Sandy Denny and the Strawbs - Sandy Denny and the Strawbs (1985)

Aardige pre-Fairport opnames van Sandy Denny die helaas op deze release zo plat als pannekoek klinken. Voor de liefhebber: er is onlangs een geremasterde release uitgekomen van de komplete opnames die Denny met deze jongens maakte: All Our Own Work, waarop de songs eindelijk na 40+ jaar echt to leven komen. Dikke aanrader !

ken alleen de versie met 13 nummers (Hannibal/Rykodisk, 1991) zonder de 4 bonus tracks. Sandy Denny was tijdens de opnames van dit album uit 1967 19 jaar oud en stond nog aan het begin van haar carrière. in 1968 verving zij Judy Dyble als leadzangeres van de groep "Fairport Convention".

op dit album staan 11 songs van Dave Cousins (frontman van The Strawbs), 1 nummer (track 12) van Tony Hooper (Strawbs lid) en een vroege versie van Sandy Denny's song "Who Knows Where The Time Goes", dat later een klassieker werd. eerder folk/pop dan folk/rock, is wat we horen op dit met een gedateerde productie kampende album. Dave Cousins is een goede songwriter en veel van zijn songs worden fraai, akoestisch vertolkt met zang van Sandy Denny en de close harmony zang van de Strawbs. bij het nummer "On My Way" moest ik denken aan de muziek van The Mama's & The Papa's, zoals een aantal andere nummers de muziek van het Ierse folktrio The Johnstons (met Paul Brady) in herinnering roept. overigens komen niet alle lead vocalen op dit album van Sandy Denny. favoriete tracks: Nothing Else Will Do, Sail Away to the Sea, All I Need Is You, Tell Me What You See In Me. het originele album werd geproduceerd door de Deense zanger Gustav Winckler

de muzikanten op dit album waren:
Sandy Denny: vocals, guitar
Dave Cousins: vocals, guitar
Tony Hooper: vocals, guitar
Ron Chesterman: bass
Ken Gudmand: drums, tablas (track
Cy Nicklin: sitar (8)
Svend Lundvig: string arrangements (2,5,7 & 13)

citaat over de ontstaansgeschiedenis van dit album uit de liner notes (Dave Cousins, February 1991)

"The Troubadour in Earls Court was the "in" place to be in the late sixties. I saw Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Martin Carthy, Fred Hellerman of the Weavers, Dylan dropped in - you never knew who you were going to meet.
I dropped in at the singers' night one Tuesday and suddenly, there was the best voice I'd ever heard. She was sitting on a stool playing an old Gibson guitar, about eighteen, wearing a white dress, a white straw hat, with long blond hair and singing like an angel. I don't know what came over me but I went up to her immediately afterwards, introduced myself and invited her to join the Strawbs. Much to my astonishment she said yes and I then had to phone Tony (Hooper) to tell him that we'd got a girl singer.

We rehearsed round at Sandy's flat and literally sang all night. The songs, the arrangements, happened as though by magic. We recorded some demo's and a friend took them to Denmark to play to the boss of a record company he knew. Karl Knudsen phoned up offering us a contract and there we were on the ferry to Denmark, rehearsing in the bar, to make the album. It was as easy as that.

The recording studio was on the stage of a cinema, so we could only work during the day. It was all finished in a week. Then I was given the job of finding an English label to release it. Needless to say this took ages, and in the meantime, Sandy met up with Fairport Convention and went off and joined them.

We ended up on A&M and this record remained unissued for years, which broke my heart. I loved it when we made it and I love it now. Sandy Denny to me was the finest woman singer we ever had in this country and she was a dear and close friend who I miss a lot"