With a
powerful, breathtakingly adorned
voice that bore considerable influence on contemporary vocal icons such as
Liz Fraser,
Jeff Buckley, and
Antony Hegarty, the late
Sandy Denny packed a considerable body of work (and a seemingly equal number of
untoward stories) into a decade-long career before her
death at age 31 in 1978.
Perhaps best known for penning the folk staple
"Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" (if not her cameo with
Led Zeppelin), Denny rose to prominence during her brief but brilliant tenure with
Fairport Convention, with whom she recorded what many still consider the quintessential English folk-rock album,
Liege and Lief. Denny left Fairport Convention shortly thereafter to pursue her own writing, at first with the short-lived
Fotheringay and then solo (although she rejoined Fairport for 1975's
Rising for the Moon). Her somewhat over-produced 1970s solo records tend to undermine the sterling quality of her songwriting, which is best heard through her stripped-down, piano-and-guitar
demos and alternate takes. An embarrassment of
reissues continues to keep Denny's reputation alive; indeed, the media seems to "
rediscover" her
anew every few years through such efforts.
Nonetheless, after a decade of
legal wrangling, Denny has resurfaced once again with the fresh release of a comprehensive collection of her
BBC sessions, affording yet another opportunity to celebrate her
singular, gorgeous, and melancholic canon.
Subscribe
posted by pyramid termite at 8:25 PM on September 29, 2007 [1 favorite]