Sandy Denny's second post-Fairport solo offering, produced by (then-future)
husband Trevor Lucas, is a beautiful blend of the traditional style with
which she is most often associated and a slightly more lavish sound that
would become more prevalent in her later work. Lucas does an excellent
job of balancing the two and creating an exquisite backdrop for Denny's
gorgeous songs and majestic voice. Nearly every track has the radiance
and timelessness of her best Fairport work, along with an accessibility
she had merely hinted at prior to this. "Listen, Listen," with
its soaring chorus and bed of strings and mandolin, the lovely "The
Lady," and the layered a cappella vocal arrangement of Richard Farina's
"Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" (featuring Dave Swarbrick's haunting
solo violin coda) are perfect examples of Denny's enormous talents, and
only a few of the many pleasures found here. Touches such as lush strings,
Allen Toussaint's horn arrangement on "For Nobody to Hear,"
Sneaky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar and former Fairport partner Richard
Thompson's guitars and mandolin, bring out the many dimensions in Denny's
music without obscuring it. Sandy also boasts her best collection of original
material, as well as terrific covers of Dylan's "Tomorrow Is a Long
Time," featuring Linda (Thompson) Peters on backing vocals, and the
aforementioned "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood." If you're simply
looking for a quick introduction to a wonderful songwriter and one of
the finest voices in popular music, go for the single disc best-of collection,
but if you would like to hear Sandy Denny's definitive (solo) musical
statement, search out Sandy.
(by Brett Hartenbach, AMG) |