Sandy Denny – Sandy (1972)

Since I posted those Fairport Convention albums I figured I might as well post some Sandy Denny. For those unfamiliar, it’s pretty much accepted fact that she was the best female singer of her era. She spent little more than a year with Fairport, over which time they recorded three (!) classic albums. She's also credited as the driving force behind the band’s shift to playing electrified versions of British folk songs (which they are still doing to this day). Ironically, she left the band mere months after the recording of their classic Liege & Lief in 1969, having quickly grown tired of that style of music, and wanting to write more songs of her own. Between 1970 and her accidental death in early 1978, she recorded a series of stunning albums, none of them commercially successful despite tons of critical praise.

This one here is her second album, generally considered to be the best of the bunch. I don’t know if I agree with that, but it’s definitely the easiest one to get in to. The songs are all solid and there’s plenty of variety (acoustic folk, melancholy pop, country, blue-eyed soul), the production is glossy but uncluttered, and the singing is spectacular as usual.
Guest musicians include “Sneaky Pete” Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Bros, who peppers a couple of tracks with his trademark fuzzy pedal steel; and former Fairport bandmates Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick, who plays a haunting fiddle solo in the otherwise a capella take on Richard Farina’s “Quiet Joys of Brotherhood”.
Anyway, a really nice little album, and a good entry point if you’ve been wanting to get in to her music.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9J8YRSTR (11-15 are bonus tracks)