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Sandy Denny was one of the great English singers, and its been good to see her getting some of the attention her genius deserves. She emerged out of the late 'sixties folk scene to join Fairport Convention. For them, she brought classic songs like Fotheringay and Who Knows Where the Time Goes, as well as lending her glorious voice to the classic folk songs and Thompson/Swarbick classics that made up the epochal Liege and Lief. With that she left the band, though continue to be part of a wider Fairport circle of musicians. She produced four solo studio albums: the first two pretty brilliant, though all undermined on occasions by overly bombastic string arrangements (perhaps owed to her record company's pressure for sales). For many, she is only known for her singing on Led Zep's Battle of Evermore. Tragically, she died young.
Recent years have seen increasing interest in her work. As a result, some of those songs have emerged in more stripped down forms, notably on the box set A Boxful of Treasures. These songs were from The North Star Grassman and the Ravens and Like an Old Fashioned Waltz:
mp3 Sandy Denny: Next Time Around
mp3 Sandy Denny: At the End of the Day
On the same box set is a lovely song which was left off Rendezvous, in full and stripped down versions. Here's the later:
mp3 Sandy Denny: Full Moon
As a bonus, Mark Olson (once of the Jayhawks) produced this song on his new album, The Salvation Blues:
mp3 Mark Olson: Sandy Denny
I will return to matters Fairport et al anon.
Buy Sandy Denny here; Mark Olson here
Elvis Costello has finally brought out a new rock'n'roll album. Everytime he does this, it's nailed as the great comeback (and a sense of relief from all the left field experimentation and collaborations) and turns out not to be; I suspect this will be the case here. Nonetheless, it is very rare that a Costello album doesn't contain something great. What will it be on this? If we still had singles, I suspect this would be it:
mp3 Elvis Costello and the Imposters: American Gangster Time
When the last rock'n'roll album came out, the stand out track turned out to be this song. here it is in an alternative version:
mp3 Elvis Costello and the Imposters: Country Darkness (Clarksdale Sessions)
And here is a little rarity, from a tribute album to June Carter Cash.
mp3 Elvis Costello: Ring of Fire
Buy the music here.
Veedon Fleece. 1974, was the last of the great run of masterpieces Van Morrison produced, that began with Astral Weeks. The later ones tend to be forgotten. Veedon Fleece is steeped in Irish pastoral, and still sounds as fantastic now. Try these:
mp3 Van Morrison: Linden Arden Stole the Highlights (removed by request)
mp3 Van Morrison: Streets of Arklow (removed by request)
From the previous year, a previously unreleased track that came out on The Philosopher's Stone:
mp3 Van Morrison: Try for Sleep (removed by request)
The cd doesn't seem to in print at the moment. Why not?
Just discovered The Dexatens. A heady blend of country rock. What's even better, you can download their album Lost and Found for free from their website here. If you want taster, try this:
mp3 The Dexateens: Lost and Found
Also, try the title track from their earlier Red Dust Rising:
mp3 The Dexateens: Red Dust Rising
Buy their music here, download drm-free here.
The Jayhawks were one of the ultimate alt-country bands. Their long collapse saw solo records emerge. The last was main songwriter Gary Louris, who has released his first solo album Vagabonds. Try this:
mp3 Gary Louris: True Blue
Mark Olson released a fine solo album last year, The Salvation Blues. Try this:
mp3 Mark Olson: Clifton Bridge
Tim O'Reagan has a solo album, which I'll get to soon, Meanwhile try this stripped down version of a great song he did for the Jayhawks:
mp3 The Jayhawks: Tampa to Tulsa
And the band as it was. Try this acoustic live version:
mp3 The Jayhawks: Blue
Bu the artists music here.
