Like an Old Fashioned Waltz

Last updated

Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
DennyOldFashionedWaltz.jpeg
Studio album by
Sandy Denny
ReleasedJune 1974 (UK / US) [1]
RecordedMay and August 1973
Studio
Genre Folk rock
Length42:55
Label Island ILPS 9258 (UK) / SW 9340 (US)
Producer Trevor Lucas, John Wood
Sandy Denny chronology
Sandy
(1972)		Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
(1974)		 Rendezvous
(1977)
Singles from Like an Old Fashioned Waltz
  1. "Whispering Grass / Friends"
    Released: Island WIP 6176 (1973)
  2. "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz / John the Gun (release cancelled) [1] "
    Released: Island WIP 6195 (1974)

Like an Old Fashioned Waltz is the third solo album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny, released in June 1974. [1]

Contents

Although Denny originally hoped to tour in support of the album, difficulties with Island Records delayed its release from autumn 1973 to June 1974, by which time she had rejoined Fairport Convention.

Background

The 1972 album Sandy failed to cross over to mass market success, a fact which greatly disappointed Denny; she had recently decided that she desired to be received as a notable music act along the ranks of Led Zeppelin or The Who, two bands with which Denny had performed as a guest vocalist. Denny decided that in order to establish her solo career, a record appealing to a new audience was required. [2]

Composition

The songs on Like an Old Fashioned Waltz saw Denny refining her songwriting craft, on a nostalgic panoramic song-cycle detailing many of her personal preoccupations: loss, loneliness, fear of the dark, the passing of time and the changing seasons. [3]

Like an Old Fashioned Waltz features covers of two jazz songs remembered from her father's record collection: The Inkspots' "Whispering Grass" and Fats Waller's "Until The Real Thing Comes Along". Around this time, it was rumored that Denny was considering recording an album solely consisting of jazz standards (or possibly an entire cover album of songs written by The Inkspots), but the record never materialized. [4]

Production

Recording

Work began on the album whilst Denny was still promoting her previous LP Sandy . The first track recorded was "No End" at Walthamstow Assembly Hall on 3 December 1972 in a solo version accompanying herself on the piano (later abandoned in favour of a new recording with a band and strings). [5] Denny embarked on a month-long tour of the US in April 1973, stopping at A&M Records' studios to record four songs; "Friends, Solo, At the End of the Day" and the new version of "No End" prior to a week-long residency at The Troubador in Los Angeles.

After a tour of Europe throughout June and July, sessions for the album resumed at Sound Techniques in London in August where the remaining tracks were recorded; "Carnival, Like an Old Fashioned Waltz, Dark the Night" and the two jazz standards "Whispering Grass" and "Until the Real Thing Comes Along". Harry Robinson added string arrangements to many of the tracks.

In addition to singing, Denny played acoustic guitar, piano and electric piano on "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz". Denny's Fairport Convention bandmate Richard Thompson performed lead guitar on "Solo" and "At The End of the Day".

Album cover

The album was originally issued in an embossed gatefold sleeve styled in the colours described in the album's title track (primrose, yellow and velvet green) and designed to look like an antique plate, with a floral motif drawn by Denny herself. The cover photograph by Gered Mankowitz depicts Denny in an old style image in the Edwardian style. The album's lyrics were reproduced in the gatefold.

A single of "Whispering Grass / Friends" was released in a sepia picture sleeve in the style of the album cover.

Release

Reception and reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Christgau's Record Guide C+ [6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

The album did not chart in the UK or elsewhere. In a contemporary review for The Village Voice , music critic Robert Christgau gave Like an Old Fashioned Waltz a "C+" and said that, apart from the "masterpiece" in "Solo", it is a "sluggish album". [8]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Brett Hartenbach gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, saying "Denny expands on the more polished moments that her previous work, Sandy, had suggested. [4] The tone throughout most of the record is melancholy and personal, with gentle piano, rich strings, and barely a trace of her British folk roots." [4] Hartenbach went on to call the album's opening track, "Solo", one of Denny's "best songs." [4]

Live band and abandoned tour

Several weeks after Like an Old Fashioned Waltz had been recorded, Sandy Denny married longtime boyfriend and bandmate Trevor Lucas on 20 September 1973 at Fulham Register Office. Shortly afterward, she put together a band comprising Pat Donaldson, Hughie Burns and Willie Murray, with intent to do an extensive tour in support of the album. The group recorded a session for BBC Radio on 14 November 1973 and also played a brief four-date tour around that time. [9]

However, the release of Like an Old Fashioned Waltz was delayed from Fall 1973 to June 1974, by which time Denny had rejoined Fairport Convention. Several songs from the album were regularly played during the Fairport tour that year.

Legacy

Songs from Like an Old Fashioned Waltz have been covered by a number of notable artists. Following Denny's death, Fairport Convention has sporadically performed the songs "Solo" and "It'll Take a Long Time". "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz" was recorded by Emmylou Harris on her 1983 album White Shoes . Eric Johnson and Susan Cowsill covered "At the End of the Day" for the 1995 compilation True Voices. Fish covered "Solo" on his 1993 album Songs from the Mirror .

Track listing

All tracks credited to Sandy Denny unless otherwise stated

Side one
  1. "Solo"
  2. "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz"
  3. "Whispering Grass" (Doris Fisher, Fred Fisher)
  4. "Friends"
  5. "Carnival"
Side two
  1. "Dark the Night"
  2. "At the End of the Day"
  3. "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" (Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin, L.E. Freeman)
  4. "No End"

The remastered CD version included four bonus tracks:

  1. "At the End of the Day" (Alternate take without strings)
  2. "King and Queen of England" (Demo recorded at Denny's home in Byfield 1974)
  3. "Like An Old Fashioned Waltz" (Live at the LA Troubadour 01/02/1975)
  4. "No End" (solo piano version recorded 03/12/1972)

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairport Convention</span> British folk rock group

Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater. They started out influenced by American folk rock, with a set list dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, with Matthews later leaving during the recording of their third album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Denny</span> English folk rock singer-songwriter (1947–1978)

Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny was an English singer-songwriter who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer".

<i>What We Did on Our Holidays</i> 1969 studio album by Fairport Convention

What We Did on Our Holidays is the second studio album by the English folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in 1969. It was their first album to feature singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. The album also showed a move towards the folk rock for which the band became noted, including tracks later to become perennial favourites such as "Fotheringay" and the song traditionally used to close live concerts, "Meet on the Ledge".

<i>Henry the Human Fly</i> 1972 studio album by Richard Thompson

Henry the Human Fly is the debut solo album by Richard Thompson, his first release following his leaving former group Fairport Convention. It was released on the Island label in the U.K. and the Reprise label in the U.S.A. in April 1972. The album was reissued by Rykodisc in 1991.

<i>Pour Down Like Silver</i> 1975 studio album by Richard and Linda Thompson

Pour Down Like Silver is the third album by the British duo of singer-songwriter and guitarist Richard and vocalist Linda Thompson. It was recorded in the summer of 1975 and released in November 1975 on the Island Records label.

<i>(guitar, vocal)</i> 1976 compilation album by Richard Thompson

(guitar, vocal) is a 1976 album by Richard Thompson. It was released by Island Records as a career retrospective after he and his wife Linda had gone into semi-retirement from the business of making and performing music following the release of Pour Down Like Silver (1975).

<i>Unhalfbricking</i> 1969 studio album by Fairport Convention

Unhalfbricking is the third studio album by the English folk rock band Fairport Convention and their second album released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences towards more traditional English folk songs that had begun on their previous album, What We Did on Our Holidays and reached its peak on the follow-up, Liege & Lief, released later the same year.

<i>Liege & Lief</i> 1969 studio album by Fairport Convention

Liege & Lief is the fourth album by the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the third album the group released in the UK during 1969, all of which prominently feature Sandy Denny as lead female vocalist, as well as the first to feature future long-serving personnel Dave Swarbrick and Dave Mattacks on violin/mandolin and drums, respectively, as full band members. It is also the first Fairport album on which all songs are either adapted (freely) from traditional British and Celtic folk material, or else are original compositions written and performed in a similar style. Although Denny and founding bass player Ashley Hutchings quit the band before the album's release, Fairport Convention has continued to the present day to make music strongly based within the British folk rock idiom, and are still the band most prominently associated with it.

"Whispering Grass " is a popular song written by Fred Fisher and his daughter Doris Fisher. The song was first recorded by Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra in 1940. The Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny also recorded it the same year. A live instrumental version was played and recorded by Johnny Hodges with Duke Ellington and his orchestra in the Cristal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota, also in 1940.

<i>Sandy</i> (Sandy Denny album) 1972 studio album by Sandy Denny

Sandy is the second solo album by British folk rock musician Sandy Denny. It was released in September 1972.

<i>Rock On</i> (The Bunch album) 1972 studio album by The Bunch

Rock On is a 1972 one-off album of oldies covers by The Bunch, a group of English folk rock singers and musicians. The Bunch was put together by Trevor Lucas in late 1971 to record this sole album. This album consisted of covers of the band’s favourite songs by Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and The Everly Brothers, amongst others.

<i>If You Saw Thro My Eyes</i> 1971 studio album by Ian Matthews

If You Saw Thro' My Eyes is the 1971 album by country rock/folk rock musician Ian Matthews. It was the first of two Ian Matthews solo albums released on Vertigo, a subsidiary label of Philips/Phonogram. Guest musicians were former Fairport Convention bandmates Sandy Denny on vocals and keyboards, and Richard Thompson on accordion and guitar. The album also featured guitarist Tim Renwick, jazz pianist Keith Tippett and Matthews' future bandmate in Plainsong, Andy Roberts.

<i>The North Star Grassman and the Ravens</i> 1971 studio album by Sandy Denny

The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies.

<i>Who Knows Where the Time Goes?</i> (Sandy Denny album) 1985 compilation album by Sandy Denny

Who Knows Where the Time Goes? is a retrospective compilation of the work of English folk rock singer Sandy Denny issued in 1985. It is a four LP boxed set released on the Island Records label in the UK and Germany and on Hannibal/Carthage Records in the US, later reissued as a three CD set. It includes released and previously unreleased recordings from 1967 to 1977, live performances, outtakes and demos from Denny's solo career, and with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and Strawbs.

<i>Rendezvous</i> (Sandy Denny album) 1977 studio album by Sandy Denny

Rendezvous is the fourth and final studio album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny, released on Island Records in May 1977, and the final album released during her lifetime.

<i>Gold Dust</i> (Sandy Denny album) 1998 live album by Sandy Denny

Gold Dust is a live album by the late English folk rock singer Sandy Denny. It documents one of Denny's last public performances and was recorded at London's "Sound Circus" venue at the Royalty Theatre, Portugal Street, near Aldwych, London on 27 November 1977. The album features many of her classic songs both as a solo artist and as a member of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay and remains the most extensive documentation of Sandy's live work with a backing band. The album was not released on the label originally planned owing to stated technical problems with the master tape, and was only released on a different label twenty years after her death after various guitar and backing vocal tracks parts were re-recorded by Jerry Donahue and others.

<i>Gottle OGeer</i> 1976 studio album by Fairport Convention

Gottle O'Geer is the eleventh studio album by English folk rock band Fairport Convention. The album was released through Island Records in May 1976.

<i>Live at the BBC</i> (Sandy Denny album) 2007 box set by Sandy Denny

Live at the BBC is a four disc compilation of British folk singer songwriter Sandy Denny's BBC sessions from 1966 to 1973 and contains almost all her solo work for the corporation. Disc 4 of the set is a DVD of Denny performing three songs on the music programme One in ten in 1971: the only surviving solo footage of her. This compilation superseded the earlier one-disc set issued on the Strange Fruit label in 1997 that due to rights issues was withdrawn on the day of release thereby creating a highly collectable disc up until the release of this comprehensive set.

<i>Sandy Denny</i> (box set) 2010 box set by Sandy Denny

Sandy Denny is a 2010 compilation box set of recordings by folk singer Sandy Denny and comprises all studio material and recordings made during her time both as a solo artist and as a member of Fotheringay, Fairport Convention, and other groups, together with home demos and live recordings.

<i>The BBC Sessions 1971–1973</i> 1997 live album by Sandy Denny

The BBC Sessions 1971–1973 is a live album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny released in 1997. It contains a selection of live concert tracks recorded at the Paris Theatre, London on 16 March 1972, as well as live studio tracks recorded for the BBC.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Heylin, Clinton. Record Collector (109): 66.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Clinton Heylin. No More Sad Refrains – The Life and Times of Sandy Denny. London, Helter Skelter, 2002. ISBN   1-900924-35-8 p159.
  3. ↑ Sandy Denny: Like an Old Fashioned Waltz Information
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hartbenbach, Brett. "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz – Sandy Denny". AllMusic . Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  5. ↑ This version was subsequently issued and is currently available as a bonus track on the Like an Old Fashioned Waltz re-mastered edition
  6. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: D". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved 24 February 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
  7. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert (12 September 1974). "Consumer Guide (48)". Village Voice . New York. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  9. ↑ This session is commercially available on the Live at the BBC boxset where the band perform Solo and Dark the Night.
  10. ↑ https://mainlynorfolk.info/sandy.denny/songs/whisperinggrass.html
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.