TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

From another forum....

Authorised Sandy Biography to be published by Faber & Faber in 2013/14

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"Finally, a, complete, considered and authorised biography of Sandy is underway.
Late last year her estate approached long time music journalist and PR man, Mick
Houghton with the idea: publishers, Faber & Faber commissioned the project and
now it's underway - due for publication late 2013/early 2014.


Mick is eminently suited to the task. Whilst he's taken care of the PR for many
of the big names in the UK's music scene through the 80s, Sandy fans will be
more impressed by his current roster of boyhood folk music heroes: Richard
Thompson, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, and Shirley Collins. The past couple of
years saw him researching and writing Becoming Elektra, his book about his all
time favourite record label, Elektra Records and its founder Jac Holzman, that
was published last October – while Mick was already busy organising the PR for
the Sandy Boxset and also providing all the interviews for the hardback book
that accompanied the 19CDs."


http://sandydennyofficial.com/news/authorised-sandy-biography-be-published-faber\
-faber-201314/

Jules

Excellent...he's a good writer...she deserves a lot more than she got from Heylin...so, fingers crossed.

Heylin's book was warts 'n' all: indeed, according to Sandy's friends, it included plenty of warts that she didn't have! However, I hope the new one won't go to the opposite extreme, and will give us a rounded picture.

By the way, nice to see the best verse of Stella Blue in your signature, David!

Oh, indeed..I'd hate to read hagiography...wasn't meaning to suggest that.  

Pamela Murray Winters' tome is very good, a shame it got blocked from being published. I recall reading an appreciation by Simon Nicol, bemoaning it's non-publication. Supposedly unavailable anywhere, but actually...

The opinions on the work of Pamela Murray Winters seem to very. I recently exchanged some mail with another knowledgeable person on Sandy's life and work and he thought it wasn't much good. Even compared with Heylin's book.  As for it's availability: I saw it once presented at some shady download-site. But attempts to actually download it amounted to nothing.
I'm presently waiting for the reprint of Heylin's book, which should have been for sale by now, but a few days ago I got an email from Amazon.uk that it's going to take to the end of the month before it will arrive.
Most people at Talkawhile seem to think this no good either, but I'll try to form my own judgement. It seems most of the key witnesses talked to Heylin, and I have not seen any lawsuits by any of them, so I suppose they are not misquoted.

Greeting from Holland
Hans Valk

Of the 'key witnesses' that I've talked to, most just shrugged off Heylin's book as sensationalist.
On the other hand Pamela Murray Winters was somewhat bland, but true.
It seems that Sandy was a great talent, a pleasant girl, but could be petulant. That makes for a better music than books.

Well... Let me quote an email I received from one of Sandy's friends in 2007:

"... I have no desire to reminisce to writers about those days, having learned my lesson from the hatchet job done on me by Clinton Heylin."

I have talked to none of Sandy's friends (obviously). Whether I'm at a disadvantage with that I can't judge. I don't know whether Heylin used a taperecorder and uses actual quotes from those interviews. If he did, then what people said is in the book, I suppose. How those quotes are put into a context is another matter. I'm not sure whether manipulation in that sense is easily spotted. But I'll give it a try.

I must say that I find it hard to go by other peoples judgements as far as books on British folk-rock are concerned.
I have read some favourable critics on 'The Guv'nor and the Rise of Folk Rock' by Hinton and Wall. I myself did not find it very well written. Although it's chronological in structure the authors manage to mess it up by all sorts of strange meanders. It does not make a good read. As for the attitude of the authors towards their subject, I would not say the book is a hagiography, but the smell of it is around.

I'm now reading 'Dazzling Stranger' the biography of Bert Jansch by Colin Harper. A better book, in my opinion. Strange enough this also meanders here and there, spending a lot of pages on people in Bert's vicinity, but this serves a purpose. All together those meanders produce a good overview of the 'pre-Fairport era' in the folk boom of the sixties.

But it will be interesting to see how Sandy's new biographer will go about his job and I'll surely buy the book when it is released.

Anyone else seen the new edition of Heylin's book? You'll find that he has now widened his field of fire to take in everyone who has been involved with her music in the last ten years:
http://sandydenny.blogspot.com/2011/06/heylin-is-not-great.html

Would coopying those 5 pages you refer to here be allowable for 'review' purposes, or is that too big a chunk?.....I'm not paying again just for that little bit....

Chris, I'll answer you offlist about that (and anyone else who wants to IM me).

Philip

I got it on Wednesday and I finished reading it yesterday. I put a review on Amazon.co.uk, also yesterday. I have just read your blog and posted a part of my review as a comment.
We seem to agree to a large extent. But I must say I think the book becomes only really vicious in the added part on the stream of CD's that has appeared in the 10 years since the book was first published. To a certain extent Heylin has a point when he says the release-policy of Universal is designed to empty the bank accounts of the hardcore fans, but he also makes some nasty accusations. More nasty then anything that is in the original text, I think.

As far as that original text is concerned: Heylin should have kept a little more distance to his subject than he did. There is some Trevor-bashing, but then several of the people he quotes give Lucas a bad press as well. He should have let those quotes speak for themselves. We don't really need his personal opinions.
I don't think the book is unreadable; on the contrary. There are still quite a few misspellings and awkward sentences, but on the whole the story flows fluently. What would have been valuable is some analysis of the music. There is nothing much in that respect.

Nevertheless, after having read the book, I think a lot of the fuss that has been made about it is exaggerated. Whether the private life of any person should be out in the open as Sandy's life is in Heylin's book, is a question open for discussion. It is clear that there is a connection between Sandy's work and her private life. Apart from the criticism I have stated above, I think Heylin could not have done anything else than he did, if the goal was a biography that shows the links between the music and Sandy's dreams, hopes and fears.
I agree with some people that Heylin does not seem to be a very agreeable person, but I think so on account of his latest addition to the book; not because the biography does Sandy unjustice.

As one of the people whom Mr Heylin made unpleasant, unjustified and untrue comments about in this book, I am sorry to hear that it has been updated and reprinted.

I thought it was a terrible book when I read it, full of what seemed to be a deliberate attempt to be sensational (drugs! drink! rock and roll!) and to attempt to show the worst of a glorious singer, who was nothing more and nothing less than a human with a mighty talent, and as such was subject to the frailties of her chosen career.

Pah! >:(