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Thursday 25 June 2020

"Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" by SANDY DENNY – October 1973 UK Third Studio LP on Island Records (May 1974 USA on Island) - featuring Ian Armit of John Baldry's Hoochie Coochie Men, Dave Pegg of Mr. Fox, Danny Thompson of Pentangle, Alan Skidmore of Centipede and Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood Of Breath, John "Rabbit" Bundrick of Free, Crawler and The Who, William "Diz" Disley with Jerry Donahue, Pat Donaldson, Trevor Lucas, Dave Mattacks and Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay (May 2005 UK Island Masters Single-Disc Extended Edition CD Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks - Denis Blackham Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...



 


"…The Real Thing Comes Along…"

Sandy Denny's 1971 debut album "The North Star Grassman And The Ravens" was a patchy start (moments of brilliance with others that just didn't work). But her second outing simply called "Sandy" emblazoned her gorgeous brand of Folk and Folk-Rock into music-loving hearts like nothing before. A flowing river singer-songwriter masterpiece, that's been revered ever since.

Which brings us to this gorgeous sounding CD of solo album number three – "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" from October 1973 (again on Island Records originally). Part of a whole 2005 'Fairport Convention and their Solo Acts' reissue campaign (Sandy Denny, Richard and Linda Thompson, Fairport Convention etc) – each of these single-disc CDs are on the Island Remasters Series.

And this bad boy features a stellar cast of UK Folk-Rock heroes as well as R&B and Jazz players that could compliment her vision f stretching out musically - Ian Armit of John Baldry's Hoochie Coochie Men, Dave Pegg of Mr. Fox, Danny Thompson of Pentangle, Alan Skidmore of Centipede and Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath, John "Rabbit" Bundrick of Free, Crawler and later The Who, William "Diz" Disley with Jerry Donahue, Pat Donaldson, Trevor Lucas, Dave Mattacks and Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay.

And as the album title indicates, bedded alongside the seven original SD tunes, the ex Fairport Convention and Fotheringay singer even tackles the old Doris Fisher and Sammy Cohen standards "Whispering Grass" and "Until The Real Thing Comes Along" (famously associated with The Inkspots and Fats Waller) with such subtle loveliness that you wish there was a whole album of the same. Here are the friends of old...

UK released 2 May 2005 - "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" by SANDY DENNY on Island Remasters IMCD 315 / 982 802-3 (Barcode 602498280232) is a Single-Disc Expanded Edition CD Remaster with Four Bonus Tracks that breaks down as follows (65:53 minutes):

1. Solo [Side 1]
2. Like An Old Fashioned Waltz
3. Whispering Grass
4. Friends
5. Carnival
6. Dark The Night [Side 2]
7. At The End Of The Day
8. Until The Real Thing Comes Along
9. No End
Tracks 1 to 9 are her 3rd solo album "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" – released October 1973 in the UK on Island ILPS 9258 and May 1974 in the USA on Island Records SW-9340. Engineered and Produced by JOHN WOOD and TREVOR LUCAS (of Nick Drake fame) – it didn’t chart in either country in either year

BONUS TRACKS:
10. At The End Of The Day (Alternate Take Without Strings)
First issued 11 October 2004 in "A Boxful Of Treasures", 5CD Box Set on Fledg'ling Records NEST 5002

11. King & Queen Of England (Home Demo)
Recorded December 1974 by Trevor Lucas, first issued June 1988 in the vinyl-only 7LP Box Set "Island Life: 25 Years Of Island Records" on Island Records IBX 25

12. Like An Old Fashioned Waltz (Live with Fairport Convention)
Recorded by John Wood live at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, February 1974
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. No End (Solo Piano Version)
Recorded by John Wood at the Walthamstow Assembly Halls, London, 3 December 1972. First issued January 1986 in the 4LP Sandy Denny UK Vinyl Box Set "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" on Island SDSP 100. 

As do all four of the albums in this Sandy Denny Island Records output - it comes in a fetching outer card wrap (slipcase) and the 12-page booklet features original artwork, lyrics, photographs and January 2005 liner notes by expert and long-time devotee DAVID SUFF (of Fledgling Records). It's tastefully done and the DENIS BLACKHAM Remaster from original master tapes is truly gorgeous – warm, atmospheric and full of presence. The only blip is the CD label colouring that sports the black and orange eye Island Records logo from the late 60ts instead of the pink-rim palm-tree variant it was actually released on in 1973. Other than that, it reeks of class...

Broken hearts and the open wounds of love lost are never far from the surface when Sandy sings – and as the stunning crescendo of voices that make up the chorus of the Side One opener "Solo" touches you so deeply – its hard not to be tearful as she aches – I've just gone – Solo. The song also contains the lyric "I've Always Kept A Unicorn" that gave an Acoustic Sandy Denny 2CD set in April 2016 its title (see separate review). Fans are divided on the strings overload laid thick on "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" – orchestral arrangements by Harry Robinson. I've learned to just roll with it, wallow in the old world romance. It's quickly followed by the Doris Fisher standard made famous by The Inkspots - "Whispering Grass" – brass arrangements by Bob Leaper. I love this song and Sandy feels so at home with the piano plinking and high-hat shuffles – whispering grass don't tell the trees because the trees don't need to know (dig that Danny Thompson double-bass long note).

But then comes one of the album's true masterpieces – the and-you-feel-all-right-now but for how long "Friends". And this is one song where the string arrangements feel complimentary and not intrusive – even if that guitar solo stills feels somehow lost in the mix. "Friends" is gorgeous even in its quiet please leave anger (time to leave and you know the way). She'll be just fine now – so long. Side 1 ends with another original, the acoustic lovely "Carnival" – as warm a melody as she ever penned and in my books one of her catalogue's hidden gems (good day to you sweet Autumn, so gently you appear).

After the lush romance/melancholy of Side 1 and its slow songs - "Dark The Night" opens Side 2 with an uneasy upbeat drumbeat. Quickly joined by strings and oboes and layered vocals – I've never really been convinced by its neither here nor there vibe (cool electric keyboard solo though). Far more convincing is the Jackson Browne-sounding piano love song "At The End Of The Day" – a "you're the one I'm thinking of" tune as I bring my love home to you. And again the strings work adding an epic feel to the centre passage of the long song accompanying a Mike Oldfield-sounding guitar solo. Cover number two comes in a fabulous shuffle – the Fats Waller famous "Until The Real Thing Comes Along". You might as well be on the set of Boardwalk Empire as gorgeous gals entertain the well-heeled gentlemen before they get too liquored-up to do any performing of their own (and if that isn't love, it'll have to do).

It comes to an end with 6:37 minutes of "No End" – another hugely moving epic. But what is astonishing is the Bonus Track "Solo" version of "No End" recorded in February 1974 at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall with just Sandy on piano – haunting and mesmerizing. The demo of "King & Queen Of England" is the same – a piano demo recorded by Trevor Lucas at her home in December 1974 with what you can only describe as audiophile skill (stunning remaster). It was tucked away on the scrappy-doo "Island Life" 7LP Box Set in 1988 and how good is it to see it finally a CD release. For many the idea of a Previously Unreleased track by Sandy with Fairport Convention is enough to make them lose what little hair they have left – but while "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" is nice – its live and hissy – but still worth having.

We would lose her in 1978 aged only 31. I remember meeting John Walters when I was working at Reckless (he was John Peel's legendary producer and we bought his extensive record collection) and we were in a pub discussing gigs he'd seen that blew his mind. John was told by Bernie Andrews (another legendary BBC producer) to go see this young girl in a bar that he'd heard about who was causing a stir. It was Sandy Denny before she'd joined the ranks of Fairport Convention. The purity of her English Folk voice left him shaking and stunned. I can still see his smile to this day and the memory of it etched into his face.

It's nice to know that all their memories have been given a Folk Royalty nod by this fab little reissue from The Real Thing…



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