Damn, Sandy Denny could write some lyrics!

[hifiguy]

1. She could sing a little, too.

I saw them on tour supporting that album, at Minneapolis' Orchestra Hall of all places, in 1975 or 1976. The opener was the English pop-prog band Caravan (one of my long-time favorites), then Fairport with Sandy, who had a bit of a cold. Headlining was Weather Report (!?!?) in their pre-Jaco incarnation.

I first heard Sandy on Led Zep's IV back in 1972, where she was simply credited with Additional Vocals on "The Battle of Evermore." I had not the first clue who she was but immediately began looking for other records with that angelic voice. That led me, of course, to Fairport Convention, and that led me to now owning some 40-50 Fairport/Sandy/related LPs and CDs. What a long strange trip that was.

Still, to this day my favorite female singer. Hell of a songwriter too. I have read she was quite a firecracker back in her early Fairport days. Supposedly she swore like a sailor, whipped all the boys into shape to her musical standards and was quite the taskmaster, all the while being able to drink Richard, Simon and company under the table.

You want abject beauty? Try the Fotheringay album. How anyone at age 22-23 could sing anything the way she sang "Banks of the Nile" on that record beggars the imagination. She sounds both 15 and older than time. Absolutely, and literally, breathtaking.

Oh, "White Dress" on Rising is one of the most impossibly sexy things I have ever heard.