Sandy Denny in the Guardian

Subject: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: Dreadnought
Date: 06 May 05 - 08:01 AM

An interesting piece about Sandy Denny in the Guardian today...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1476963,00.html

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 06 May 05 - 09:21 AM

that reminds me of the old folk song

"There was a maid in her father's Guardian..."

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: MartinRyan
Date: 06 May 05 - 09:24 AM

Probably just an early version of...
"The Times they are a-changing.."

Regards

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: MartinRyan
Date: 06 May 05 - 09:32 AM

An interesting article alright. Many years ago I used to go birdwatching in the middle of Ireland in the middle of the night - bird-listening is a better description since what I was doing was locating corncrakes. Anyway, a tape of Sandy Denny was my staple diet as I drove from site to site. Wonderful voice and some marvellous songs.

Regards

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 06 May 05 - 10:00 AM

thread drift, but I've read that one doesn't hear corncrakes much anymore in Ireland, or cuckoos or any of the many birds that populate the folk songs. True?

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: MartinRyan
Date: 06 May 05 - 10:32 AM

Corncrake is now very scarce. Cuckoo still around - we had a fleadh in his honour just last weekend, here in Kinvara.

Regards

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 May 05 - 05:43 PM

It's not only that the birds are getting scarce, it's that the world is so noisy these days we don't get chance to hear them. How many times have you stopped to listen for something only to have it drowned out by a passing car or plane....

To drag it back to subject matter.. I've got a pair of Sandy Denny's earrings.. she left them in the bathroom of a mutual friend and I acquired them.

LTS

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 07 May 05 - 12:30 AM

Interesting article. I saw Sandy Denny when I was a college student on an exchange program in London. It was a Fairport Convention concert after Rising for the Moon came out in 1975. Liked songs on all her albums, but was not as fond of the string track things as she was. The first two solo albums were my favorites.

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: GUEST
Date: 07 May 05 - 09:18 AM

As I read the article, it made me feel very sad. For Sandy and her loved ones, but also to know the vast majority of girls growing up right now are still stuck in that same self-loathing mindset about themselves.

For all the talk of being in a post-women's lib era, it's stories like Sandy's that remind me that not only have we NOT come far since, but that one gets the distinct feeling when being around young women these days, that we are regressing.

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 07 May 05 - 03:05 PM

I disagree with Linda Thompson's belief that Sandy " couldn't appeal to the masses". Given the correct exposure, she could have become massive. The problem is, every big star - at some point - has had alot of Tv exposure - your average music fan doesn't go looking for musical talents ( or no-talents), they have to be presented with them!

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: Lanfranc
Date: 07 May 05 - 07:29 PM

Way back then I knew both Sandy and Linda - Linda better than Sandy.

Somewhere I have a reel-to-reel tape of Sandy playing at either Clacton or St Osyth's College Folk Club around 1966. In those days she sang a wide variety of songs - her version of "Coal Tattoo" sticks in my memory. I have also the original demo LP of her recording with the Strawbs (which didn't get a mention in the article), which was my first exposure to "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" and I have sung it ever since. Having that song on the B-side of Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now" must have made her a few bob, as must it's use as the title of one of Judy's albums.

I was sad, but not surprised when she died. She was a good, powerful (but not, IMHO, technically brilliant and sometimes not particularly tonally accurate) singer and a better than competent guitarist, but she lived hard, as the article pointed out. One of her many lovers once made the point that she had an almost male attitude to sex, drugs and booze. Perhaps she was just over-compensating for the "chubby" jibes, although I don't think that many realised this at the time.

Of the two, I always preferred Linda, who has had her problems in the past but is still with us and producing great recordings. It's a shame we lost Sandy (or did she lose us?)

Alan

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: chris nightbird childs
Date: 07 May 05 - 10:59 PM

Amazing story... amazing voice... amazing woman...
enough said.

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 08 May 05 - 07:07 AM

According to the biog "No More Sad Refrains" (well worth a read) the syrupy string-overdubs were Trevor Lucas' idea, not hers. He did a lot of the production work on her tracks and I get the impression that when Sandy described the strings as her "fur coat" she was being ironic. I seem to remember from the book that she was against having them but Trevor insisted. Pity, because the songs are way better without. I also think her original demo version of the song Rising For The Moon is far superior to the one that eventually appeared on the album. It's just Sandy singing and playing piano, and it has a different rhythmic drive to it, a sort of understated intensity which is lacking in the commercial track. You can hear it on The Attic Tapes, which no Sandy fan should be without.

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: chris nightbird childs
Date: 09 May 05 - 01:16 PM

As far as I'm concerned, any of the demos I've heard next to the "official" versions have been better. I never liked too much syrup...

Subject: RE: Sandy Denny in the Guardian
From: GUEST,Allen
Date: 09 May 05 - 01:23 PM

Yeah, with a voice like hers, she didn't need to add strings.