Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the

British folk rock British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...

band

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started ...

. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly working with the

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known ...

, Denny joined Fairport Convention in 1968, remaining with them until 1969. She formed the short-lived band Fotheringay in 1970, before focusing on a solo career. Between 1971 and 1977, Denny released four solo albums: '' The North Star Grassman and the Ravens'', '' Sandy'', '' Like an Old Fashioned Waltz'' and '' Rendezvous''. She also duetted with

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...

on " The Battle of Evermore" for

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...

's album ''

Led Zeppelin IV The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV'', was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and ...

'' in 1971. Denny died in 1978 at the age of 31 due to injuries and health issues related to alcohol abuse. Music publications ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' and '' Mojo'' have described Denny as Britain's finest female singer-songwriter. Her composition "

Who Knows Where the Time Goes? "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" is a song written by the English folk-rock singer and songwriter Sandy Denny. Denny originally recorded the song as a demo in 1967, singing and playing guitar on the track. Later that year, she briefly joined the ...

" has been recorded by

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ...

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first albu ...

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs is an American alternative rock band that was founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four album ...

and

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer- songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as ...

. Her recorded work has been the subject of numerous reissues, along with a wealth of previously unreleased material which has appeared over the more than 40 years since her death, including a 19-CD box set released in November 2010.

Childhood

Denny was born on 6 January 1947 at Nelson Hospital, Kingston Road,

Merton Park Merton Park is a suburb in the London Borough of Merton. It is situated between Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 11 miles (11.7 km) southwest of Charing Cross. The area is part of the historic parish of Merto ...

, London, to Neil and Edna Denny. She studied classical piano as a child. Her paternal grandfather was from Dundee, and her paternal grandmother was a

Scots Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

speaker and singer of traditional songs. At an early age Denny showed an interest in singing, although her strict parents were reluctant to believe there was a living to be made from it. She attended Coombe Girls' School in

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Rayne ...

; after leaving school she began training as a nurse at the

Royal Brompton Hospital Royal Brompton Hospital is the largest specialist heart and lung medical centre in the United Kingdom. It is managed by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. History Consumption in the 19th Century In the 19th century, consumption was a c ...

.Patrick Humphries (1982) ''Meet on the Ledge: A History of Fairport Convention'', London: Eel Pie Publishing Ltd;

Early career

Denny's nursing career proved short-lived. In the meantime she had secured a place on a foundation course at Kingston College of Art, which she took up in September 1965, becoming involved with the folk club on campus. Her contemporaries at the college included guitarist and future member of Pentangle,

John Renbourn John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...

. After her first public appearance at the Barge in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable a ...

, Denny began working the folk club circuit in the evenings with an American-influenced repertoire, including songs by

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Denny made the first of many appearances for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

Cecil Sharp House Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada * Cecil, Alber ...

on 2 December 1966 on the ''Folk Song Cellar'' programme where she accompanied herself on two traditional songs: "Fir a Bhata" and "Green Grow the Laurels". Her earliest professional recordings were made a few months later in mid-1967 for the Saga label, featuring traditional songs and covers of folk contemporaries including her boyfriend of this period, the American singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank. They were released on the albums ''

Alex Campbell and His Friends Alex Campbell and his Friends is an album by Alex Campbell with: Sandy Denny, Johnny Silvo and the Johnny Silvo Folk Group featuring Roger Evans and David Moses, Paul McNeill and Cliff Aungier. This March 1967 recording is the first release tha ...

'' and ''

Sandy and Johnny ''Sandy and Johnny'' is a split album featuring early recordings by Sandy Denny and Johnny Silvo, recorded for Saga Records in 1967. Despite being credited to both singers, the album consists of solo songs by each. Background For a time in 1967, ...

'' with

Johnny Silvo Johnny Silvo (born John Frederick Woods; 2 December 1936 – 19 December 2011) was a British folk and blues singer. Biography Born in 1936, Silvo started his career playing skiffle and jazz and singing solo in nightclubs. When the folk scene ...

. These songs were collected on the 1970 album '' It's Sandy Denny'' where the tracks from ''Sandy and Johnny'' had been re-recorded with more accomplished vocals and guitar playing. The complete Saga studio recordings were issued on the 2005 compilation ''Where The Time Goes''. By this time, she had abandoned her studies at art college and was devoting herself full-time to music. While she was performing at The Troubadour folk club, a member of the

heard her, and in 1967, she was invited to join the band. She recorded one album with them in Denmark, which was released belatedly in 1973, credited to Sandy Denny and the Strawbs: '' All Our Own Work''. The album includes an early solo version of her best-known (and widely recorded) composition, "

" A demo of that song found its way into the hands of American singer

, who chose to cover it as the title track of an album of her own, released in November 1968, thus giving Denny international exposure as a songwriter before she had become widely known as a singer.

From Fairport to Fotheringay

After making the Saga albums with Alex Campbell and Johnny Silvo, Denny looked for a band that would allow her to stretch herself as a vocalist, reach a wider audience, and have the opportunity to display her songwriting. She said, "I wanted to do something more with my voice." After working briefly with the

, Denny remained unconvinced that they could provide that opportunity, and so she ended her relationship with the band. Fairport Convention conducted auditions in May 1968 for a replacement singer following the departure of

Judy Dyble Judith Aileen Dyble (pronounced ''Die-bull''; 13 February 1949 – 12 July 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, most notable for being a vocalist and a founding member of Fairport Convention and Trader Horne. In addition, she and Ian McDona ...

after their debut album, and Denny became the obvious choice. According to group member

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in th ...

, her personality and musicianship made her stand out from the other auditionees "like a clean glass in a sink full of dirty dishes". Beginning with ''

What We Did on Our Holidays ''What We Did on Our Holidays'' (released as ''Fairport Convention'' in the United States) is the second album by British band Fairport Convention, released in 1969. It was their first album to feature singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. The album a ...

'', the first of three albums she made with the band in the late 1960s, Denny is credited with encouraging Fairport Convention to explore the traditional British folk repertoire, and is thus regarded as a key figure in the development of British folk rock. She brought with her the traditional repertoire she had refined in the clubs, including " A Sailor's Life" featured on their second album together ''

Unhalfbricking ''Unhalfbricking'' is the third album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and their second album released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences ...

''. Framing Denny's performance of this song with their own electric improvisations, her bandmates discovered what then proved to be the inspiration for an entire album, the influential ''

Liege & Lief ''Liege & Lief'' is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist (Denny did not appear on ...

'' (1969). Denny left Fairport Convention in December 1969 to develop her own songwriting more fully. To this end, she formed her own band, Fotheringay, which included her future husband, Australian

Trevor Lucas Trevor George Lucas (25 December 1943 – 4 February 1989) was an Australian folk singer, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay. He mainly worked as a singer-songwriter and guitarist but also produced many album ...

, formerly of the group Eclection. They created one self-titled album, which included an eight-minute version of the traditional "Banks of the Nile", and several Denny originals, among them "The Sea" and "Nothing More". The latter marked her first composition on the piano, which was to become her primary instrument from then on. Fotheringay started to record a second album in late 1970, but it remained unfinished after Denny announced that she was leaving the group and producer

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Ba ...

left to take up a job at

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

in California. Denny would later blame Boyd's hostility towards the group for its demise.

Solo career and final years

She then turned to recording her first solo album, '' The North Star Grassman and the Ravens''. Released in 1971, it is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unconventional harmonies. Highlights included "Late November", inspired by a dream and the death of Fairport band member Martin Lamble, and "Next Time Around" a

cryptogram A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by ...

about Jackson C. Frank, one of her many portraits in song. '' Sandy'', with a cover photograph by

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Early life David Bailey was born at Wh ...

, followed in 1972 and was the first of her albums to be produced by

. As well as introducing eight new original compositions, the album marked her last recording of a traditional song, "The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" (words by

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña (Spanish IPA: ) (March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, T ...

), with Denny's ambitious multi-tracked vocal arrangement inspired by the Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic. ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' readers twice voted her the "Best British Female Singer", in 1970 and 1971 and, together with contemporaries including Richard Thompson and

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings (born 26 January 1945) is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of ...

, she participated in a one-off project called

the Bunch The Bunch were a British folk rock band, which came together in 1971 to record their one off album, '' Rock On''. Formation The Bunch was put together by Trevor Lucas in late 1971, close to a year after his former band, Fotheringay, had disban ...

to record a collection of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

era standards released under the title of '' Rock On''. In 1971, Denny duetted with

on " The Battle of Evermore", which was included on Led Zeppelin's 1971 album (''

''); she was the only guest vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin album. In 1972 Denny had a small cameo on

Lou Reizner Lou Reizner (born Chicago 1934, died London 26 June 1977) was a record producer, A&R executive and head of Mercury Records European operations. He produced Rod Stewart's first two solo albums, the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tommy, ...

's symphonic arrangement of

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are conside ...

's rock opera ''

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

''. Her brief appearance was at the end of the track "It's a Boy", which also featured vocals from

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Towns ...

. In 1973, she married long-term boyfriend and producer Trevor Lucas and recorded a third solo album, '' Like an Old Fashioned Waltz''. The songs continued to detail many of her personal preoccupations: loss, loneliness, fear of the dark, the passing of time and the changing seasons. The album contained one of her best loved compositions, "Solo", and featured a cover image by

Gered Mankowitz Gered Mankowitz (born 3 August 1946) is an English photographer who focused his career in the music industry. He has worked with a range of artists from The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix, and in other divisions of the photography industry, ...

Sandy Denny - Fairport Convention (1974)

In 1974, she returned to Fairport Convention (of which her husband was by then a member) for a world tour (captured on the 1974 album '' Fairport Live Convention'') and a studio album, ''

Rising for the Moon ''Rising for the Moon'' is the tenth studio album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in 1975. It reached number 52 in the UK albums charts. This was the last Fairport album to feature vocalist Sandy Denny. Historical pe ...

'' in 1975. Although her development as a soloist and songwriter had taken her further away from the folk roots direction that the band had pursued since ''

'', seven of the eleven tracks on ''Rising for the Moon'' were either written or co-written by her. Denny and Lucas left Fairport Convention at the end of 1975 and embarked on what was to become her final album '' Rendezvous''. Released in 1977, the album sold poorly and Denny was subsequently dropped by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

. Having relocated to the village of Byfield in Northamptonshire in the mid-seventies, Denny gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Georgia, in July 1977. A UK tour to promote ''Rendezvous'' in autumn 1977 marked her final public appearances. The closing night at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

in London on 27 November 1977 was recorded for a live album, ''

Gold Dust Gold dust is fine particles of gold. Gold dust may also refer to: Animal *Gold Dust (elephant) (1873–1898), male Asian elephant that was kept in the National Zoo in the late 19th century *Gold dust day gecko, a subspecies of geckos which live ...

'', which, because of technical problems in the recording of the electric guitar, was belatedly released in 1998 after most of the guitars had been re-recorded by

Jerry Donahue Jerry Donahue (born September 24, 1946, Manhattan, New York City) is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of ...

Death

Linda Thompson Linda Diane Thompson (born May 23, 1950) is an American songwriter, former actress and beauty pageant winner. Thompson began her acting career as a " Hee Haw Honey" on the American television variety show '' Hee Haw''. She was also a girlfrien ...

would later note that Denny "really started going downhill in 1976" and demonstrated increasing levels of both manic and depressive behaviour. Learning that she was pregnant did little to mellow Denny's reckless lifestyle, which was heightened by increasing depression, mood swings and the unravelling of her "tumultuous" marriage to Trevor Lucas.Mick Houghton. ''I've Always Kept a Unicorn – The Biography of Sandy Denny''. Faber & Faber, 2015, p. 393-397; She abused drugs and alcohol while pregnant with her daughter, Georgia, who was born prematurely in July 1977. Much like her moods, Denny's interest towards her daughter appeared to oscillate between obsessive and unconcerned; friends recalled both frantic, middle-of-the-night phone calls about teething, as well as Denny "crashing the car and leaving the baby in the pub and all sorts of stuff". Sandy Denny grave Putney Vale 2014

Friends would later note that Denny had a history of purposely throwing herself off bar stools and down flights of stairs in order to get a reaction. Several remembered this behaviour as "Sandy's party trick", while

Dave Pegg Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of fol ...

's wife Chris stated, "She certainly did it in my house and it could be a very dramatic gesture, like self-harming. She could do it without hurting herself usually but I had a feeling there would be one time too many."Mick Houghton. ''I've Always Kept a Unicorn – The Biography of Sandy Denny''. Faber & Faber, 2015, p. 401-403; Those who knew Denny said that her increasing level of alcohol abuse in the last years of her life led to an increasing number of falls (both accidental and deliberate), resulting in a growing number of injuries. In late March 1978, while on holiday with her parents and baby Georgia in Cornwall, Denny was injured when she fell down a staircase and hit her head on concrete. Following the incident, she suffered from intense headaches; a doctor prescribed her the painkiller

dextropropoxyphene Dextropropoxyphene is an analgesic in the opioid category, patented in 1955 and manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company. It is an optical isomer of levopropoxyphene. It is intended to treat mild pain and also has antitussive (cough suppressant) ...

, a drug known to have fatal side effects when mixed with alcohol. On 1 April, several days after the fall in Cornwall, Denny performed a charity concert at Byfield. The final song she performed was "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" At some unknown point during the first half of April 1978, Denny suffered yet another major fall at her home in Byfield. On 13 April, concerned about his wife's erratic behaviour and fearing for his daughter's safety, Trevor Lucas left the UK and returned to his native Australia with their child, leaving Denny without telling her. He sold their Austin Princess car in order to raise funds for the journey. On discovering Lucas' departure, Denny went to stay at the home of her friend Miranda Ward. During this time, Denny apparently set up an appointment to speak with a doctor about her headaches, and also intended to get advice about her alcohol addiction.Mick Houghton. ''I've Always Kept a Unicorn – The Biography of Sandy Denny''. Faber & Faber, 2015, p. 405–409; At some point after 8 am on 17 April, Denny fell into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

. Ward was out of the house at the time, and had asked her friend Jon Cole (of the band The Movies) to check in on Denny. Cole entered the home at 3 pm, and found Denny unconscious at the foot of the staircase which led to the second floor of the house. She was rushed by ambulance to Queen Mary's Hospital in nearby

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

. On 19 April, she was transferred to

Atkinson Morley Hospital Atkinson Morley Hospital (AMH) was located at Copse Hill near Wimbledon, South-West London, England from 1869 until 2003. Initially a convalescent hospital, it became one of the most advanced brain surgery centres in the world, and was involved i ...

in Wimbledon. After receiving news that Denny was in a coma, Lucas returned from Australia. Upon his arrival at the hospital, doctors informed him that Denny was effectively

brain-dead Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function which may include cessation of involuntary activity necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some aut ...

and her condition would not improve. He granted their recommendation to turn off life-support machines; however, just ten minutes before this was to take place, at 7:50 pm on 21 April 1978, Sandy Denny died, without regaining consciousness. Her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain haemorrhage and

blunt force trauma Blunt trauma, also known as blunt force trauma or non-penetrating trauma, is physical traumas, and particularly in the elderly who fall. It is contrasted with penetrating trauma which occurs when an object pierces the skin and enters a tissu ...

to her head. She was 31 years old. The funeral took place on 27 April 1978 at

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938 ...

. After the vicar had read Denny's favourite psalm,

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a b ...

, a piper played "

Flowers of the Forest ''Flowers of the Forest'', or ''The Fluuers o the Forest'' (Roud 3812), is a Scottish folk tune and work of war poetry commemorating the defeat of the Scottish army, and the death of James IV, at the Battle of Flodden in September 1513. Althoug ...

", a traditional song commemorating the fallen of

Flodden Field The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

and one which had appeared on the 1970 Fairport album ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his thr ...

''. The inscription on her headstone reads:

Posthumous releases

Official releases

Although Denny had a devoted following in her lifetime, she did not achieve mass market success. In the years since her death, her reputation has grown. A four-album box set entitled ''

'' (1985) was produced by her widower

and

and included a number of rare and previously unreleased tracks by Denny, either solo or with Fairport Convention (1968, 1969, 1974) and Fotheringay (1970). This was the first public indication that a large cache of unreleased material existed. A one-disc subset of these recordings was subsequently issued on CD by Island in 1987 entitled ''The Best Of Sandy Denny''. In 1987, a compilation of previously unreleased tracks recorded for the BBC by incarnations of Fairport including Denny was released on LP under the title '' Heyday'', which was subsequently released on CD in 2001 and again, with extra tracks, in 2002; all tracks were later included, with others, on the 2007 4-CD box set '' Fairport Convention Live at the BBC'' (see below). The initial purpose of this compilation was to document the more "American" material performed live by the ''

'' lineup of the band that never made it to vinyl, while the re-releases added additional songs as performed by the ''

'' and ''

Liege and Lief ''Liege & Lief'' is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist (Denny did not appear on ...

'' lineups. Also in 1987, a VHS documentary, ''It All Comes 'Round Again'', on Fairport Convention was released which contained excerpts of several audio recordings featuring Denny, plus a single poor-quality video recording of her singing her song "Solo" during her second stint with Fairport in 1974, as filmed by the University of Birmingham's "Guild TV" amateur organisation. The original tape of this recording has apparently been lost; however, "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz" does appear on the DVD documentary ''Sandy Denny Under Review'' (see below) and other tracks have been made available via YouTube in very poor quality. Over the period 1988–1994, the Australian "Friends of Fairport" issued a series of subscriber-only cassette compilations drawing in the main on previously unreleased tapes from Trevor Lucas' collection (as stored in his attic in fact). Attic Tracks (AT) 1 (1988) contained out-takes from Sandy as well as some Fairport material and a few bizarre extras; AT 2 (1989) contained only Trevor Lucas material, no Denny; AT 3 (1989) entitled ''First and Last Tracks'' comprised 1966–1967 home demos and rare radio tracks, as well as 9 "pre-overdub" songs from Denny's last concert at the Royalty Theatre, London, on 27 November 1977 (a partial alternative to the later, overdubbed CD release ''

''), and AT 4 (1994): ''Together Again'' comprised one side of Lucas and the other of Denny in the form of more home demos, studio outtakes, and 4 tracks from a 1973 BBC radio concert. A cut-down version of these tracks (18 songs) was subsequently compiled for CD release by the Australian label

Raven Records Raven Records was an Australian record label that specialised in retrospectives and reissues or recordings by American, British and Australian artists. Raven Records was established in 1979 by Glenn A. Baker, Kevin Mueller and Peter Shillit ...

in 1995 called ''Sandy Denny, Trevor Lucas and Friends: The Attic Tracks 1972–1984''. In 1991, Joe Boyd issued a new version of Denny's '' All Our Own Work'' album with the Strawbs, called ''

Sandy Denny and the Strawbs ''Sandy Denny and the Strawbs'' is a compilation album of songs by Sandy Denny and Strawbs. The album is a reworking of tapes recorded by the band in Copenhagen in July 1967. Tracks from those recordings were first released on the Pickwick budget ...

'', on his

Hannibal Records Hannibal Records was a British record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre. Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport Co ...

label. The album had strings added to some tracks, including "

" and further tracks with Denny on lead vocal. In 1997, a one-disc compilation of Denny's solo BBC recordings was released as ''The BBC Sessions 1971–1973'' on

Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom. The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions.Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) '' ...

. Due to rights issues it was withdrawn on the day of release, thereby creating a highly collectible disc (up until the release of the comprehensive ''

Live at the BBC {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Live at the BBC or BBC Recordings are recordings originally made for or by BBC Radio 1. Many recordings were released under several name variants. Live at the BBC * ''Live at the BBC'' (The Be ...

'' box set in 2007). This release was followed in 1998 when Denny's final performance at the Royalty Theatre, entitled ''

'', was issued on CD, following a degree of re-recording and overdubbing of selected backing parts to replace reportedly unsatisfactory originals. In 1999, a single-disc compilation, ''Listen Listen – An Introduction to Sandy Denny'', was released on

comprising 17 previously released tracks taken from her four Island solo albums. ''No More Sad Refrains: The Anthology'' was released by

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in 2000. When first released, this compilation had several rare tracks, including "The Ballad of Easy Rider" from the

sessions, "Learning the Game" and "When Will I Be Loved" from the Bunch album ''Rock On'', "Here in Silence" and "Man of Iron" from the ''Pass of Arms'' soundtrack, and a previously unissued demo of "Stranger to Himself". In 2002, a previously unreleased, 2-CD live US concert recording by Fairport Convention from 1974 featuring Denny was released on the Burning Airlines label. Entitled ''Before The Moon'', it originated from a radio broadcast from Ebbets Field in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, Colorado, on 23/24 May 1974. The second disc was a limited release bonus with the original release comprising the second set from the same concert. This recording was re-released in shortened form as a single disc in 2011 on the It's About Music label entitled ''Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny: Ebbets Field 1974''. Also in 2002, the American

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

issued a budget-price "20th Century Masters" compilation called ''The Best of Sandy Denny'' with 10 tracks all available on Denny's studio albums. In 2004 a second comprehensive five-CD box set was released on the Fledg'ling record label called '' A Boxful of Treasures'' that included many unreleased recordings, in particular a whole disc of acoustic demos, many recorded at her home in Byfield that was highly prized amongst fans and critics alike, who had long asserted that her solo performances showed her work in its best light, revealing the true quality of her vocal style and compositions. Also in 2004, the Spectrum label issued a 16-track compilation of previously released material entitled ''The Collection: Chronological Covers & Concert Classics'', including a mix of studio recordings and live excerpts from the ''Gold Dust'' Royalty concert. In 2005, remastered versions of all Denny's solo albums came out with bonus tracks. Also in 2005, a single CD compilation entitled ''Where the Time Goes: Sandy '67'' was released on Castle Music containing all of Saga's Denny album tracks (including the alternative recordings on ''It's Sandy Denny''), together with two self accompanied tracks from Denny's recordings with the Strawbs. A DVD documentary entitled ''Sandy Denny Under Review'' was released on the Sexy Intellectual label in 2006 which contained interviews with her contemporaries plus brief excerpts from her audio recordings, plus some short video clips including two of the poor quality video recordings with Fairport from Birmingham University (details given above), two with Fotheringay from German TV's ''Beat-Club'' (further details given below), and three solo excerpts from the only surviving BBC footage on ''One In Ten'' (details as given in the next item). A 4-disc box set, '' Sandy Denny Live at the BBC'', came out in September 2007 containing (virtually) all of the known solo recordings made by Denny for that UK broadcaster including two complete concerts, one at the Paris Theatre in 1972 and one recorded for ''Sounds on Sunday'' in 1973, plus a range of other material spanning the years 1966–1973. Disc 3 of this set was a DVD containing surviving TV footage from a 1971 BBC ''One in Ten'' session comprising solo performances by Denny of "The North Star Grassman and the Ravens", "Crazy Lady Blues" and "Late November", along with digitised excerpts from her diaries, rare photos and a discography. A 1-disc subset of this box set entitled ''The Best of the BBC Recordings'' was subsequently released in 2008. A companion box set, '' Fairport Convention Live at the BBC'', also came out in 2007 and covered equivalent live recordings by Fairport over the period 1968–1974, of which the first two discs (1968–1970) contain examples from Denny's time with that group. In 2008, Jerry Donahue completed the unfinished second '' Fotheringay'' album begun in the autumn of 1970. It was released to general acclaim as '' Fotheringay 2'' and contained some notable Denny performances, in particular earlier versions of two Denny compositions, "Late November" and "John the Gun", and performances of the traditional songs " Gypsy Davey" and " Wild Mountain Thyme". Also in 2008, Island Remasters issued a double CD entitled ''The Music Weaver (Sandy Denny Remembered)'' which contained a mix of better known tracks and less well known demos and live recordings, previously released but not in companion with studio sessions. This compilation is also one of the very few to contain the

track "The Battle Of Evermore" which features a rare guest appearance by Denny. In 2010, a large 19-CD retrospective box set, simply titled ''

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

'', was released by Universal/Island Records in a limited edition of 3,000. It contained Denny's entire catalogue of studio recordings, including her work with the Strawbs, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and as a solo artist. The compilation also included a large number of outtakes, demos, live recordings, radio sessions and interviews. The box set was released to good reviews, including a 5-star review in ''Uncut'' and a 4-star review in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''. In late 2010,

Thea Gilmore Thea Eve Gilmore (born 25 November 1979), also known as Afterlight, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released more than twenty albums since her 1998 debut ''Burning Dorothy''. She has had three Top 40 entries on the UK Albums Chart and ...

was commissioned by Denny's estate, in conjunction with Island Records, to write melodies to unrecorded lyrics found in Denny's papers. The resulting album, ''Don't Stop Singing'', was released in November 2011 to generally good notices, including 4-star reviews in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' and ''

'' among others. On 21 April 2012, the single "London" was released as an exclusive

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

7″ single. Further recordings were released in 2011, including a German recording of Fotheringay in concert released as ''Essen 1970'' on the Garden of Delights label. The performance was remastered by original band member Jerry Donahue. This release was followed by ''19 Rupert Street'', a home recording of a rehearsal featuring Sandy and Alex Campbell recorded at his flat in August 1967. This release is notable for the fact that Sandy performs a number of tracks that are not available in any other versions, including a cover of "Fairytale Lullaby" by

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

. This CD was put out by Sandy's former Strawbs bandmate

Dave Cousins Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967. Career Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the Str ...

on his Witchwood label. Two-disc "Deluxe Editions" of Denny's album reissues appeared in 2011 and 2012 with additional tracks; the 2012 Deluxe Edition of ''Sandy'' included a previously unreleased eight-song solo set from her 1973 U.S. tour recorded at Ebbet's Field in

, Colorado. A similar two-disc reissue of Fairport Convention's ''Rising for the Moon'' also included, for the first time, the complete 1974 L.A. Troubadour performance of Fairport with Denny back on board, prior to the official announcement of her re-joining the group. On account of unprecedented demand for, and exhaustion of supply of the limited edition 19-CD set cited above, in October 2012 a limited edition 4-CD version was released entitled ''The Notes and The Words: A Collection of Demos and Rarities'', containing "75 songs that represent the cream of the rarities, demos and outtakes from the box set". Limited to 3,500 copies, this compilation is also now out-of-print. In 2013, Spectrum records issued a single-disc CD entitled ''The Lady – The Essential Sandy Denny'' that comprised 15 previously issued tracks, generally from Denny's well known albums. 2014 saw the release of another Fairport live U.S. radio broadcast from their 1974 tour with Denny, on RockBeat Records, entitled ''Live 1974 (My Father's Place)'', comprising 11 live tracks, most featuring Denny, recorded at the New York rock club My Father's Place. A four-disc Fotheringay retrospective, ''Nothing More: The Collected Fotheringay'', was released on 30 March 2015. This is the most comprehensive compilation of the group's recordings, and contains, in addition to all the tracks on ''Fotheringay'' and ''Fotheringay 2'' as both final studio versions and demos/alternate takes, the complete live concert set from Rotterdam in 1970 (including several previously unreleased tracks), seven Fotheringay tracks recorded in session for BBC radio (which had previously circulated only as bootlegs), plus a DVD disc containing four performances by Fotheringay recorded for the German '' Beat-Club'' TV series in 1970, which considerably augment the otherwise sparse known TV footage of Denny in particular. May 2016 saw the release of a 2-CD compilation, ''I've Always Kept A Unicorn – The Acoustic Sandy Denny'' which collected together many previously released, but dispersed, acoustic and/or demo versions of songs better known from their album counterparts, as well as three previously unreleased demos (with

, at the time Linda Peters) from 1972's '' Rock On'' sessions by one-off band

The Bunch The Bunch were a British folk rock band, which came together in 1971 to record their one off album, '' Rock On''. Formation The Bunch was put together by Trevor Lucas in late 1971, close to a year after his former band, Fotheringay, had disban ...

. A 7-CD box set by Fairport Convention entitled ''Come All Ye – The First 10 Years'' was released in July 2017 and contains a small number of additional, previously unreleased demos and alternate takes featuring Denny during her first tenure with the band over the period 1968–1969. Tracks not previously available include versions of Joni Mitchell's ''Eastern Rain'', an ''a capella'' version of ''Nottamun Town'', alternative takes of ''Autopsy'' and ''Who Knows Where the Time Goes'', and a rehearsal version of ''The Deserter''.

Unofficial releases and audience tapes

In addition to the authorised material listed above, a number unofficial/unauthorised compilations exist plus a range of audience recordings of varying quality, none of which would likely see the light of day as commercial issues but are of interest to a sector of Denny's audience on either historic or aesthetic grounds, often providing alternative views of songs known otherwise only from their commercially released versions. The first available unauthorised/bootleg CDs available in the 1980s and 1990s comprised principally off-air and other obscure material under such titles as ''Borrowed Thyme'', ''Poems from Alexandra'', ''Dark the Night'', ''Wild Mountain Thyme'' and ''One Last Sad Refrain''; such compilations are now largely superseded by the subsequent availability of most of the off-air material in much better quality as official releases as described above. Of more enduring interest are audience tapes of shows of which no "official" tapes survive. These include some early shows by

; a performance by Fotheringay at the 1970 Tenth National Jazz and Blues Festival, held at Plumpton Race Track, Streat, East Sussex, England; "solo" shows by Denny (on occasion with a small band including, among others, Richard Thompson) at the 1971 Lincoln Folk Festival and at the

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The thre ...

Well Hall Open Theatre in 1972; performances from

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

University and Guildhall, Newcastle upon Tyne, also in 1972; an early 1972 U.S. performance from

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The O ...

in New York; and several sets (Birmingham and Croydon) from her final 1977 tour in addition to the officially released ''

'' album; plus quite a large number of recordings strongly featuring Denny as part of the re-formed Fairport Convention over the period 1974–1975. The majority of these can be fairly easily located via relevant internet searches and, in addition, can be readily downloaded from archival music servers such as Sugarmegs (Sandy Denny concerts listed under "S"
SugarMegs Streaming Server
Fairport and Fotheringay under "F"

.

Legacy

Estate and family

After relocating to Australia and remarrying, Trevor Lucas died of a heart attack in 1989. Denny's estate is now managed by Lucas' widow, Elizabeth Hurtt-Lucas. A number of otherwise unreleased recordings of Sandy Denny from his collection have subsequently been the basis for posthumous releases of Denny's work including those on ''The Attic Tracks'' and elsewhere. Sandy Denny's daughter, Georgia, has rarely spoken about her mother in a public forum and in the mid-2000s declined an invitation to write the liner notes for ''Sandy Denny Live at the BBC''. However, in 2006 she flew to Britain from Australia to accept on her mother's behalf the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

award for Most Influential Folk Album of All Time, which was given for Fairport Convention's ''

''. Georgia gave birth to twin daughters on 29 April 1997, and a tribute album, ''Georgia on Our Mind'', featuring many of Sandy Denny's former bandmates and friends, was compiled in the children's honour. She also administers a Facebook page "Sandy Denny and Family" dedicated to her mother's memory and more recently, under the name Georgia Katt, has released some of her own DJ-based music.

Tributes

Since her death, many tributes have been made to Denny, both in music and elsewhere.

of Fairport Convention recorded the tribute "Song for Sandy" on his 1983 solo album ''

The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone ''The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone'' is the first solo album by Dave Pegg, of Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull. It was recorded at his Woodworm Studios in Barford St. Michael during spring 1983; it was released in 1983 as Woodworm WR003. ...

''.

of the Strawbs wrote " Ringing Down the Years" in memory of Denny shortly after her death. Songs more specific to the death were

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

's "Where Did My Life Go" (from the album ''

Thirteen Down ''Thirteen Down'' is the 13th album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1980. The album, credited as "The Bert Jansch Conundrum", originally appeared with at least three different sleeves, in the UK, US and Australia. There were ...

'') and Richard Thompson's "Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?" (from the album '' Shoot Out the Lights''). Fellow Brit folk pioneers

Spriguns Spriguns of Tolgus (aka Spriguns) were a British folk rock group formed in 1972. They managed to obtain a record deal with a major label and the attention of some significant figures in the folk rock world. They produced four albums with growing ...

changed the title of their 1978 album to ''Magic Lady'' after hearing of Denny's death while recording. In 1998, a variety of

Daylily A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus ''Hemerocallis'' , a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists have long ...

was named after her. Denny's songs have been covered by numerous artists in the years since her death. Some of the notable acts to have covered her music include

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McN ...

, former

Marillion Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mos ...

frontman

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

, who covered "Solo" on his album '' Songs from the Mirror'',

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program '' Austin City Limits'' starting in 1985 (season 10). In 1994 she won a Grammy Award ...

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

mentioned Denny in the lyric of "Blow Away (For Bill)", as one of the musicians to greet Bill in Heaven. "Blow Away (For Bill)" is the third track on Bush's 1980 album '' Never for Ever''. In 1984, Clann Eadair released the single "A tribute to Sandy Denny", featuring

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

on vocals. Several radio specials have been produced about Denny's life and music, including

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

's ''The Sandy Denny Story: Who Knows Where the Time Goes''. In 2007, Denny's song "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" also received BBC Radio 2's 2007 Folk Award for "Favourite Folk Track of All Time". In 2010, she was recognized by NPR in their '' 50 Great Voices'' special series. In April 2008, a tribute concert was held at The Troubadour in London, to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Denny's death. Those taking part included

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such ...

and

. A more extensive tribute was given later that year in December at the Southbank in the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The Q ...

called ''The Lady: A Tribute to Sandy Denny'' with a band composed of members of

Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical styl ...

, the evening featured a mix of young folk acts like

Jim Moray Jim Moray (born 1981) is an English folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Recording artist While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Moray released the home-recorded ''I Am Jim Moray'' EP. During ...

and Lisa Knapp alongside those that had known and worked with Denny such as

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

and Jerry Donahue. These acts were joined by performers from outside the world of folk like PP Arnold and

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. H ...

. The concert, which primarily featured songs written by Denny, received a four-star review in ''The Guardian''. In May 2012 the Southbank concert was expanded into an eight date UK tour called ''The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny''. The tour showcased Sandy's entire songbook taking in her work with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, her solo career and the new songs completed by Thea Gilmore on her album ''Don't Stop Singing''. The band was, once again, composed of members of Bellowhead. Other acts performing included the aforementioned Thea Gilmore and up-and-coming folk acts Lavinia Blackwall of Trembling Bells, Blair Dunlop and Sam Carter, alongside more established folk stars

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dra ...

, Dave Swarbrick and Jerry Donahue. The line-up was completed with performers not normally associated with the folk scene;

Green Gartside Green Gartside (born Paul Julian Strohmeyer; 22 June 1955) is a Welsh songwriter, singer and musician. He is the frontman of the band Scritti Politti. Early life Gartside was born on 22 June 1955 in Cardiff, Wales, to a " Cup-a-Soup salesman dad ...

, Joan Wasser (also known as Joan As Police Woman), and PP Arnold. The tour was well received, obtaining a four-star review in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

''. The London concert at the Barbican was filmed for BBC4, and broadcast in a 90-minute programme titled ''The Songs of Sandy Denny'' in November 2012. In the 2012 Irish film ''Silence'' (Harvest Films & South Wind Blows)
"Who Knows Where the Time Goes"
is used during the film and final credits. In April 2016 Denny was inducted into the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Hall of Fame. Alela Diane recorded the tribute "Song for Sandy" on her album ''Cusp'', released in February 2018. The song reflects on Denny's final tragic days and her orphaned baby daughter.''The Guardian''s review of Alela Diane's album ''Cusp''

Discography

Solo studio albums

* '' The North Star Grassman and the Ravens'' (1971) * '' Sandy'' (1972) * '' Like an Old Fashioned Waltz'' (1974) * '' Rendezvous'' (1977)

Solo live albums

* ''

The BBC Sessions 1971–1973 ''The BBC Sessions 1971–1973'' is a live album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny released in 1997. It contains a selection of live concert tracks recorded at the Paris Theatre, London on 16 March 1972, as well as live studio tracks recor ...

(1997) * ''

'' (1998) (live recording from final tour, 1977) * ''

'' (2007 4-disc compilation) * '' Sandy'' – Deluxe edition, 2012 – includes "Live at Ebbetts Field" (previously unreleased concert on disc 2)

With others

Denny's collaborations with other artists, including with Alex Campbell, The Strawbs,

, Fotheringay, and

, together with numerous posthumous releases and compilation albums, are detailed further on the

Sandy Denny discography The Sandy Denny discography chronicles the output of British folk rock singer Sandy Denny. Her brief career, spanning 1967 to 1978, saw the release of 4 solo albums and 4 singles on several record labels. Denny was the lead singer of the group ...

page.

References and notes

; General *

External links

Official website

Homage to Sandy Denny

Dedicated to the memory of Sandy Denny

Sandy Denny website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Sandy 1947 births 1978 deaths 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers A&M Records artists Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in London Alumni of Kingston College (England) British folk rock musicians Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery English folk singers English people of Scottish descent English women singer-songwriters Fairport Convention members Women rock singers Fotheringay members Island Records artists People from Byfield, Northamptonshire People from Wimbledon, London Singers from London Strawbs members The Bunch members

Childhood

Early career

From Fairport to Fotheringay

Solo career and final years

Death

Posthumous releases

Official releases

Unofficial releases and audience tapes

Legacy

Estate and family

Tributes

Discography

Solo studio albums

Solo live albums

With others

References and notes

Further reading

External links