick
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick is an American rock keyboardist, pianist and organist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult...
, Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
, Diz Disley
Diz Disley
Diz Disley was an Anglo-Canadian jazz guitarist and graphic designer. He is best known for his jazz guitar playing, strongly influenced by Django Reinhardt, and for his collaborations with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli....
, Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
and Acker Bilk. The first solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
The North Star Grassman and the Ravens
The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies.-Chronology:Denny became a solo artist because...
was released in 1971 and is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies. Highlights included Late November, inspired by a dream and the death of Fairport band member Martin Lamble
Martin Lamble
Martin Francis Lamble was the drummer for British electric folk band, Fairport Convention, from just after their formation in 1967, until his death in the Fairport Convention van crash in 1969...
, and Next Time Around a cryptogram about Jackson C. Frank
Jackson C. Frank
Jackson Carey Frank was an American folk musician.-Early life:When Jackson Frank was 11, a furnace exploded at his school, sending a ball of flames down corridors until it ended up in Frank's music classroom in the Cleveland Hill Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New York...
, one of her many portraits in song.
Sandy
Sandy (Sandy Denny album)
Sandy is the second solo album by Sandy Denny, and is generally considered to be her best. The album was released in 1972 and begun just a fortnight after her UK tour promoting her debut solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens ended in early November 1971.The first song recorded for the...
with a cover photograph by David Bailey followed in 1972 and remains her most cohesive musical statement as a singer and songwriter. Sure-footed and sympathetically produced by Trevor Lucas
Trevor Lucas
Trevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
, its songs range from glorious melody driven invocations to the power of music like Listen, Listen and The Lady to beguiling narrative songs like Bushes and Briars and It Suits Me Well.
The album also marked her last recording of a traditional song, The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood (words by Richard Fariña
Richard Fariña
Richard George Fariña was an American writer and folksinger.-Early years and education:Richard Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Cuban and Irish descent. He grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn Technical High School...
), with Denny's ambitious multi-tracked vocal arrangement inspired by the Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic.
Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
readers twice voted her the "Best British Female Singer" in 1970 and 1971 and together with contemporaries including Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Hutchings
Ashley Stephen Hutchings is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founder member of three of the most noteworthy English folk-rock bands in the history of the genre; Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band...
, she participated in a one-off project called The Bunch to record a collection of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
era standards released under the title of Rock On
Rock On (The Bunch album)
Rock On is a 1972 one-off album of oldies covers by the Bunch, a group of English folk rock singers and musicians. The Bunch got together in late 1971 to record their one and only album, Rock On...
which further demonstrated her versatility as a vocalist. During this period, Denny also appeared in a brief cameo on Lou Reizner
Lou Reizner
Lou Reizner was a record producer, A&R executive and head of Mercury Records European operations. As a producer, he is perhaps best known for Rod Stewart's first two solo albums, for the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tommy, and Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth...
's version of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's rock opera, Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
, and duetted memorably with Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
on The Battle of Evermore
The Battle of Evermore
"The Battle of Evermore" is a folk rock duet sung by Robert Plant and Sandy Denny, by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on their untitled fourth album , released in 1971...
from Led Zeppelin's 1971 album (Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin IV
The fourth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. No title is printed on the album, so it is generally referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, following the naming standard used by the band's first three studio albums...
), becoming the only guest vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin album.
In 1973, she married long term boyfriend and producer Trevor Lucas
Trevor Lucas
Trevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
and recorded a third solo album Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
Like an Old Fashioned Waltz is the third solo album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny, released in June 1974. The album featured a more pop and jazz influenced production style, a marked change from Denny's previous folk rock albums as lead vocalist for Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, The...
a nostalgic panoramic song-cycle detailing many of her personal preoccupations: loss, loneliness, fear of the dark, the passing of time and the changing seasons. The album contained one of her best loved compositions, "Solo", and featured a cover image by Gered Mankowitz
Gered Mankowitz
Gered Mankowitz is a British photographer of the rock music scene over the last 40 years. Some of his portraits of rock musicians, such as The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Slade, are now part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.-Personal life:His father was the late...
.
In 1974, she returned to Fairport Convention (where her husband
Trevor Lucas
Trevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
was now a member) for a world tour (captured on the 1974 album Fairport Live Convention
Fairport Live Convention
Fairport Live Convention is a folk rock album by Fairport Convention originally released in 1974 by Island Records. It was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, the London Rainbow and the Fairfield Halls, Croydon by John Wood and mixed down at Sound Techniques, London...
) and a studio album, Rising for the Moon
Rising for the Moon
Rising for the Moon is a Fairport Convention album. It reached number 52 in the UK albums charts. This was the last Fairport album to feature Sandy Denny....
in 1975. Integrating her back into the band was not without problems as her development as a soloist and songwriter had taken her further away from the folk roots direction the band had pursued since Liege & Lief
Liege & Lief
Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the English rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third and final album the group released in the UK in 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist...
. Nonetheless, seven of the eleven tracks on Rising for the Moon were either written or co-written by her including two of her most admired songs Stranger to Himself and One More Chance. Her charisma and extraordinary alto voice were never in doubt, but the punishing world tour with Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
throughout 1974 and 1975 coupled with Denny's heavy drinking and smoking inevitably took a toll on her voice; some of its bell-like purity had gone, but the control and power remained along with her subtle phrasing and characteristic grace notes.
Denny and Lucas left Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
at the end of 1975 and embarked on what was to become her final album Rendezvous
Rendezvous (Sandy Denny album)
Rendezvous is a 1977 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, and was her last release before her death.Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and Denny embarked on Rendezvous in the spring of 1976. Trevor Lucas produced the album with a...
. The record shows someone continuing to widen and deepen her songwriting craft, and responsive to new influences: Gold Dust with its Caribbean influence, the soulful torch songs Take Me Away and I'm A Dreamer and most ambitious of all, an eight minute orchestral tribute to the English pastoral style of Vaughan Williams called All Our Days. Released in 1977, the album is now generally thought to be overproduced despite containing some of her finest compositions notably the aforementioned I'm A Dreamer and the strange and beautiful One Way Donkey Ride. Having relocated to the village of Byfield
Byfield, Northamptonshire
Byfield is a village and civil parish forming part of the Daventry district in Northamptonshire, England.- History :Byfield, with Westhorp, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has been close to many of the important events in history. During the Wars of the Roses, in 1469 the battle of Edgecote...
in Northamptonshire in the mid-seventies, Denny gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Georgia in July 1977.
A UK tour to promote Rendezvous
Rendezvous (Sandy Denny album)
Rendezvous is a 1977 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, and was her last release before her death.Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and Denny embarked on Rendezvous in the spring of 1976. Trevor Lucas produced the album with a...
in the autumn of 1977 marked her final public appearances. The closing night at the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
in London on 27 November 1977 was recorded for a live album, Gold Dust
Gold Dust (album)
Gold Dust is a live album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny released in 1998. It documents one of Denny's last public performances and was recorded at the Royalty Theatre, Portugal Street, London on 27 November 1977...
, which due to technical problems in the recording of the electric guitar, was belatedly released in 1998 after most of the guitars had been re-recorded by Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.-Biography:Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band...
.
Death
By 1977, Denny's substance abuse issues had worsened. During her pregnancy, she drank and took cocaineCocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(as well as possibly heroin). Linda Thompson
Linda Thompson (singer)
Linda Thompson is a British singer. Born Linda Pettifer in Hackney, Thompson became one of the most recognised names—and voices—in the British folk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s, in collaboration with her former husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard...
told The Guardian that shortly after Georgia's birth, Denny "was crashing the car and leaving the baby in the pub and all sorts of stuff." Thompson also noted that the child was premature
Premature birth
In humans preterm birth refers to the birth of a baby of less than 37 weeks gestational age. The cause for preterm birth is in many situations elusive and unknown; many factors appear to be associated with the development of preterm birth, making the reduction of preterm birth a challenging...
, yet Denny seemed to have little concern for her new baby.
In March 1978, while on holiday with her parents, husband and baby in Cornwall, Denny was injured when she fell down a staircase and hit her head on concrete. Following the incident, Denny suffered from intense headaches; a doctor prescribed her the painkiller Distalgesic, a drug known to have fatal side effects when mixed with alcohol. Denny was able to perform one last concert several days after the fall. Concerned with his wife's erratic behaviour and fearing for his daughter's safety, Denny's husband Trevor Lucas fled the UK back to his native Australia with their child several weeks after the accident.
On 17 April, Denny collapsed and fell into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
while at friend Miranda Ward's home. Four days later, she died at Atkinson Morley Hospital
Atkinson Morley Hospital
Atkinson Morley Hospital was located at Copse Hill, Wimbledon, London , SW20, England from 1869 until 2003. The hospital was noted as one of the most advanced brain surgery centres in the world, and in particular for the first use of computed tomography on a human being in 1972 by Godfrey...
in Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
. Her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain haemorrhage and blunt force trauma to her head. The funeral took place on 27 April 1978 at Putney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in London is surrounded by Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, and is located within forty-seven acres of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938...
. After the vicar had read Denny's favourite psalm - Psalm 23
Psalm 23
In the 23rd Psalm in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the writer describes God as his Shepherd. The text, beloved by Jews and Christians alike, is often alluded to in popular media and has been set to music....
(The Lord is my Shepherd) - a piper played The Flowers of the Forest, a traditional song commemorating the fallen of Flodden Field. The inscription on her headstone reads, "'The Lady'" Alexandra Elene MacLean Lucas (Sandy Denny) 6.1.47 - 21.4.78."
Posthumous releases
Although Denny had a devoted cult following in her lifetime, she did not achieve the mass market success she sought. In the years since her death, her reputation has grown. A four-album box set entitled Who Knows Where the Time Goes? (1985) which was produced by her husband Trevor LucasTrevor Lucas
Trevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
and Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
and included many rare and previously unreleased tracks. This was the first public indication that a large cache of unreleased material existed. In 1991, Joe Boyd issued a new version of Denny's All Our Own Work
All Our Own Work
All Our Own Work is a studio album by Sandy Denny and the Strawbs. Recorded in 1967, it contains one of Sandy Denny's best known songs "Who Knows Where the Time Goes".-Side one:#"On My Way" – 3:03...
album with The Strawbs
The Strawbs
Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964. Although the band started out as a bluegrass group they eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, glam rock and progressive rock...
called Sandy Denny and the Strawbs
Sandy Denny and the Strawbs
Sandy Denny and the Strawbs is a compilation album of songs by Sandy Denny and Strawbs. The album is a reworking of tapes recorded by the band in Copenhagen in the July 1967. Tracks from those recordings were first released on the Pickwick budget label in 1973 under the name All Our Own Work...
on his Hannibal Records
Hannibal Records
Hannibal Records was a record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre.Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention and released recordings by these artists as well as...
label. The album had strings added to some tracks including "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" and further tracks with Denny on lead vocal.
The Australian label Raven Records
Raven Records
Raven Records is an Australian record label that specializes in retrospectives and reissues or recordings by American, British and Australian artists.Raven Records was established in 1979 by Glenn A. Baker, Kevin Mueller and Peter Shillito....
issued a CD in 1995 called Sandy Denny, Trevor Lucas and Friends: The Attic Tracks 1972-1984 that included 12 previously unreleased Denny songs including the original piano version of "No End", demos recorded at home in Byfield, Rendezvous
Rendezvous (Sandy Denny album)
Rendezvous is a 1977 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, and was her last release before her death.Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and Denny embarked on Rendezvous in the spring of 1976. Trevor Lucas produced the album with a...
album session outtakes (including her final studio recording, a cover of Bryn Haworth
Bryn Haworth
Bryn Haworth is a British Christian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pioneer of Jesus music in mainstream rock. Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, UK, he has released some twenty-two albums and several singles since the 1970s as well as guesting as guitarist on many other albums by rock and folk...
's "Moments") and three songs from the final concert at the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
.
A one-disc compilation of Denny's solo BBC recordings was released on Strange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions....
as The BBC Sessions 1971-1973 in 1997 that due to rights issues was withdrawn on the day of release, thereby creating a highly collectible disc (up until the release of the comprehensive Live at the BBC
Live at the BBC (Sandy Denny album)
Live at the BBC is a four disc compilation of British folk singer songwriter Sandy Denny's BBC sessions from 1966 to 1973 and contains almost all her solo work for the corporation. Disc 4 of the set is a DVD of Denny performing three songs on the music programme One in ten in 1971: the only...
box set in 2007). This release was quickly followed in 1998 when Denny's final performance at the Royalty Theatre, entitled Gold Dust
Gold Dust (album)
Gold Dust is a live album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny released in 1998. It documents one of Denny's last public performances and was recorded at the Royalty Theatre, Portugal Street, London on 27 November 1977...
, was issued on CD.
In 2005, remastered versions of all her solo albums came out with bonus tracks. Prior to their release, in 2004 a second comprehensive five-CD box set was released on the Fledg'ling record label called A Boxful of Treasures
A Boxful of Treasures
- Disc two :- Disc three :- Disc four :- Disc five :- References :* *...
that included many unreleased recordings, in particular a whole disc of acoustic demos, many recorded at her home in Byfield
Byfield, Northamptonshire
Byfield is a village and civil parish forming part of the Daventry district in Northamptonshire, England.- History :Byfield, with Westhorp, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has been close to many of the important events in history. During the Wars of the Roses, in 1469 the battle of Edgecote...
that was highly prized amongst fans and critics alike, who had long asserted that her solo performances showed her work in its best light, revealing the true quality of her vocal style and compositions. When the Live at the BBC
Live at the BBC (Sandy Denny album)
Live at the BBC is a four disc compilation of British folk singer songwriter Sandy Denny's BBC sessions from 1966 to 1973 and contains almost all her solo work for the corporation. Disc 4 of the set is a DVD of Denny performing three songs on the music programme One in ten in 1971: the only...
box set came out in September 2007 it was rapturously praised by The Sun newspaper.
In 2008, Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.-Biography:Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band...
completed the unfinished second Fotheringay
Fotheringay
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
album begun in the autumn of 1970. It was released to general acclaim as Fotheringay 2
Fotheringay 2
Fotheringay 2 is the second album by the group formed by Sandy Denny after she left Fairport Convention in 1969, and consists of previously unreleased tracks. The band was short-lived, and this album collects those remaining performances.-Track listing:...
and contained some notable Denny performances, in particular earlier versions of two Denny compositions "Late November" and "John the Gun", and performances of the traditional songs "Gypsy Davey" and "Wild Mountain Thyme
Wild Mountain Thyme
"Wild Mountain Thyme", also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will You Go Lassie, Go", is a folk song, rewritten by Francis McPeake, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland...
".
In 2010, a complete retrospective box set, simply titled Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny (box set)
Sandy Denny is a 2010 compilation box set of recordings by folk singer Sandy Denny and comprises all studio material and recordings made during her time both as a solo artist and as a member of Fotheringay, Fairport Convention, and other groups, together with home demos and live recordings.-Sandy...
, was released by Universal/Island Records in a limited edition of 3000. It contained Denny's entire catalogue of studio recordings, including her work with The Strawbs, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, and as a solo artist. The comprehensive, 19-CD release also included a large number of outtakes, demos, live recordings, radio sessions and interviews.
The box set was released to good reviews, including a 5-star review in Uncut
and a 4-star review in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
amongst others.
Further recordings were released in 2011 including a German recording of Fotheringay
Fotheringay
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
in concert released as Essen 1970 on the Garden of Delights label. The performance was re-mastered by original band member Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.-Biography:Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band...
. This release was followed by 19 Rupert Street, a home recording of a rehearsal featuring Sandy and Alex Campbell recorded at his flat in August 1967. This release is notable for the fact that Sandy performs a number of tracks that are not available in any other versions, including a cover of “Fairytale Lullaby” by John Martyn
John Martyn
John Martyn, OBE , born Iain David McGeachy, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he released twenty studio albums, working with artists such as Eric Clapton and David Gilmour...
. This CD was put out by Sandy’s former Strawbs band-mate Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins has been the leader, singer and most active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.-Career:...
on his Witchwood label.
Estate and family
After relocating to Australia and remarrying, Trevor Lucas died of a heart attack in 1989. Denny's estate is now managed by Lucas' widow, Elizabeth Hurtt-Lucas. Sandy Denny's daughter Georgia Denny has never spoken about her mother in a public forum and in the mid-2000s turned down an invitation to write the liner notes for Sandy Denny Live at the BBC. Georgia gave birth to twin daughters on 29 April 1997, and a tribute album, Georgia On Our Mind, featuring many of Sandy Denny's former band mates and friends, was compiled in the children's honour.Tributes
Since her death, many tributes have been made to Denny, both in music and elsewhere. Dave PeggDave Pegg
Dave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
of Fairport Convention recorded the tribute "Song for Sandy" on his 1983 solo album The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone
The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone
The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone is the first solo album by Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull. It was recorded at his Woodworm Studios in Barford St. Michael during Spring 1983; it was released in 1983 as Woodworm WR003....
. Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins has been the leader, singer and most active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.-Career:...
of Strawbs wrote "Ringing Down the Years
Ringing Down the Years
Ringing Down the Years is a studio album by English band Strawbs. The album was only released initially in Canada. Because of the requirement to have a Canadian song on the album, the track "Might as Well Be on Mars" by the Pukka Orchestra was included...
" in memory of Sandy Denny shortly after her death. Fellow Brit folk pioneers Spriguns changed the title of their 1978 album to Magic Lady after hearing of Denny's death while recording. In 1998, a variety of Daylily
Daylily
Daylily is the general nonscientific name of a species, hybrid or cultivar of the genus Hemerocallis . Daylily cultivar flowers are highly diverse in colour and form, as a result of hybridization efforts of gardening enthusiasts and professional horticulturalists...
was named after her.
Denny's songs have been covered by hundreds of artists in the years since her death. Some of the notable acts to have covered her music include Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
, former Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
frontman Fish
Fish (singer)
Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
, Cat Power, Judy Collins and Nina Simone. Kate Bush
Kate Bush
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
named Denny in the lyric of "Blow Away (For Bill)", a track on her 1980 album Never for Ever
Never for Ever
- Personnel :* Ian Bairnson: Guitar, Bass vocals* Brian Bath: Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Background Vocals* Andrew Bryant: Vocals, Background Vocals* Kevin Burke: Violin...
.
Several radio specials have been produced about Denny's life and music, including BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's The Sandy Denny Story: Who Knows Where the Time Goes. In 2007, Denny also BBC 2's 2007 Folk Award for "Favourite Folk Track of All Time." In 2010, she was recognized by NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
in their 50 Great Voices special series.
In April 2008, a tribute concert was held at The Troubadour in London, to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Denny's death. Those taking part included Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
, Linda Thompson
Linda Thompson (singer)
Linda Thompson is a British singer. Born Linda Pettifer in Hackney, Thompson became one of the most recognised names—and voices—in the British folk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s, in collaboration with her former husband and fellow British folk rock musician, guitarist Richard...
and Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
. A more extensive tribute was given later that year in December at Southbank in the Queen Elizabeth Hall called The Lady: A Tribute to Sandy Denny with a band composed of members of Bellowhead
Bellowhead
Bellowhead are an English contemporary folk band originally brought together by John Spiers and Jon Boden. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences...
, the evening featured a mix of young folk acts like Jim Moray
Jim Moray
Jim Moray is an English folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer.-Recording artist:While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Moray released the home-recorded I Am Jim Moray EP. During 2002 he appeared at the Glastonbury festival and the Cambridge Folk...
and Lisa Knapp alongside those that had known and worked with Sandy such as Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick
Dave Swarbrick is an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. He has been described by Ashley Hutchings as 'the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none' and his style has been copied or developed by almost every British, and many World folk violin players that have followed him...
and Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue
Jerry Donahue is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.-Biography:Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band...
. These acts were joined by performers from outside the world of folk like PP Arnold and Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
. The concert which featured primarily songs written by Sandy, received a four-star review in The Guardian.
Albums
- It's Sandy DennyIt's Sandy DennyIt's Sandy Denny is a collection of songs Sandy Denny recorded for Saga Records in 1967, released in 1970.Sandy Denny contributed to two Saga albums: Alex Campbell and his Friends , that features Alex Campbell with Sandy Denny, Johnny Silvo, Paul McNeill and Cliff Aungier, recorded March 1967 and...
(1967) - The North Star Grassman and the RavensThe North Star Grassman and the RavensThe North Star Grassman and the Ravens is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies.-Chronology:Denny became a solo artist because...
(1971) - SandySandy (Sandy Denny album)Sandy is the second solo album by Sandy Denny, and is generally considered to be her best. The album was released in 1972 and begun just a fortnight after her UK tour promoting her debut solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens ended in early November 1971.The first song recorded for the...
(1972) - Like an Old Fashioned WaltzLike an Old Fashioned WaltzLike an Old Fashioned Waltz is the third solo album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny, released in June 1974. The album featured a more pop and jazz influenced production style, a marked change from Denny's previous folk rock albums as lead vocalist for Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, The...
(1974) - RendezvousRendezvous (Sandy Denny album)Rendezvous is a 1977 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, and was her last release before her death.Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and Denny embarked on Rendezvous in the spring of 1976. Trevor Lucas produced the album with a...
(1977) - Gold DustGold Dust (album)Gold Dust is a live album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny released in 1998. It documents one of Denny's last public performances and was recorded at the Royalty Theatre, Portugal Street, London on 27 November 1977...
(1998) - Live at the BBCLive at the BBC (Sandy Denny album)Live at the BBC is a four disc compilation of British folk singer songwriter Sandy Denny's BBC sessions from 1966 to 1973 and contains almost all her solo work for the corporation. Disc 4 of the set is a DVD of Denny performing three songs on the music programme One in ten in 1971: the only...
(2007) - 19 Rupert Street (With Alex Campbell) (2011)
External links
- Official website
- Official facebook
- Official Sandy Denny MySpace page
- Japanese fan site
- Sandy Denny at Yahoo! GroupsYahoo! GroupsYahoo! Groups is one of the world’s largest collections of online discussion boards. The term Groups refers to Internet communication which is a hybrid between an electronic mailing list and a threaded Internet forum, in other words, Group messages can be read and posted by e-mail or on the Group's...
- Official website of Fairport Conventon