Mockney (a portmanteau of "mock" and "Cockney") is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of Cockney or working class London speech, or a person with such an accent. A stereotypical Mockney comes from an upper-middle class background.^[1]

Mockney is distinct from Estuary English by being the deliberate affectation of the working-class London (Cockney) accent.

A person speaking with a Mockney accent might adopt Cockney pronunciation but retain standard grammatical forms where the Cockney would use non-standard forms (e.g. negative concord).

Details[link]

The first published use of the word according to the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1989.^[2]

It is an affectation sometimes adopted for aesthetic or theatric purposes, other times just to sound “cool”, generate street credibility or give the false impression that the speaker rose from humble beginnings and became prominent through some innate talent rather than the education, contacts and other advantages a privileged background tends to bring. Britpop band Blur was said to have “Blur's mockney, down-the-dogs blokey charm”.^[3] Mick Jagger is often accused of having been the first celebrity in modern times to overplay his regional accent in order to boost his street credibility.^[4]

One explanation of dialect adoption given in social linguistics is prestige. A person is likely to adopt speech patterns (including accent, vocabulary, dialect or even language) which they perceive as 'prestigious'.

The concept of communication accommodation, either upwards or downwards in idiolect, can be seen in many social interactions. One can put someone at ease by speaking in a familiar tone or intonation, or one can intimidate or alienate someone by speaking more formally. For example, in a courtroom, a more formal register with technical legal jargon can be used to intimidate a defendant. In contrast, Mockney seeks to lower the perceived socio-economic class of the speaker.

Notable persons described as Mockney include:

• Danny Dyer^[5]
• Damon Albarn^[6]
• Tim Lovejoy^[7]
• Lily Allen^[8]
• Nigel Kennedy^[9][10]
• Kate Nash^[11]
• Guy Ritchie^[12]
• Mike Skinner^[13]
• Jamie Oliver ^[14]
• Frank Lampard ^[15]
• George Lamb ^[16]

See also[link]

• Received Pronunciation
• Sociolinguistics
• Mummerset
• Class tourism
• Register (sociolinguistics)
• Prestige dialect

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mockney's glottal-stopping strains, from The Daily Telegraph
• Mockney at wn.com

Sources[link]

• Wot’s He Sayin’? British pop reclaims its accent.

Jamie Oliver
MBE

Oliver in Union Square in New York City, 2008
Born	James Trevor Oliver (1975-05-27) 27 May 1975 (age 37) Clavering, Essex, England
Cooking style	Fresh and Organic, Italian cuisine, British cuisine
Education	Westminster Kingsway College
Spouse	Juliette Norton (m. 2000) «start: (2000-06-24)»"Marriage: Juliette Norton to Jamie Oliver" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Jamie_Oliver)
Current restaurant(s) Fifteen Jamie's Italian
Television show(s) Oliver's Twist Jamie's School Dinners Jamie's Great Italian Escape Naked Chef Jamie's Kitchen Jamie's Chef Jamie at Home Jamie's Fowl Dinners Jamie's Ministry of Food Jamie's American Road Trip Jamie's Family Christmas Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Jamie's Dream School Jamie Does 30 Minute Meals
Official website
jamieoliver.com

James Trevor "Jamie" Oliver, MBE (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools. He strives to improve unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Jamie Oliver's speciality is Italian cuisine, although he has a broad international repertoire.

Life and career[link]

Jamie Oliver was brought up in Clavering, Essex, England. His parents ran a pub, "The Cricketers", where he used to practise in the kitchen.^[1] He was educated at Newport Free Grammar School. He left school at age sixteen without qualifications and went on to attend Westminster Kingsway College, formerly Westminster College.^[1][2] He then earned a City & Guilds NVQ in home economics.

His first job was as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio's Neal's Yard restaurant, where he first gained experience with preparing Italian cuisine, and developed a relationship with his 'mentor' Gennaro Contaldo.^[2] Oliver then moved to The River Café, Fulham, as a sous chef.

It was there where he was noticed by the BBC in 1997 after making an unscripted appearance in a documentary about the restaurant, "Christmas at the River Cafe".^[3] That year, his show The Naked Chef debuted and his cookbook became a number one best-seller in the UK.^[4] That same year, Oliver was invited to prepare lunch for then Prime Minister Tony Blair at No. 10 Downing Street.^[4]

Personal life[link]

In July 2000, Oliver married former model Juliette Norton.^[5] The couple met in 1993 and have four children: Poppy Honey Rosie Oliver (born 18 March 2002), Daisy Boo Pamela Oliver (born on 10 April 2003), Petal Blossom Rainbow Oliver (born on 3 April 2009)^[6] and Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver (born on 15 September 2010).^[7] Oliver announced the births of the two youngest children on Twitter.^[8][9] The family lives in Clavering, Essex.^[10]

Ancestry[link]

In 2009 Oliver claimed to be of partial Sudanese ancestry via his great-great grandfather John, whom he described as “a bit swarthy with curly hair”.^[11] However, research for the Sunday Express established that John's father James was a hatter from Penzance, and that James' father Richard was also Cornish, leaving little or no possibility of a Sudanese connection. The family legend of Sudanese ancestry may have originated in the 19th century when John Oliver returned from sea, possibly with a tanned complexion after visiting Africa.^[12]

Notable career milestones[link]

In 2000, Oliver became the face of the UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's through an endorsement deal worth $2 million a year.^[4] After 11 years the partnership between Oliver & Sainsbury's ended. The final television advertisement was for Christmas 2011.^[13]

Oliver created Fifteen in 2002. Each year, fifteen young adults who have a disadvantaged background, criminal record or history of drug abuse, are trained in the restaurant business.^[14]

In 2003, he was awarded an MBE.^[15]

In 2005, he initiated a campaign called "Feed Me Better" in order to move British schoolchildren towards eating healthy foods and cutting out junk food. As a result, the British government also pledged to address the issue. Delving into politics to push for changes in nutrition resulted in people voting him as the "Most Inspiring Political Figure of 2005," according to a Channel 4 News annual viewer poll.^[4]

His emphasis on cooking healthily continued as he created Jamie's Ministry of Food, a television series where Oliver travelled to inspire everyday people in Rotherham, Yorkshire, to cook healthy meals. Another television series is Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (2010–2011), where he travelled first to Huntington, West Virginia and then to Los Angeles to change the way Americans eat, and address their dependence on fast food.^[4]

Oliver's holding company, Sweet As Candy, has made enough profit for Oliver to have been listed on The Sunday Times list of richest Britons under 30.^[16][17]

In June 2008 he launched Jamie's Italian, his very first high-street business venture^{[clarification needed]} in Oxford, England.^[18]

It was reported in October 2009 that Oliver is in the process of raising US$22 million to help fund 30 of his Italian restaurants in Asia.^[19]

In December 2009, Oliver received the 2010 TED Prize.^[20]

Charity and campaigning[link]

Oliver conceived and established the Fifteen charity restaurant where he trained fifteen disadvantaged young people to work in the hospitality industry. Following the success of the original restaurant in London, more Fifteens have opened around the globe: Fifteen Amsterdam opened in December 2004, Fifteen Cornwall in Newquay opened in May 2006 and Fifteen Melbourne opened in September 2006 with Australian friend and fellow chef Tobie Puttock.^[21]

Oliver then began a formal campaign to ban unhealthy food in British schools and to get children eating nutritious food instead. Oliver's efforts to bring radical change to the school meals system, chronicled in the series Jamie's School Dinners, challenged the junk-food culture by showing schools they could serve healthy, cost-efficient meals that kids enjoyed eating.^[22] Jamie's efforts brought the subject of school dinners to the political forefront and changed the types of food served in schools.^[23]

In June 2003, Oliver was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He has also written columns for The Times. A great proponent of fresh organic foods, Oliver was named the most influential person in the UK hospitality industry when he topped the inaugural Caterersearch.com 100 in May 2005.^[24] The list placed Oliver higher than Sir Francis Mackay, the then-chairman of the contract catering giant Compass Group, which Oliver had soundly criticised in Jamie's School Dinners. In 2006, Oliver dropped to second on the list behind fellow celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.^[25] In July 2010, Jamie regained the top spot and has been named as the most powerful and influential person in the UK hospitality industry once again.^[26]

In December 2009, Oliver was awarded the 2010 TED Prize for his campaigns to "create change on both the individual and governmental levels" in order to "bring attention to the changes Englanders and now Americans need to make in their lifestyles and diet."^[20]

In 2010, Oliver joined several other celebrity chefs on the series The Big Fish Fight.^[27] In the series, Oliver, along with fellow chef Gordon Ramsay, spent time on a trawler boat to raise awareness about the discarding of hundreds of thousands of saltwater fish because the fisherman are prohibited from keeping any fish other than the stated target of the trawl.^{[citation needed]}

Oliver is a patron of environmental charity Trees for Cities.^[28]

Advertising[link]

From 1998, Oliver was the public face of the Sainsbury's supermarket chain in the UK, appearing on television and radio advertisements and in-store promotional material. The deal earned him an estimated £1.2 million every year.^[29] By 2004, the company had made 65 advertisements with Oliver, but this arrangement has not been without controversy. Oliver was reported to have admitted that he does not use supermarkets, saying “For any chef, supermarkets are like a factory. I buy from specialist growers, organic suppliers and farmers".^[30] He was also said to have been criticised by Sainsbury's CEO Justin King when he slammed the "junk" sold by supermarkets that ends up in the lunchboxes of millions of children. King reportedly hit back, saying: "Dictating to people – or unleashing an expletive-filled tirade – is not the way to get engagement."^[31]

Oliver has also a line of non-stick pans and cookware for Tefal and has appeared in Australian television commercials for Yalumba wines, using Del Boy's catchphrase of "Lovely Jubbly".^{[citation needed]}

Television shows[link]

Oliver's programmes are shown in over 40 countries, including the USA's Food Network. Oliver's Twist and Pukka Tukka picked up where The Naked Chef left off. More recently, Oliver has appeared in campaigning programmes to improve food in schools and the cooking skills of the average person.^{[citation needed]}

The Naked Chef (1998–1999) was Oliver's first series. The title was a reference to the simplicity of Oliver's recipes and has nothing to do with nudity. Oliver has frequently admitted that he was not entirely happy with the title, which was devised by producer Patricia Llewellyn. (In the UK edit of the show, the opening titles include a clip of him telling an unseen questioner, "No way! It's not me, it's the food!") The success of the programme led to the books Return of the Naked Chef and Happy Days with the Naked Chef.

Series guide:

• Series 1 (6 editions): 14 April 1999 to 16 June 1999
• Series 2 (8 editions): 12 April 2000 to 31 May 2000
• Series 3 (8 editions): 16 October 2001 to 4 December 2001
• Special "Christmas comes early": 21 December 1999
• Special "Christmas in New York": 20 December 2000 - Jamie undertakes a stage in New York
• Special "Christmas Party": 19 December 2001

Pukka Tukka was launched in 2000 on Channel 4.^{[citation needed]}

Oliver's Twist was launched in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Jamie's Kitchen was a five-part 2002 documentary series. It followed Oliver as he attempted to train a group of disadvantaged youths, who would, if they completed the course, be offered jobs at Oliver's new restaurant "Fifteen". This was followed by Return to Jamie's Kitchen in 2003.

Jamie's Kitchen Australia was a ten-part 2006 television series, similar to Jamie's Kitchen, that was based in and aired in Australia.

Jamie's School Dinners (2005) was a four-part documentary series. Oliver took responsibility for running the kitchen meals in Kidbrooke School, Greenwich, for a year. Disgusted by the unhealthy food being served to schoolchildren and the lack of healthy alternatives on offer, Oliver began a campaign to improve the standard of Britain’s school meals. Public awareness was raised and subsequently the British Government pledged to spend £280m on school dinners (spread over three years). Tony Blair acknowledged that this was a result of Oliver's campaign. Following the success of the campaign, Oliver was named "Most Inspiring Political Figure of 2005" in the Channel 4 Political Awards 2006. In episode 2 of Jamie's School Dinners, Oliver's Fifteen London restaurant was visited by former US President Bill Clinton. Clinton asked to see Oliver; however, Oliver refused: 36 showed up for a booking of 20 and many of them were on a South Beach Diet and refused the special menu that had been prepared, even though it had been approved in advance.^[32]

Jamie's Great Italian Escape, a six-part travelogue series, was first broadcast on Channel 4 in Britain in October 2005. It follows Oliver as he travels around Italy in a blue VW van (plus a trailer for cooking). He is about to turn 30 and this is his personal adventure to rediscover his love of cooking.^{[citation needed]}

Jamie's Return To School Dinners

Jamie's Chef (2007) was a four-part series continuing where Jamie's Kitchen left off. Five years and fifty trainees later, Oliver's most recent series aims to help the winning trainee establish their own restaurant at The Cock, a pub near Braintree, Essex. The charitable Fifteen Foundation retains ownership of the property and has provided a £125,000 loan for the winner, Aaron Craze, to refurbish the establishment. As of 13 January 2008, the Cock has closed down and reopened as a regular pub.^[33][34]

Jamie at Home (2007) featured Oliver presenting home-style recipes and gardening tips, with many ingredients coming from his substantial home garden. Jamie at Home airs on the Food Network in the United States. Due to licensing restrictions, only two recipes from each Jamie at Home episode appear online; also, access to recipes is limited to users within the United States.^[35]

Jamie's Fowl Dinners (2008) was a special with Jamie backing Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Hugh's Chicken Run" in trying to get the British to eat free range chickens.^[36]

Jamie's Ministry of Food (2008) was a four-part series that aired from 30 September to 21 October 2008.^[37] It was based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.^[38] Oliver aimed to make the town "the culinary capital of the United Kingdom" and tried to get the town's inhabitants to learn how to cook fresh food and establish healthy eating as part of daily life.^[39] The 'Pass It On' campaign also featured in this series with the local townspeople being taught one of a selection of recipes and passing it on to family members and friends.^[38] The 'Pass It On' campaign gained a following on the social networking website Facebook which has a group and fan page with users signing up to chart their progress.

What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver (2008) is a video game with Oliver narrating.

Jamie Saves Our Bacon (2009) was part of Channel 4's British Food Fight Season, a thematic sequel to Jamie's Fowl Dinners. In the special, Oliver looks at the state of pig farming in the UK and EU. It was broadcast on 29 January 2009.^[40]

Jamie's American Road Trip (2009) was a Channel 4 series following Jamie who, rather than visit fancy restaurants and top chefs, meets and learns from real cooks making honest food for working people at street stalls, off-road diners and down-to-earth local restaurants. Along the way, he picks up new recipes and experiences tastes old and new, as well as learning how other cultures adapt when they come to the USA.^[41]

Jamie's Family Christmas (2009) was short series (5 episodes) on Channel 4 with Oliver cooking traditional and new Christmas dishes. More unusually this series includes members of Oliver's family: a family member (wife, children, sister etc.) appears in a supporting role with the preparation of particular recipe interspersed with more traditional Jamie alone delivery to an off-camera person. First broadcast 15 December 2009.^[42]

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution was a series that aired during 2010 and 2011 on ABC in the United States. In the first season, Oliver visited Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the USA, to try to improve its residents' eating habits. In 2010, the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Programme.^[43] In the second season Oliver visited Los Angeles, California where his crusade to change school meals was met with resistance. Oliver was ultimately barred from filming at any Los Angeles public school. The show's cancellation was announced by ABC in May 2011, two weeks before the final episode of the season had aired.^[44] The program also aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 under the title Jamie's American Food Revolution, and in Australia on Channel 10 under the original title.

Jamie Does (2010) or Jamie Oliver's Food Escapes (2011, American title) is a Channel 4 series of 6 episodes following the success of Jamie's American Road Trip. Oliver travels across Europe and North Africa, cooking local dishes.

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals (2010) was Channel 4 series of 40 episodes aired during October–November. The programme focused on home-cooked meals that could be put together within the titular timeframe, using simple 'not cheffy' techniques. There was also an emphasis on educating viewers about the cooking processes themselves.^[45]

Jamie's Dream School (2011) is a Channel 4 series that looks at young people’s educational problems and attempts to uncover whether they are down to personal circumstance, society, or the education system itself. It also examines how the new teachers get on as they try to translate their real-life expertise into the realities of the classroom. The experts include scientist Professor Robert Winston, historian David Starkey, barrister Cherie Blair, journalist and political aide Alastair Campbell, actor Simon Callow, artist Rolf Harris, musician Jazzie B and Olympic gold medallist Daley Thompson.

Jamie advertised with the Daily Mail in October 2011.

Jamie's Fish Supper (2011) was a one-hour special show in which Oliver cooked 10 fish recipes as a part of Big Fish Fight campaign.

Jamie Cooks Summer (2011) was a one-hour special in which Oliver cooked summer dishes in various outdoor locations.

Other television appearances[link]

Oliver has twice guest-hosted Channel 4's The Friday Night Project.

He has also made two appearances in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment of BBC Two's Top Gear. His first appearance was notorious for his attempt to make a green salad in the back of his Volkswagen Microbus,which was fitted with a Porsche engine, while the Stig drove it around the Top Gear test track.

Oliver is the second British celebrity chef (after Robert Irvine) to appear as a challenger on Iron Chef America, taking on Iron Chef Mario Batali in 2008 in a losing battle with cobia as the theme ingredient.^{[citation needed]}

He starred as one of the judges in the 2008 US series Oprah's Big Give hosted by Oprah Winfrey on ABC (America).

He guest starred as himself in the "Meatloaf Surprise" episode of Phineas and Ferb.

Live shows[link]

The Happy Days Live tour was Oliver's first live show in 2001 and included several dates in the UK and Australasia.^[46] Performing to sold-out venues, he cooked on stage and interacted with the audiences with competitions, music and special effects only usually seen in pop concerts.^[47] He took the audiences by surprise by singing and drumming to a song called Lamb Curry written by his longtime friend Leigh Haggerwood. Oliver appears at the BBC Good Food show each year and took to the road once more in 2006 on an Australian tour where he performed in Sydney and Melbourne. Following the entertaining format of his first live show, the 2006 Australian tour featuring special guests including mentor Gennaro Contaldo, and students from Fifteen London. Oliver also performed a new song written by Leigh Haggerwood called Fish Stew which Jamie cooked to and also drummed along to at the end of the show. The shows were a great success and are featured in a one-off TV documentary called Jamie Oliver: Australian Diary.^[48]

Controversy[link]

In 2005, Oliver was widely criticised by animal rights groups for slaughtering a fully conscious lamb on his TV show, while PETA praised Oliver for showing the killing uncensored, claiming that it highlighted problems with the methods used within slaughterhouses for viewers at home.^[49] PETA spokesman Sean Gifford said that it "could turn the more diehard carnivore into a vegetarian."^[49] British TV regulator Ofcom reported they had seven complaints from the public.^[49]

Oliver has been known for his comments about other chefs and has spoken out against Marco Pierre White, who has been critical of Oliver in the past, and the notorious swearing of Gordon Ramsay.^[50]

In 2005, Oliver embarked upon his school dinners campaign to improve the quality of food fed to pupils. While the campaign was arguably successful,^[51] at the time it was a highly controversial shake-up for students and parents, some of whom believed that the students should have a healthy option available, but still be given the choice as to what they want to eat. In September 2006, Rawmarsh Community School, South Yorkshire, UK, made headlines after a handful of parents revolted against Oliver's lunch plan (in which all 1,100 pupils on site were fed two portions of fruit and three vegetables every day) by delivering junk food from local shops to the pupils through the school fence. One parent dismissed Oliver's food as "disgusting rubbish" and declared, "Food is cheaper and better at the local takeaways.”^[52]

In 2008 Jamie revealed on Chris Moyles' Radio 1 show^[53] that he had never cooked a hard boiled egg (as a dish in itself). Jamie volunteered the information, with some embarrassment, when discussing Delia Smith's infamous 'How to boil an egg' gaffe.

In 2011, Oliver, an advocate of cooking meals from scratch and using local produce, caused controversy after it turned out the sauces used in Jamie's Italian in Glasgow were from an industrial park almost 400 miles away in Bicester.^[54] Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are spokeschefs for the "Big Fish Fight," which campaigns for sustainable seafood, but were criticised for their use of endangered fish.^[55]

Also in 2011, Oliver came under fire for lack of food safety protections in his restaurants and illnesses associated with under cooking mince meat that may have been contaminated with E.coli.^[56]

Pop culture[link]

Oliver was mentioned in the South Park episode "Medicinal Fried Chicken". Eric Cartman, one of the main characters, is ordered by Colonel Sanders to stop him from delivering his speech against KFC. He is also featured in the later episode "Crème Fraiche". Oliver cries while trying to convince celebrity chef Bobby Flay that kids' food should be healthy.^[57]

Books[link]

• Something for the Weekend, ISBN 0-14-102258-2
• The Naked Chef, ISBN 0-7868-6617-9
• The Return of the Naked Chef, ISBN 0-7181-4439-2
  • Published in America as The Naked Chef Takes Off, ISBN 0-7868-6755-8
• Happy Days with the Naked Chef, ISBN 0-7868-6852-X
• Jamie's Kitchen, ISBN 1-4013-0022-7
• Jamie's Dinners, ISBN 1-4013-0194-0
• Jamie's Italy, ISBN 0-7181-4770-7
• Cook With Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook , ISBN 0-7181-4771-5
• Jamie's Little Book of Big Treats, ISBN 0-14-103146-8
• Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, ISBN 978-0-7181-5243-7
• Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours, ISBN 978-0-7181-4862-1
  • Published in America as Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals, ISBN 978-1-4013-2359-2
• Jamie's Red Nose Recipes, ISBN 978-0-14-104178-0
• Jamie's America, ISBN 978-0-7181-5476-9
• Jamie does... Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France, ISBN 978-0-7181-5614-5
• Jamie's 30-minute Meals, ISBN 978-0-7181-5477-6
• Jamie's Great Britain, ISBN 978-0-7181-5681-7

Notes[link]

• Jamie Oliver @ telegraph in The Telegraph
• Jamie Oliver biography in BBC Online
• Q&A with the Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, 8 November 2007
• Jamie Oliver's Restaurants – Fifteen at Visit Britain
• Jamie Oliver at the Chef and Restaurant Database
• 350 Years of Jamie's Family History
• Video of Jamie's talk at TED
• Jamie Oliver interviewed by Decca Aitkenhead on Guardian October 2010.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• List of social entrepreneurs
• Stafford Hildred, Jamie Oliver: The Biography (2001) ISBN 1-903402-55-7
• Gilly Smith, Jamie Oliver: Turning Up the Heat (2006) ISBN 0-233-00168-9
• Gilly Smith, Jamie Oliver: The Kitchen Crusader (2006) ISBN 978-1-86200-414-6

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jamie Oliver

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jamie Oliver

• Jamie Oliver Official website
• Jamie Oliver at the Internet Movie Database

Sandy Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978), 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".^[1]

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.^[2] Her composition "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" has been recorded by many artists as diverse as Judy Collins, Nina Simone and Cat Power.

Childhood[link]

Denny was born on 6 January 1947 at Nelson Hospital, Kingston Road, Merton Park, London. She studied classical piano as a child.^[3] 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.^[4]

Early career[link]

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 Pentangle, John Renbourn.^[4] 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.^[4]

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,^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[6] 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".^[4] 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.

From Fairport to Fotheringay[link]

After making the Saga albums with Alex Campbell and Johnny Silvo, Denny looked for a band that would allow her to stretch herself as a vocalist, reach a wider audience, and have the opportunity to display her songwriting. She said, “I wanted to do something more with my voice”.^[7] After working briefly with the Strawbs 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. According to group member Simon Nicol, her evident personality and musicianship made her stand out from the other auditionees "like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes".^[8] Beginning with What We Did On Our Holidays, the first of three albums she made with the band in the late sixties, 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.^[9] She brought with her the traditional repertoire she had refined in the clubs, including "A Sailor's Life" featured on their second album together Unhalfbricking. Framing Denny's performance of this song with their own electric improvisations, her bandmates discovered what then proved to be the inspiration for an entire album, the influential Liege & Lief (1969).^[10]

Denny left Fairport Convention in 1969 to develop her own songwriting more fully.^[4] To this end, she formed her own band, Fotheringay, which included her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas formerly of the group Eclection. They created one self-titled album (a second left unfinished in 1970 was finally released in 2008) which included an eight-minute version of the traditional "Banks of the Nile", and several Denny originals, among them "The Sea" and "Nothing More". (The latter marked her first composition on the piano, which was to take over as her primary instrument from then on.) The group dissolved when producer Joe Boyd left to take up a job at Warner Brothers in California.

Solo career and final years[link]

She then turned to recording her first solo album The North Star Grassman and the Ravens. Released in 1971, it is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unconventional 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.^[11]

Sandy with a cover photograph by David Bailey followed in 1972 and was the first of her albums to be produced by Trevor Lucas. As well as introducing eight new original compositions, 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. During this period, Denny also appeared in a brief cameo on Lou Reizner's version of The Who's rock opera, Tommy, and duetted 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.^[8]

In 1973, she married long term boyfriend and producer Trevor Lucas and recorded a third solo album, Like an Old Fashioned Waltz. The songs continued to detail many of her personal preoccupations: loss, loneliness, fear of the dark, the passing of time and the changing seasons.^[12] 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 (of which her husband was by then a member) for a world tour (captured on the 1974 album Fairport Live Convention) and a studio album, Rising for the Moon in 1975. Although her development as a soloist and songwriter had taken her further away from the folk roots direction that the band had pursued since Liege & Lief, seven of the eleven tracks on Rising for the Moon were either written or co-written by her.^[13]

Denny and Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and embarked on what was to become her final album Rendezvous. Released in 1977, the album is now generally thought to be overproduced despite containing some of her finest compositions such as "I'm A Dreamer", "One Way Donkey Ride" and the classically-influenced "All Our Days".^[14] 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, because of 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.^[15]

Death[link]

By 1977 Denny's substance abuse issues had worsened.^[16] During her pregnancy, she drank and took cocaine.^[17] 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."^[18] Thompson also noted that the child was premature, yet Denny seemed to have little concern for her new baby.^[18]

In March 1978, while on holiday with her parents and baby in Cornwall, Denny was injured when she fell down a staircase and hit her head on concrete.^[17] Following the incident, Denny suffered from intense headaches; a doctor prescribed her the painkiller Distalgesic,^[18] a drug known to have fatal side effects when mixed with alcohol.^[18] Denny was able to perform one last concert several days after the fall.^[17] 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.^[16][18]

On 17 April Denny collapsed and fell into a coma while at friend Miranda Ward's home.^[17][18] Four days later, she died at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon.^[19] Her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain haemorrhage and blunt force trauma to her head.^[18] 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."

Posthumous releases[link]

Although Denny had a devoted cult following in her lifetime, she did not achieve the mass market success that 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) was produced by her widower Trevor Lucas 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",^[20] 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.^[21]

In 2008, Jerry Donahue completed the unfinished second Fotheringay album begun in the autumn of 1970. It was released to general acclaim^[22] 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.^[23] The box set was released to good reviews, including a 5-star review in Uncut^[24] and a 4-star review in The Guardian^[25] amongst others.

Further recordings were released in 2011 including a German recording of Fotheringay in concert released as Essen 1970 ^[26] 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.^[27] This CD was put out by Sandy’s former Strawbs band-mate Dave Cousins on his Witchwood label.

In late 2010 Thea Gilmore was commissioned by Sandy's estate, in conjunction with Island Records, to write melodies to unrecorded lyrics found in Sandy's paperwork. The resulting album Don't Stop Singing ^[28] was released in November 2011 to generally good notices, including 4-star reviews in The Independent^[29] and The Guardian^[30] amongst others. On 21 April 2012 the single "London" was released as an exclusive Record Store Day 7″ single.^[31]

Legacy[link]

Estate and family[link]

After relocating to Australia and remarrying, Trevor Lucas died of a heart attack in 1989.^[16] Denny's estate is now managed by Lucas' widow, Elizabeth Hurtt-Lucas.^[16] Sandy Denny's daughter, Georgia, 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.^[16] 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.^[32]

Tributes[link]

Since her death, many tributes have been made to Denny, both in music and elsewhere. Dave Pegg 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.^[33] In 1998, a variety of Daylily was named after her.^[34][35]

Denny's songs have been covered by numerous artists in the years since her death. Some of the notable acts to have covered her music include Yo La Tengo,^[36] former Marillion frontman Fish,^[37] 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's song "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" also received BBC 2's 2007 Folk Award for "Favourite Folk Track of All Time."^[38] In 2010, she was recognized by NPR in their 50 Great Voices special series.^[39]

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.^[40] 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 Denny 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 primarily featured songs written by Denny – received a four-star review in The Guardian.^[41]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• It's Sandy Denny (1967)
• The North Star Grassman and the Ravens (1971)
• Sandy (1972)
• Like an Old Fashioned Waltz (1974)
• Rendezvous (1977)
• Gold Dust (1998)
• Live at the BBC (2007)
• 19 Rupert Street (With Alex Campbell) (2011)

References and notes[link]

• Heylin, Clinton (September 1988). "Sandy Denny". Record Collector (109): 61–66. 

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

• Official website