Name	Sandy Denny
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny
Born	January 06, 1947Wimbledon, London, England
Died	April 21, 1978Atkinson Morley Hospital, Wimbledon, England
Instrument	Keyboards, guitar
Genre	Folk, electric folk
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1967–1978
Label	Island Records
Associated acts	Fairport Convention, Strawbs, Fotheringay, Led Zeppelin
Website	www.sandydennyofficial.com

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".

After briefly working with British folk band The Strawbs, Denny joined Fairport Convention in 1968. 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" of Led Zeppelin IV (1971).

Music publications Sunday Express, Uncut and Mojo have each called Denny Britain's best singer. Her composition Who Knows Where the Time Goes? has been recorded by numerous artists as diverse as Judy Collins, Nina Simone and Cat Power.

Childhood

Denny was born on 6 January 1947 at Nelson Hospital, Kingston Road, Merton Park, 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.

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 Pentangle, 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. 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.

Professional career

After making the Saga albums with Alex Campbell and Johnny Silvo, Denny was on the look out for a band where she could stretch herself as a vocalist, reach the wide audiences of rock, and have the opportunity to showcase her songwriting at the same time. Her motivation was, in her words, that “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 band mates 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 a composer. Her arrival with some of her own compositions, an interest in traditional music and a voice that could handle absolutely anything had a decisive effect on all concerned.

Denny left Fairport Convention in 1969 to develop her own song writing 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 launched into the sequence of solo albums which are her claim to be one of Britain's finest singer-songwriters. Built mostly around her own compositions, they chart the development and diversity of her own writing. Throughout the sessions on her solo albums 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.

Readers of Melody Maker 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 song writing 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.

Death

By 1977, Denny's substance abuse issues had worsened. During her pregnancy, she used alcohol and cocaine (as well as possibly heroin). Close friend 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 behavior 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."

Posthumous releases

Although Sandy Denny had a devoted cult following in her lifetime, she never achieved the mass market success she yearned for. In the years since her death, however, Denny's reputation has continued to grow, aided by the comprehensive re-issue of all her recordings. Additionally, a number of important posthumous releases have appeared that have further enhanced her legacy.

First was a four-album box set entitled Who Knows Where the Time Goes? (1985) which was produced by her husband Trevor Lucas and Joe Boyd and included many rare and previously unreleased tracks. This was the first inkling her fans had that a large cache of unreleased material existed. Of particular interest were several acoustic demo performances of well known songs that were held to be superior to their studio counterparts. The success of the collection was the beginning of a renewed interest in Denny's career that resulted in Island issuing many of the recordings she made for the label on CD for the first time.

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 boxset 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 boxset came out in September 2007 it was rapturously praised wherever it was reviewed. This favorable critical response did much to continue the resurgence of interest in Sandy Denny's work.

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 sprawling, 19-CD release also included a large number of outtakes, demos, live recordings, radio sessions and interviews. Sandy Denny contained over 100 previously unissued recordings, and a 72-page hardback book that provided the most comprehensive visual record of Denny's career to date. A facsimile of one of her lyric books, an Island press release for Like an Old Fashioned Waltz, and a colour poster of the original advert for The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, and other memorabilia. The box set was released to universally good reviews, including a 5-star review in Uncut and a 4-star review in The Guardian amongst others.

Legacy

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 bandmates 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 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. 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 "Favorite 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.

Discography

Albums

The North Star Grassman and the Ravens (1971)

Sandy (1972)

Like an Old Fashioned Waltz (1974)

Rendezvous (1977)

References and notes

Bibliography

Clinton Heylin. No More Sad Refrains - The Life and Times of Sandy Denny. London, Helter Skelter, 2002. ISBN 1-900924-35-8

Clinton Heylin. Gypsy Love Songs & Sad Refrains - The Recordings of Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny. Labour of Love Productions, 1989.

Colin Larkin. The Guinness Who's Who of Folk Music. Guinness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-741-X

Colin Harper, Trevor Hodgett. Irish Folk, Traditional & Blues: A Secret History. Cherry Red, 2005. ISBN 1-901447-40-5

Pamela Murray Winters. No Thought of Leaving: A life of Sandy Denny. 2000. (Unpublished).

Brian Hinton, Geoff Wall. Ashley Hutchings: The Guv'nor & the Rise of Folk Rock. London, Helter Skelter, 2002. ISBN 1-900924-32-3

Patrick Humphries. Meet On The Ledge: The Classic Years 1967-1975. Virgin Books, 1997. ISBN 0-7535-0153-8

Patrick Humphries. Richard Thompson: Strange Affair - The Biography. Virgin Books, 1996. ISBN 0-86369-993-6

Philip Ward, "Sandy Denny: A Thirtieth Anniversary", R2 (Rock'n'Reel) 2(9), May/June 2008

External links

Official website

Japanese fan site

Official Sandy Denny MySpace page

Sandy Denny at Yahoo! Groups

Official website of Fairport Conventon

Category:Accidental deaths from falls Category:People from Wimbledon, London Category:English female singers Category:English songwriters Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English folk singers Category:Electric folk musicians Category:Fairport Convention members Category:Accidental deaths in England Category:Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery Category:1947 births Category:1978 deaths

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