Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the wait, 16 Sep 2008
38 years after it was abandoned, the Folk-Rock supergroup's 2nd album finally sees the light of day, thanks to Jerry Donohue and the other surviving band members. It would seem from the liner notes that this has been created from recording sessions that had the vocals recorded live along with the rythmn section - not that you'd notice. It sounds remarkable. The opening track is a fantastic version of Denny's John the Gun, which veers towards prog rock and features a saxophone break that works brilliantly, and pre-dates the sort of thing Pink Floyd did years later. As with the first album, the different vocal styles sometimes clash, and the mix of folk, rock and country may not be to everyone's taste. Many of the songs were reused later by the members in newer incarnations, so they may sound familiar, but these versions are completely different.
All in all, thoroughly recommended.
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55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A worthwhile excavation....., 12 Oct 2008
This re-construction of Fotheringay's aborted second album has come in for much praise, understandable on one side since any "new" material 30 years after Sandy Denny died tragically young is to be welcomed but on the other side how does this material hold up in the cold light of day? In my opinion it is a bit of a mixed bag. Firstly and most importantly one must emphasise that Fotheringay was a BAND with two lead singers, Sandy Denny and her husband Trevor Lucas whom it has to be said was nowhere near as capable a vocalist (or frankly songwriter) as the increasingly legendary Denny. That said I am pleased to report Lucas' contributions to this album do largely exceed his rather shoddy tracks on the debut album ("The Ballad Of Ned Kelly" anybody? How Joe Boyd let that through I'll never know.....). His self-penned pop-rock tracks maintain their rather mediocre standard but the two trad-arr tracks he tackles; "Bold Jack Donahue" and "Eppie Moray" are pretty good, the latter greatly enhanced by Denny tackling the final verse. That said what people really will be buying this album for (including me) are the Denny tracks. "John The Gun" has been released before on Denny's debut solo album "Northstar Grassman" in a different arrangement and frankly it is a better version though the saxophone solo on "2" is at least different and thus justifies release. Three other tracks; "Late November", "Gypsy Davy" & "Two Weeks Last Summer" have been released before in different takes; notably on the Joe Boyd compiled "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" boxed-set and again all these earlier takes are better especially "Gypsy Davy" which has been tinkered around a little bit too much for my liking on "2" with extraneous backing vocals and the like. "Silver Threads" was released on Fledgling's excellent "Box Of Treasures" boxed-set and remains a charming artifact, miles better than the version on the ludicrously overproduced "Rendevous" album. That leaves the one truly unreleased Denny track; "Wild Mountain Thyme" which is an excellent performance (especially for a guide vocal) though again the backing vocal overdubs are unnecessary and surplus to requirements. The one real disappointment is that apparently there was another Denny performance; "Lowlands Of Holland" left on the cutting room floor which could not be finished due to time constraints, this is a shame since "2" is likely the last word on the Denny legacy with the recent comprehensive release of her surviving BBC sessions and spending the extra time getting that last track finished would have probably been worth it even if it did delay the album release. In conclusion it cannot be denied this is a release strictly for dedicated fans and most will welcome its appearance 30 years after Denny's death though I cannot help but feel that after a few listens many will be slightly disappointed with the lack of "genuinely" new listening content, a fact that might've been mitigated somewhat if "Lowlands Of Holland" had made the cut.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable album that enables us to ponder the might-have-beens, 8 Oct 2008
This is an interesting effort to create what might have been Fotheringay's second album back in 1970, had the band not broken up by Sandy Denny's decision to pursue a solo career. It has been constructed from the original material that was available in various stages of completion, with modern editing and additions. In spite of its limitations, the result is an album that is remarkably good. However, some of the material will be very familiar.
"Two Weeks Last Summer" and "Gypsy Davey" have been previously available when they were added to the CD reissue of "Fotheringay". Both are excellent songs and justify inclusion in that they could hardly have been left out of a reconstruction of their proper context.
Several other songs saw the light of day elsewhere. The two Lucas/Roche compositions were recorded by Fairport Convention when Trevor Lucas and Jerry Donahue were members - "Knights of the Road" on the "Rosie" album in 1973 and "Restless" on "Rising for the Moon" in 1975. The Dylan composition "I don't Believe You" was recorded by Fairport during the recording of "Nine" in 1973 but was not included on the album. It eventually surfaced on the "Fairport Unconventional" boxed set in 2002. All feature Trevor on vocals and it is illuminating to hear them in their 'original' context so many years later.
Sandy herself later used three of the songs on her solo albums. "Late November" and "John the Gun" appeared on "The North Star Grassman and the Ravens" not long after the break up of Fotheringay, while "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" was included on her last studio album "Rendezvous". The first two are Sandy compositions and show the potential of her performing her own songs in a band - in just what direction would things have developed, I wonder?
That leaves us with three more tracks - all of them arrangements of traditional songs. "Bold Jack Donahue", an Australian bush song, and "Eppie Moray", a Scottish ballad, get the epic folk-rock treatment. But the highlight for me was the lilting "Wild Mountain Thyme" - a carefully woven mixture of original track with modern additions to highlight Sandy's gentle delivery.
The packaging includes an insert booklet with lots of information about the band and the album project from Richard Williams. It includes an interesting quotation from Sandy Denny about the band's name, which mistakenly places Fotheringay Castle in Scotland. It was where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded, yes, but the location was Northamptonshire in England. Did Sandy really not know that, or was she misquoted?
So, are the tracks here worth the effort of putting together the album? The answer has to be 'Yes', in spite of the limitations of the material this is a most enjoyable collection that enables us all to ponder the might-have-beens.
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