Sandy Denny Back.
Denny left the band in 1969 after the recording of the legendary "Liege and Lief" album. Fairport's 1975 album re-united the group with singer/songwriter Sandy Denny.
During the the six years that had passed, the band had experienced quite a lot success and and several line-up changes. In fact only Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks were still in the band, when the new recordings began. In the meantime Sandy had had her own group, "Fotheringay" and had recorded 3 highly acclaimed solo-albums.
Expectations were great among Fairport Convention fans about the re-union. And fans of Sandy Denny would not be disappointed, because Denny is in several ways the dominating figure on the album. As the main songwriter and singer on more than half of the album, it almost feels like a Denny album. The musicians backing Denny on her solo-albums were often friends from Fairport, anyway, so logically the sound is not very different. Denny's had already proved to be a prolific song-writer and on this album some of her very best can be found. The title track could very well be the most optimistic and commercial she ever wrote. And songs like "Stranger to Himself", "What is True" and "One More Chance" ranks with the very best on her solo-albums.
Another stand-out is Swarbrick's wistful "White Dress" beautifully sung by Denny.
Unfortunately the songs sung by Swarbrick himself and Trevor Lucas not quite up to the high standards of Denny's. The best is Lucas' country influenced "Restless".
The bonus-tracks draw the same picture, with three Denny demos ( all very good ) and a B-side written by Lucas.
Altogether probably one of the most main-stream and least folk-influenced albums the band ever released. Fine production and great playing by one of the strongest Fairport line-ups.
One of the very best
e "Liege&lief" or "Unhalfbricking") and it's a shame no one else has left a better review until now. This album is as good as FC's best other works (i. Besides being extremely even and consistent, Sandy Denny's compositions are arguably her best ever. The song "One more chance" is worth spending every penny for this title and will give you goose bumps from the beginning till the very end (the guitar solo is absolutely unbelievable!!!).
Anyway, to me this is just a great album for all ages with no weak track (note some songs have different colors but overall blend in to the better after a couple of listens). There, I wrote it!!!!.
A Really Really Good Album That Really Ought Have Been Great
But, somehow, it wasn't. "Sandy Denny rejoins Fairport Convention" sounds like a recipe for a great album.
Perhaps it's because i just don't much like several of the songs. I don't much DISlike them either, and that's a recipe for apathy.
Of the songs that i DO like, i like a couple of them quite a bit, indeed -- as songs -- though i must agree that the production to some extent detracts even from the songs i do like.
That said, the title song is wonderful, Trevor's "Iron Lion" is one of the better railroad songs i've heard in a while, "White Dress" is almost achingly beautiful, "Stranger to Himself" is almost Dylanesque in its apparent symbolism, and, as others have remarked, "One More Chance" is a soaring wonder that shows what this band COULD have done, if they had been allowed/elected to soar to the heights that they could reach.
Sandy was only to be with us for a little while longer; it's sad that she and the band didn't take this chance to get together, rare back and fly.
That all having been said -- if you are at all a fan of Fairport, Sandy Denny or both, this album is one you need, if only for the title song and "One More Chance".
(The cover, by the way, is one of the prettier and more evocative of all the Fairport album covers)
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A Later Note (11/26/02): Probably this album should be considered in tandem with "Before the Moon", a recent 2-disc set presenting two live shows recorded at Ebbets Field on the US tour that supported this album. I haven't heard it yet, but it sounds like a fantastic set.
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A STILL Later Note (10/18/06): DEFINITELY this album should be considered in tandem with "Before the Moon". You should buy this first, then "Before the Moon". f you are at all a fan of Fairport, Sandy Denny or both, you won't regret it.
A Much Better Sandy Denny Album Than "Rendezvous"
It has more of a country-rock, singer-songwriter feel than Fairport's earlier progressive-folk albums, although this was off-putting to some fans. "Rising for the Moon" may not be as epochal or acclaimed as "Liege and Lief," but I like it better and play it more often. It is also a much better Sandy Denny album than the overproduced "Rendezvous" (1977) which relied heavily on covers. It is ironic that she occupied a more central position on this 1975 Fairport Convention offering than on her final solo album before her untimely death at age 31. The five originals Denny contributed to "Rising for the Moon" are easily some of her finest songs: the bluegrass-inflected title track, "What Is True," "After Halloween," "Stranger to Himself," and the epic "One More Chance. " If you enjoy "Sandy" (1972), you will find much to love on "Rising for the Moon. " Trevor Lucas'"Restless" is another excellent cut. It is only because of two weaker numbers ("Dawn" and "Let It Go," respectively rather turgid and twee, but still listenable)that this album receives 4 stars instead of 5. .
An album that should have been much better
Super-producer Glyn Johns (the Who, Clapton, Eagles) was brought in. When Sandy Denny returned to Fairport Convention, the band made one last bid for stardom. And the result was a surprisingly tepid album.
Johns seems to have been going for a singer-songwriting feel. The instruments are muted, with the fantastic musicianship of guitarist Jerry Donahue and fiddler Dave Swarbrick kept under wraps, and the bass and drums playing somewhere off in the distance. Nothing will distract the listener from the underlying songs! The problem is that those songs aren't good enough to carry the burden. Sandy contributes five songs that all have strong lyrics matched with lackluster music, and she sings them with a halfhearted effort. There's just enough going on to suggest that songs like "Dawn" and Trevor Lucas's "Iron Lion" could have been memorable with livelier arrangements and production. Lucas does provide his best Fairport moment with "Restless".
The album closes with "One More Chance", an 8-minute Sandy opus that is everything the rest of the album is not. Sandy finally raises her voice and sings like SANDY DENNY. The verse and chorus both have great melodies. And then. . . Donahue and Swarbrick both soar in an extended instrumental. This song is one of the all-time Fairport Convention highlights. If the same approach had been used throughout the album, "Rising for the Moon" might be remembered with "Liege & Leaf" and "What We Did on Our Holidays". Instead, it's an album best suited for late at night with a glass of wine. It's background music for melancholy, not an album that commands your full attention.
(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)
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