Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely sensational retrospective of an overlooked artist, February 4, 2005
Sandy Denny is one of the best artists the UK produced in the 60's and 70's, yet so few people have heard of her in the USA that it borders on disgrace. IF people know her, they know her as the one guest vocalist Led Zeppelin ever used (on The Battle of Evermore). This underrated woman, whose second written song was "Who Knows Where The Time Goes", was a popular folk singer by the time she joined up with the Strawbs for an album, and shortly thereafter, the Fairport Convention for 3 albums (all considered classics) before starting her own highly acclaimed group Fotheringay, following that with 4 solo albums and a brief return to Fairport. This box set covers all of this ground, though it may find you scrambling to locate the original releases to hear the tracks that could not be included due to space reasons. It includes alternate versions of several songs, and many unreleased versions, including 3 of "By The Time It Gets Dark", a song that should have seen the light of day when her fourth solo LP, Rendevous, was released, which nevertheless has been covered by several artists to date.
Who knows why Sandy is not well-known. She died tragically young at a time when her career was in a lull. There was a tendency on the part of her producers to add a lot of ornamental flourishes to her music, and some of that causes these works to age more than they would have, which may be contributing to reluctance of radio stations to air the songs. But to hear the songs and realize that their quality is so good, and they're being sung by quite possibly the best female singer to sing popular music (and that is NOT an exaggeration), it's easy to forgive added strings and other similar indulgements. To help offset this, disc 5 is made up of almost entirely simple demos of Sandy with guitar or piano, mostly unreleased.
As Richard Thompson put it in the liner notes, practically every artist he knows whose work he respects highly has Sandy's music in their personal collections. There is a very good reason for that. Some of Sandy's work can correctly be called some of the best popular music has ever had to offer. Dive in and enjoy.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Unknown Superstar, July 1, 2005
You've probably never heard of her.
But, ironically enough, you've almost certainly heard her.
And you've probably heard at least one of the songs she wrote, again without knowing it. Both Joni Mitchell and Sandy Denny share the somewhat dubious distinction of writing songs ("Clouds" and "Who Knows Where The Time Goes", respectively) Judy Collins made into hits. (But Sandy's several recordings of her own work make Collins' cover version sound almost sterile in comparison.)
And just where exactly did you actually hear her? Three female guest vocal appearances on albums by some of rock's greatest bands of the early 1970's come to mind: Mary Clayton's incredible shriek on the Stones' "Gimmie Shelter"; Clare Tory's unbelievable wordless solo on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon"; and Sandy Denny's jaw-dropping duet with Robert Plant on Led Zep's "The Battle Of Evermore".
Yeah, she's that singer.
As far as I know, Mary and Clare were never heard of again. For most people, at least here in the States, Sandy might just as well have dropped totally out of sight too, except for a handful of devoted followers, though in Britain she was a queen. Her untimely and tragic death, coming at a lull in her career, prevented her from ever reaching the level of recognition here she deserved. I can remember still how downhearted I was when I heard a radio DJ say: "And the last selection was by Sandy Denny ... or should I say, the late Sandy Denny?" Only John Lennon's death saddened me more. Had she not died, I'm sure Sandy would have rebounded from that lull and her personal problems and become the superstar she ought to have been.
But beware--listen to this collection only when you really want to feel something, something strong. Sandy's voice was like a strong drink, perhaps the most emotionally evocative voice of her generation, and her songs were given to strong emotions, introspection, and melancholia. Along with her remarkable emotional range, her dynamic range was simply astonishing, ranging from a breathy, delicate whisper to a full-throated roar (all the more impressive coming from such a diminutive woman) in a single breath, with perfect control. Her live work, especially where she's accompanied only by a simple piano or guitar, displays her true vocal power, clearly demonstrating she often didn't need a band behind her at all--one of the contradictions of her life and career was her lack of self-confidence often required a supporting cast and often led to producers over-adorning her songs needlessly.
This is by no means a perfect anthology but it is certainly a great start. Hoepfully someday the legendary BBC Sessions, which were withdrawn immediately after they were released, will be officially re-released; those recordings and the live "Gold Dust" concert would round out this collection nicely.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential recordings for Denny fans new and old, November 30, 2004
This fine box set from the U.K. displaces the (sadly) discontinued "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" as the definitive survey of Sandy Denny's lamentably short career. It takes the listener from her early days as a traditional folk artist, through Fairport Convention and its offshoots (Fotheringay and the Bunch), and ends up with her later solo recordings. While any summary of Denny's output will suffer from omissions, this one is as good as it is likely to get.
Obviously, the selections from the early Fairport Convention years only brush the surface - anyone who fancies themselves a fan of Denny or Richard Thompson should own the individual albums. The same goes for the solo albums, although the coverage "A Boxful of Treasures" provides is very good. The fifth CD which is a collection of mostly demos and a few live recordings is a wonderful supplement. When considering a five CD set, it is silly to identify individual standouts - we all have our favorites in the Denny catalog. It is enough to say that there are, in fact, many great performances here.
The short statement from Richard Thompson which begins the accompanying booklet says what needs to be said regarding the fact that Denny's work is largely unknown to most modern listeners - some (at least) of whom should know better. One continues to hope that the contemporary music community will open its eyes to one of the greatest female singer-songwriters to ever record. Even if they are three decades late in their realization.
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~ Fairport Convention
~ Fairport Convention
~ Sandy Denny
~ Fairport Convention
~ Sandy Denny
See all 19 tracks on this disc
is mainly Folk, with hints of Celtic”
