Another interesting transition, from the #1 funk album to the #4 folk album, today we have the album “Sandy” by Fairport Convention vocalist Sandy Denny. Although there is probably not a genre here that I am less familiar with than folk, any Led Zeppelin fan like myself recognizes Sandy Denny as the guest vocalist on “The Battle of Evermore” on the fourth Led Zeppelin album. This album was a very pleasant surprise, and frankly, much more diverse in sound than most of the folk albums I have listened to. With only two exceptions, all of the songs were written by Sandy herself, just another impressive element of this record.
The opening track is a beautiful song, “It’ll Take a Long Time”. The streamed album version I listened to also included a live version of this song at the end, which was not on the original album. Following the aptly named “Sweet Rosemary”, we actually have the slightly funky “For Nobody to Hear”. Other songs I really enjoyed included the country sounding “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”, the gorgeous melody “Listen, Listen”, and “Bushes And Briars”.
Sadly, Sandy Denny’s life was in stark contrast to the peaceful joy of this album. Tormented by an adulthood filled with substance abuse and mental health struggles, she ultimately died shortly after she gave birth to a daughter, after falling down the stairs and suffering a fatal brain injury. This serves as an excellent reminder to each of us. No matter how well it may appear how things are going for someone, it never hurts to check in on those you love and see what you can do to help them, and when they do the same for you, embrace that love and know that there are many people who truly care for you.
A Lifetime-Plus of Music 