I've already mentioned my enjoyment of Fairport Convention, through pre-punk John Peel, so on finding this 2 CD album in a 'these CDs don't have any covers or boxes' sale in Our Price for £1, I snapped it up.
While I'd loved Sandy Denny's work with Fairport, I hadn't had the same enthusiasm for her solo work, which makes up the bulk of this anthology.
Denny sadly died in 1978, and I saw Fairport play about two weeks later, a fairly muted gig.
The album opens with the classics from the Fairport 1969 albums - Fotheringay, Who Knows Where The Time Goes, Crazy Man Michael and Farewell, Farewell, all sounding wonderful then an outtake from Liege and Lief, Roger McGuinn's Ballad Of Easy Rider, a solid, unspectacular cover.
The next few tracks are from Fotheringay's only album and they're pleasant, but little makes much impact, until the longer track Banks Of The Nile. The songs from The North Star Grassman And The Raven are far stronger, starting with Late November, the fantastic John The Gun and the lovely title track. It's not hard to conclude that Denny reuniting with Richard Thompson (who played guitar and arranged) marked a return to form.
Then there's a couple of tracks from Rock On a 50s and 60s covers album done by The Bunch (a Fairport/Fotheringay spin off) - serviceable versions of the Everlys' When Will I Be Loved (duetting with Linda Thompson) and Buddy Holly's Leaving The Game. CD1 ends with two songs from the soundtrack of the 1972 film Pass Of Arms, unremarkable songs brought to life by Denny's glorious delivery.
CD2 is mostly songs from Denny's last three solo albums. Of the five tracks from Sandy, only It'll Take A Long Time and It Suits Me Well make any mark. Similarly, Like An Old Fashioned Waltz contributes five songs, all beautifully sung, with lavish string parts, but ultimately unremarkable, with No End being truly awful. There's a couple of previously unreleased demos, which sound more promising than the previous solo songs, before the final few tracks from Denny's last album Rendezvous. For Shame Of Doing Wrong and One Way Donkey Ride are brighter songs, while All Our Days is an overblown, overstringed stinker.
This was a very disappointing listen. i get that an anthology is meant to showcase the whole of an artist's career, but sadly this just highlights how weak Denny's solo work was by comparison with her Fairport stuff, and that a beautiful singing voice can't make up for mediocre songs.
2* - While there are some early classics here, most of the later (solo) stuff is very disappointing
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