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US AND THEM - 1973
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"…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…
