hypersongs

Sandy Denny

The English singer and songwriter who wrote "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" at nineteen and sang it on Fairport Convention's Unhalfbricking.

From Kingston to Fairport

Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny was born on January 6, 1947 in Merton Park, Surrey, grew up in Wimbledon, went to Coombe Girls' School in New Malden and began a foundation course at Kingston College of Art in September 1965. She sang and played guitar and piano. In 1967 she made the Saga recordings as Alex Campbell and His Friends and as Sandy and Johnny with Johnny Silvo, and spent a short time with the Strawbs; their album All Our Own Work was recorded in 1967 and issued in 1973.

In 1968 she replaced Judy Dyble in Fairport Convention. Unhalfbricking (July 1969) and Liege and Lief (1969) followed, and she left the band in December 1969. She then formed Fotheringay, whose self-titled album came out in 1970; a second album was left unfinished and completed by Jerry Donahue as Fotheringay 2 in 2008. In 1971 she sang with Led Zeppelin on "The Battle of Evermore" on Led Zeppelin IV.

Solo records and legacy

Her solo albums were The North Star Grassman and the Ravens (1971, UK 31), Sandy (1972), Like an Old Fashioned Waltz (1974) and Rendezvous (1977), and she rejoined Fairport in 1974 for a world tour and Rising for the Moon (1975). The Royalty Theatre concert in London on November 27, 1977 was issued as Gold Dust in 1998. She died on April 21, 1978, aged 31.

Melody Maker readers voted her Best British Female Singer, in 1970 and 1971 by Wikipedia and in 1971 and 1972 by Mainly Norfolk. Liege and Lief won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards prize for most influential folk album in 2006 and she entered their hall of fame in 2016; Rolling Stone placed her 164th in its 2023 list of 200 greatest singers. Kate Bush referred to her in "Blow Away (For Bill)" (1980), and Dave Cousins wrote "Ringing Down the Years". The books are Clinton Heylin's No More Sad Refrains and Mick Houghton's I've Always Kept a Unicorn.

Albums

  • Unhalfbricking 1969 · Island

    Fairport Convention's third studio album, with Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" and three Dylan songs.

Songs

  • Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Unhalfbricking · 1969

    Denny's song, written at nineteen, first released by Judy Collins and then sung by Denny on Unhalfbricking.

Sources

  1. Sandy Denny, Wikipedia
  2. Sandy Denny discography, Wikipedia
  3. Sandy Denny: biography, Mainly Norfolk
  4. Sandy Denny, Sandy Denny