Sandy Denny: Reflections on Her Music

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

For all the accolades, Sandy Denny (1947-1978) remains curiously elusive. Yet, with growing media interest and the reissue of her entire back catalogue on CD, the signs are that Denny's talent is burning brighter than ever.She emerged in the mid-Sixties while still a teenager, performing on the folk revival scene where she displayed her mastery of traditional singing before moving onto her own compositions and contemporary material. She was a leader of the folk-rock movement, a sound she was instrumental in creating. Whether in her solo recordings or as a member of bands such as the Strawbs, Fotheringay or - most famously - Fairport Convention, her voice speaks to us still in all its resonant purity. In this book Philip Ward, who has made a close study of the artist, presents a series of personal 'reflections' on her life and work. He fills in details overlooked by her biographers, surveys recent reissues of her recordings and offers the first in-depth analysis of her songwriting. He looks back to the public events marking the thirtieth anniversary of her death and assesses her alongside some of her contemporaries. In the author's words, the book is 'a series of experiments' in how to write about the subject. It concludes with a detailed essay arguing the case that, long before Amy Winehouse or Kate Bush, Denny was the first British female 'singer-songwriter' of international stature. The book is illustrated throughout, including previously unseen photos.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgements (p. ix)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• Reflections (p. 3)
• Sites of memory, sites of mourning (p. 9)
• Life Writing (p. 13)
• Hers (p. 15)
• Theo the sailor (p. 28)
• Stanhope Mews (p. 33)
• Chipstead Street (p. 40)
• The fleeting image (p. 47)
• Songs (p. 55)
• 'The North Star Grassman And The Ravens' (p. 57)
• 'The Sea' (p. 60)
• 'Autopsy' (p. 63)
• 'Tam Lin' (p. 68)
• 'Lord Bateman' (p. 74)
• A song list c1966 (p. 81)
• Recordings (p. 85)
• Live At The BBC (p. 87)
• Sandy and the Strawbs (p. 92)
• The big box (p. 95)
• Album covers (p. 101)
• Contemporaries (p. 105)
• Bob Dylan (p. 107)
• Led Zeppelin (p. 112)
• Nick Drake (p. 120)
• Shelagh McDonald (p. 124)
• Anniversary Year (p. 129)
• Cults and anniversaries (p. 131)
• April: The Troubadour (p. 135)
• September: Fotheringay revived (p. 139)
• December: South Bank Centre (p. 149)
• A Digression into Theory (p. 153)
• The third way? (p. 155)
• Singer, Songwriter (p. 165)
• Sandy Denny as singer-songwriter (p. 167)
• Picture credits (p. 209)
• About the author (p. 211)