Across the Pond #10 - July 2000

by Paul Castle

Another great month in prospect culminating in what is probably the
highlight of the English folk calendar, The Cambridge Folk Festival.
This year's, the 36th, promises to be as good as usual, with the likes of
Joan Baez, Dr John, Ani DiFranco, Odetta, Guy Clark, Lonesome
River Band, Solas, Corey Harris, The Hot Club of Cowtown and
The Arlenes making up this year's North American contingent.
[see UK Festivals below].

News comes this month of the publication in the UK of a new biography
by Clinton Heylin, whose 'Dylan Behind Closed Doors' (1996, Penguin)
was nominated for the Ralph J. Gleason award. His latest book is titled
'No More Sad Refrains: The Life and Times of Sandy Denny'.

"Both with Fairport Convention and in her solo career, Sandy Denny
had one of contemporary music's great voices - in many ways she was
the English Janis Joplin - and Melody Maker voted her best female
singer in 1970 and 1971. She appeared in the stage version of The
Who's Tommy and sang on Led Zeppelin legendary fourth album. She
was also a highly acclaimed songwriter, composing most of her own
material. However as one of the few women in the fast-living, hard-
drinking music industry of the era, Sandy was forever torn between the
thrill of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle and the need to settle down and start a
family. It was a contradiction she never resolved, and, plagued by self-
doubt about both her appearance and her talent, she took refuge in
drink and drugs. Sandy died aged 31 in 1978 in circumstances shrouded
in rumour and mystery. Since her death her songs have been covered by
Nina Simone, Nancy Griffiths and Mary Black and she has been cited as
an influence by Kate Bush, Don Henley and Beth Orton, amongst others.

Drawing on hours of fresh interviews with Sandy's friends and musical
collaborators and with unprecedented access to her journals, diaries and
unreleased recordings, Heylin has produced a moving portrait of a complex,
driven and ultimately human, flawed genius who may well have been the
UK's greatest ever female singer-songwriter."

For a Sandy Denny website, with brief biography, pictures lyrics and chords,
albums, extensive interviews, with links to related websites and mailing lists,
see http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/sandy.denny/ .

Once again, in addition to those coming for Cambridge, there's another fine
crop of American talent on their way over this month, including established
singer songwriter Suzanne Vega, top fiddler Liz Carroll, 'protest singer'
David Rovics, 'crossover country' singer Karyn Black and fine English
acoustic guitarist, now resident in the States, Martin Simpson.

Go to:
London gigs
Best of the Rest of the UK
Festival Listings
UK Tour Dates

Contact Paul Castle: pdcmusic@freeuk.com

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