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21 May 12 - 09:51 AM (#3353767) Subject: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Looking forward to this, apparently Maddy Prior does a thundering version of John The Gun!! |
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21 May 12 - 10:19 AM (#3353783) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Peter K (Fionn) Looking forward to what, exactly? |
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21 May 12 - 10:23 AM (#3353787) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: MartinRyan THIS , I imagine. Regards |
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21 May 12 - 11:52 AM (#3353831) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Ah yes thanks, I was posting from my Blackberry which is a pain in the neck. |
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21 May 12 - 03:36 PM (#3353930) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: BobKnight A UK tour it says - hardly - no dates in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. |
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22 May 12 - 02:45 AM (#3354144) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Hopefully the BBC will record it. |
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22 May 12 - 03:50 AM (#3354154) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) Saw this. Think I'll give it a miss. Maddy Prior apart, none of the singers in the line-up are contemporaries of Sandy's so what we're looking at, basically, is a folk karaoke show. Did anyone ask Linda Thompson? I can think of two or three female singers based in Liverpool who could sing Sandy Denny's songs better, and with more genuine feeling and emotion, than almost anyone in this line-up. Looks like another evening of Radio 2 middle-of-the-road folk at the Phil. |
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22 May 12 - 02:57 PM (#3354420) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Glass Half Full Chris B: This Scouser said it was a damn good show. Linda Thompson doesn't sing live these days. Bonzo3legs: The Barbican show is being filmed by the BBC for future broadcast, according to Facebook. |
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23 May 12 - 07:10 AM (#3354678) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: cooperman Saw the show in Nottingham and enjoyed it. I did feel it lost focus on Sandy Denny though and was more of a showcase of the talents of the performers (which were considerable!) |
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24 May 12 - 04:37 AM (#3355017) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) Thought that might happen. |
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24 May 12 - 04:42 AM (#3355019) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Yes, the BBC cameras were filming just 25 yards from where I was sitting at the Barbican. It was a truly amazing show, and look forward to watching the BBC4 adaptation - the show ran for something like 70 minutes each half (inclusing false starts from Maddy Prior and PP Arnold) so I'm sure it will be just a selection - on UK TV at least. Highlights for me were the Sailors Life and Late November at the beginning, Thea Gilmore who is just wonderful and Blair Dunlop. Credit must also go to the excellent band with Jerry Donahue on guitar and occasional appearances by Dave Swarbrick. Ever tried to get a cab outside the Barbican - absolute shambles, luckily a bus to London Bridge came along after 10 minutes or so, and then a crush in a 4 carriage Thameslink train! |
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24 May 12 - 02:12 PM (#3355174) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs This is a review from a total arsehole in the Telegraph: "Tribute shows are a perilous business. Even well-meaning homages can descend into glorified karaoke, and there's always the lurking suspicion about motive and the question of whether the event is a genuine attempt to widen awareness of the artist concerned, a marketing ploy to accelerate cult hero status or a profile-raising vanity for the participating performers. None of which became any clearer during The Lady: A Homage To Sandy Denny, as a somewhat random succession of artists quietly trooped on and off to perform the most celebrated work of Sandy Denny, a deeply emotional singer and exceptional songwriter – and lead singer of celebrated English folk rockers Fairport Convention – who died in 1978 at the age of 31 following a fall. In recent years, she has become the subject of a determined re-discovery campaign, yet anyone wandering into the Barbican without prior knowledge of her wouldn't have been remotely wiser at the end, as there was no narrative, sense of context or attempt to explain her complicated, often troubled character and the haunting melancholia at the heart of her work. Of the 16 singers and musicians on stage, only two of them – fiddle player Dave Swarbrick and guitarist Jerry Donahue – ever worked in a meaningful way with Sandy (in the bands Fairport Convention and Fotheringay). Sometimes considered Sandy's rival back in the day, Maddy Prior probably came closest to evoking her spirit, using vast experience, stage craft and a still potent voice to breathe vitality into one of Sandy's best songs, Solo, even if she needed two attempts to nail it. That was one fewer than P P Arnold, who looked suitably bemused to be there at all and struggled to get through one of Sandy's big numbers, I'm A Dreamer. Matty Groves, the epic traditional ballad Denny performed so passionately with Fairport, was murdered by Ben Nicholls; Green Gartside and Blair Dunlop drifted into the ether; and even a house band that included three members of Bellowhead sounded leaden and rudimentary. A rare moment of levity was provided by a jaunty Dave Swarbrick/Sam Carter duet on It Suits Me Well, and Swarb's solo at the end of Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood was another highlight, although the most purposeful performances came from Thea Gilmore. There was a powerful solo performance of No More Sad Refrains from Joan Wasser before the night ended – inevitably – with the whole ensemble on stage powering out Sandy's first and still most iconic song, Who Knows Where The Time Goes, but its mood of quiet contemplation scarcely fits the clothing of an anthem and the point was missed. Not for the only time during the evening." Sorry but he just didn't get it did he?? |
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24 May 12 - 02:17 PM (#3355177) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Ah - Colin Irwin, nothing surprises me there then!! |
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25 May 12 - 04:36 AM (#3355380) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) I didn't see the show so I can't say how accurate the review is, but that's the case with any review - unless you're only going to read reviews of shows you've already seen. Surely any reviewer's job is to offer their judgement rather than just to write out a list of who did what. I say this as someone who's been on the receiving end of both good and bad reviews (as well as a few indifferent ones). Colin Irwin has been writing about folk music for over 40 years and I've usually found his judgement sound and his opinions worth consideration, at least. And unlike several of the performers at the show he would at least have had first-hand memories of Sandy Denny and her music. I do think there is a tendency among modern 'roots' performers to attach themselves to the reputations of deceased artists in the hope that some of those artists' credibility will rub off on them. I'm sure that some of them sincerely want to pay tribute to the artist who is gone but I think there's sometimes a temptation to jump on a bandwagon. There was a Nick Drake tribute show in Liverpool a while ago and I didn't go to that either for the same reason. My loss, perhaps. However, I remember being put off by the blurb saying it was going to be 'curated' by Joe Boyd. Not 'presented' or 'introduced', mind, but 'curated'. Mind you, I remember the days when Bruce Forsyth 'curated' 'The Generation Game'. I saw some clips from Cropredy a couple of years ago when Chris While stood in for Sandy Denny. She was great, but she just didn't have that wildness, volatility and vulnerability that Sandy had in her voice or her demeanour. Same with Cathy Le Surf when I saw her there in 1983. Great singers, both of them, and there was nothing wrong with either of those performances but, inevitably, if you put a woman singer in front of Fairport you will never escape comparisons. Sandy Denny was a young, gifted, troubled, often unpredictable woman whose greatest performances were often her most spontaneous ones. 'A Sailor's Life' and 'Banks Of The Nile' spring to mind. A rehearsed, scripted, revue-style presentation is inevitably going to miss the point. I do know of at least one woman singer in Liverpool whose voice provokes the same emotional response in me that Sandy's used to (and still does) but she's (currently) realtively unknown and certainly not part of the Radio 2-Folk Roots world from whom they seem to have recruited the performers in this show. So, inevitably, she wasn't used. One day, perhaps. |
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25 May 12 - 06:51 AM (#3355426) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs The fact is that it was 2 hours and 28 minutes of excellent entertainment, and that is all that probably matters to 99% of the audience. |
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25 May 12 - 07:13 AM (#3355430) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) 2 hours 28 minutes, eh? Now I am impressed. |
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25 May 12 - 07:14 AM (#3355431) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) Did that include the interval? |
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25 May 12 - 08:09 AM (#3355445) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs No! |
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25 May 12 - 08:46 AM (#3355458) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs I can imagine that a lot of work was put in to get this show on the road. |
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25 May 12 - 09:59 AM (#3355482) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) I don't doubt it. |
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25 May 12 - 11:00 AM (#3355508) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Glass Half Full "I do know of at least one woman singer in Liverpool whose voice provokes the same emotional response in me that Sandy's used to (and still does) but she's (currently) realtively unknown and certainly not part of the Radio 2-Folk Roots world from whom they seem to have recruited the performers in this show. So, inevitably, she wasn't used. One day, perhaps." Chris, are you going to name this singer? Clearly we should be looking out for her if she's that good. I would hardly describe PP Arnold or Joan Wasser as belonging to the "Radio 2-Folk Roots world". One of the strengths of this show was the eclecticism of the cast list. It wasn't about "Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be Sandy Denny"; it was about celebrating Sandy's legacy as a songwriter. |
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26 May 12 - 07:01 AM (#3355823) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Homage to Sandy Denny This seems to be a more accurate review. "It wasn't about "Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be Sandy Denny"; it was about celebrating Sandy's legacy as a songwriter." Absolutely, sums it up nicely. Presumably Irwin's glass is half empty! |
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26 May 12 - 07:40 AM (#3355830) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,henryp David Honigman enjoyed the Barbican concert. See http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/08a1bee8-a413-11e1-84b1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1vyVJVrZ9 |
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26 May 12 - 08:32 AM (#3355837) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Thanks very much for that link. |
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26 May 12 - 02:07 PM (#3355930) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Irene M I was at the Nottingham gig. Think the sound man must be deaf. |
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26 May 12 - 05:33 PM (#3355991) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) I would if I thought I could do it without embarrassing her. Have patience. |
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27 May 12 - 02:22 PM (#3356210) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs The Barbican wasn't unduly loud. I am reminded that Andy Mellon's trumpet was far too high in the mix during It'll take a long time - was the sound man asleep? |
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28 May 12 - 10:58 AM (#3356377) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: cooperman Main sound desk in Nottingham was centre of(stalls)audience but there was also a desk in the wings at side of stage (is that for the stage monitors?). The guy on this desk was definitly asleep or on something!He seemed to be not noticing waved signals from the players. I found sound good overall but I was sitting near to the main desk. |
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28 May 12 - 12:14 PM (#3356414) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Well, I'm currently downloading the Basingstoke concert which is taking forever because it's in 24bit (don't ask), I'll see what the sound was like there! |
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29 May 12 - 11:17 AM (#3356820) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST I thought Colin's review was on target. Fairly random assemblage of performers who really didn't have much of a connection to Sandy, many of whom didn't seem to know her or her music before being picked to do this tour. Too much tromping on and off stage. Too little Swarb. Would have been nice for Jerry D. to actually get miked and say a word or two about performing with Sandy. |
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29 May 12 - 11:34 AM (#3356827) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs You must be the only one who thought his review was on target!! |
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29 May 12 - 11:35 AM (#3356828) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) I think the problem with 'Tribute' shows generally is that you're dealing, ultimately, with people's memories. Sandy Denny's music for me is still as fresh and powerful as it always was. In fact, I probably listen to her more now than I did twenty or thirty years ago. But I can't listen to her without the process bringing back very powerful and personal memories of a time in my life that is past and can't be recaptured - so it's always a slightly bittersweet experience. Maybe that's why I didn't go - I just didn't want to share the memories of the Sandy whose music I knew with a roomful of strangers. I'm happy if people went and enjoyed it. I just know I wouldn't have. |
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29 May 12 - 04:37 PM (#3356968) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs I just listened to Sandy singing I'm a Dreamer at the Fairfield Hall Croydon on 11 November 1978, it's interesting how similar PP Arnold's version is to that performance by Sandy at that time - which had Dave Mattacks' thunder behind her as well as pedal steel guitar!! |
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29 May 12 - 06:06 PM (#3356992) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Eric the Viking I always thought Vicki Clayton did Sandy justice.. where is Vicki now? |
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30 May 12 - 02:48 AM (#3357122) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs I think she lives in New Zealand. |
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30 May 12 - 06:44 AM (#3357170) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: matt milton The title of this thread made me wonder for a second if Rachel Johnson's magazine for hoity-toity ladies-who-lunch The Lady was doing a special issue on Sandy Denny. Now that would be something... |
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31 May 12 - 02:42 PM (#3357733) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Phil ( a Fairport disciple from way back) Felt a bit uncomfortable at the gig( the last) in Manchester... but Her music shone through; mixture of artists who, as someone has said, did not really fully understand Sandy's personal demons which DID come out in her music - especially her later, rougher, almost 'pop'y stuff. Maddie actually said she was not conversant with Her songs... Thought Bellowhead boys really professional and Thea grasped Sandy's vulnability beautifully. Joan and PP - unsure about their contributions. And 'Matty Groves'! lost all the power and uniqueness of the original. Enjoyed the evening on the whole - just didn't appreciate £9.50 car parking! Thanks, N.(rip-off)C.P. |
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31 May 12 - 04:13 PM (#3357773) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Only £9.50, it's £12 in Croydon near the station over 4 hours! |
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01 Jun 12 - 03:39 PM (#3358116) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,henryp Though she is too young to remember Sandy Denny, Lavinia Blackwall's performance in Manchester impressed me. Graham Robson, in Brighton, was impressed too; At the other end of the spectrum, tambourine-wielding Lavinia Blackwall was the most 'Sandy Denny' with purity of tone and clarity of interpretation defying her youth. She shimmered her way though A Sailor's Life, which cascaded slowly into an epic pool of abandon. http://www.gscene.com/theatre/Review_The_Lady_A_Homage_to_Sandy_Denny.shtml |
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01 Jun 12 - 04:52 PM (#3358144) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs The Anvil Basingstoke concert No 42 at the moment. |
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02 Jun 12 - 04:45 PM (#3358491) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Pink Moon - ukulele tribute "Tribute shows are a perilous business. Even well-meaning homages can descend into glorified karaoke, and there's always the lurking suspicion about motive and the question of whether the event is a genuine attempt to widen awareness of the artist concerned, a marketing ploy to accelerate cult hero status or a profile-raising vanity for the participating performers." Irwin is spot-on here, esp the last part; see Nick Drake 'tribute' shows. Watched part of one on YT with a cringingly self-possessed and smiley-smug reading of 'At the Chimes of a City Clock' by some female indie singer. |
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02 Jun 12 - 04:58 PM (#3358493) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Who cares what the glass half empty brigade whinge about - it was a bloody good 2 1/2 hours entertainment, which is all that matters. |
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02 Jun 12 - 10:18 PM (#3358617) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Effsee A friend of mine, who is a professional singer of 40 yrs standing, and a great SD fan, described the Newcastle gig as "Magnificent". |
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09 Nov 12 - 03:28 PM (#3433801) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Rain Dog BBC4 22.05 Friday 9th November Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes Filmed at the Barbican in London, this tribute concert to the singer-songwriter Sandy Denny spans her career with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and as a solo artist. Her most famous song, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, has been covered by everyone from Judy Collins to Nina Simone, but when she died in 1978 aged 31, Sandy left behind a rich songbook and here an eclectic cast from the folk world and beyond set out to explore and reinterpret it. Click on the link for more details Songs of Sandy Denny at the Barbican |
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09 Nov 12 - 04:10 PM (#3433822) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs It promises to be a wonderful programme, apart from that hideously loud and out of tune trumpet in It'll Take a Long Time. |
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09 Nov 12 - 04:43 PM (#3433831) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Peterr Can anyone confirm that Sandy's parents had a house in Mullion, Cornwall, and sold it after her sad death? Locals here on the Lizard are sure of it, others have said, rubbish. |
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10 Nov 12 - 05:41 AM (#3434040) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: greg stephens Well, I sat through the TV show but it was hard going. Joan Wasser very powerful performer, other than that...forgotten it already. But I never did get folk rock. |
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10 Nov 12 - 06:05 AM (#3434049) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: theleveller It was good in parts. Swarb and Blair Dunlop were excellent and I really liked Green Gartside's version of The North Star Grassman but Maddy Prior extracted all the wonderful bathos out of John the Gun and Fotheringay with her silly jiggy-jiggy all-around-my-hat style of delivery, that awful grimacing American woman murdered The Lady, and WTF was PP Arnold doing there? One thing that came through was that the songs themselves are works of pure genius. |
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10 Nov 12 - 07:16 AM (#3434076) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST Nicely done, but it's time to lay it to rest now, or find another way of doing it which doesn't sound so dated. This style of playing was good of its time, but those old folk rock rhythm section cliches and ponderous strumming/ piano really don't sound too good in the 21st century. I completely understand that it was a tribute, a homage, so their brief wasn't to stray too far from the old plot, but they could have done more for Denny's legacy by giving a chance for her songs to be tried in different, less reverential settings. I'd begun to nod off by half way through, and thought that tightening it up for TV by dropping repeats of certain artists would have improved it. Only things I can really remember today were Thea Gilmore's rousing first one, The Quiet Joys trio with Swarb, Sam Carter with Swarb, Maddy's awful dancing and Joan As Policewoman's green frock. PP Arnold & Blair Dunlop seemed to be struggling, and the massed Who Knows Where The Time Goes was turgid. An hour would have been enough. Strangely, the early Fairport with Judy Dyble in the documentary which followed actually sounded less dated to my ears. |
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10 Nov 12 - 12:07 PM (#3434222) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Edthefolkie Just shows how varied opinions can be. I wasn't at the concert, but I imagine the biggest problem was the artists' nerves. I thought Pat Arnold was one of the highlights. What's a couple of false starts? - Sandy was the cockup queen! "Take Me Away" was a revelation. I also thought that the backing band, mostly consisting as it did of Bellowhead and Seth Lakeman cohorts, wasn't in the least dated or cliched. Their brief wasn't at all to stay with the old plot (whatever that is). As Jerry D said, Sandy wasn't there, so it would have been silly to do this. Open minds by performers and audience were indicated, and I think it worked pretty well. Swarb stole the show IMHO, not for the first time (or the last I hope). Sam Carter and Swarbie's "It Suits me well" was excellent. On balance, lots of good things, and not many clunkers. And now I must go downstairs and delve into the 19 CD set! |
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10 Nov 12 - 12:42 PM (#3434239) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Folknacious There were Bellowheads in there, but I was disappointed that Pete Flood hardly broke out of rigid folk rock drumming and Benji Kirkpatrick didn't seem to do much more than crisply strum 70s style. Jerry Donahue played well, but just like he did back then - he said something about having had to relearn it. I agree entirely about the Carter/Swarbrick duet, one of the highlights. On the other hand I really could have lived without so much of Lavinia Blackwell's soul-less warbling. I was struck with the thought today, having recently read about Shelagh McDonald's comeback, how ideal she'd have been in this concert, both as a lovely singer (assuming she can still do it) and an old friend of Sandys. Or Linda Thompson, of course - ditto. |
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10 Nov 12 - 12:53 PM (#3434250) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST PS: Just read Colin Irwin's review quoted way up this thread. On the strength of the TV - which presumably edited out the trooping on and off and false starts he referred to - I'd say he got it pretty well spot on. |
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10 Nov 12 - 01:14 PM (#3434260) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs "Nicely done, but it's time to lay it to rest now, or find another way of doing it which doesn't sound so dated. This style of playing was good of its time, but those old folk rock rhythm section cliches and ponderous strumming/ piano really don't sound too good in the 21st century." Wrong, thank Hutchings that we still have folks playing in this style. So much of 21st playing is just awful. |
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10 Nov 12 - 03:23 PM (#3434341) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST He certainly deserves a lot of the blame. |
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11 Nov 12 - 07:50 AM (#3434669) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: Bonzo3legs Guest, any more rubbish to add? |
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04 Dec 12 - 03:03 PM (#3446994) Subject: RE: The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny From: GUEST,Glass Half Full @Peterr. Re your reply of 9 Nov: yes, Sandy's parents had a holiday cottage in Mullion, Cornwall. It's mentioned in at least one of the biographies. Her mother died not long after her, her father somewhat later. The cottage was presumably sold. |
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13 Sep 20 - 12:20 PM (#4071736) Subject: Did Sandys' parents have a house in Mullion From: GUEST According to Mick Houghton - I've always kept a unicorn, they did. I am planning a visit as I live in Cornwall (Tintagel) myself... |