Sandy tribute at South Bank Centre, 1 December

[Jules Gray]

I heard him sing earlier this year in Cardiff, and I felt priveleged to be there.

I had a similar pleasure dahn in The Big Smoke, and I felt likewise.  I got to have a wee chat too, which meant a lot to me.

And what a man - if you ever doubted one fella, his fiddle, his voice and his sense of humour could hold your attention for a whole show - then think again.  Even if he couldn't sing or play violin, he'd still be one of the best entertainers out there!

Jules

[Sam]

look up dime

[Bob Barrows]

Well, have just listened to it again and:

• Mary Epworth? Never heard of her but she's worth another listen - I'll have to look her up
• Sorry Sam, but Almond did not do it for me ... actually, he never did  
• my opinion of Lisa Knapp was confirmed.
• I was shocked at the strength of Swarb's voice - he definitely did not "ruin" the song  >:
  Of course, it's all subjective and everyone is entitled to state their opinion without being excoriated by the rest of us...(
• I need to look up more of Sam Carter's work
• Jim Moray deserves another listen
• Never heard of Baby Dee, but he didn't do it for me either - didn't make we reach for the Next button, but ... next
  Oh wait! "He's" a "she"!

[Edthefolkie]

Sounds like by and large it was a great evening! Did the bar run out?

I'm really sorry we didn't go this time, especially as Mr Swarbrick played AND SANG .    I wanted to see Lisa Knapp again too but I suppose there'll be another chance soon. I dunno, the thought of the venue put me off a bit - had some dodgy experiences there in ancient times, we'd have had to stay over, and we thought not a lot could top the Troubadour gig. And the wine stains never came out of the jacket last time....

But thanks to everybody for giving self and better half an idea of what it was like. Well done Marc Almond too, that will spread the word to those who don't know how good a songwriter Sandy was. Just as long as R*bbie W*lliams or J*mes Bl*nt don't have a go.

[Godzee]

Murdered!? I've held off commenting until now that I heard a recording.
(Firstly it is great to hear Swarb singing for the first time in a decade.)

Yes the song is sung in his style, but what were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation? I thought his 'Suits me well' was wonderful.

As I have said before I've always been a fan of Swarb's singing, as much as his fiddle playing. It's great to have him back.

It's amazing how quickly a quote can get swarmed on by the vultures... And frankly I find the "What were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation" to be a complete Daily Mail-esk exaggeration and complete misrepresentation of what I actually said!

For the record, I love Swarb's voice and I love the version he did on his solo album. Likewise I didn't say anything about Swarb's vocals, and yes I agree it was nice to see him playing and singing as for me it has been a long time!!

With that weight of expectation I had put on it in my mind, I was massively dissapointed. I am sorry if this makes me a heathen, but that's what I thought.

[YaBB Master (Colin)]

It's amazing how quickly a quote can get swarmed on by the vultures... And frankly I find the "What were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation" to be a complete Daily Mail-esk exaggeration and complete misrepresentation of what I actually said!

Sorry, but if you say something as provocative as 'murdered' you really must expect an equally robust responce.
Actually you did specifically compare it with the original version, which you had fond memories of, so I thought my responce was fair enough.

[Godzee]

It's amazing how quickly a quote can get swarmed on by the vultures... And frankly I find the "What were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation" to be a complete Daily Mail-esk exaggeration and complete misrepresentation of what I actually said!

Sorry, but if you say something as provocative as 'murdered' you really must expect an equally robust responce.
Actually you did specifically compare it with the original version, which you had fond memories of, so I thought my responce was fair enough.

I did not compare this 2008 to the Sandy (original) version at all, I compared it with Swarb's own earlier version (Which in my opinion is absolutely fantastic!). Therefore, unless you consider that version "a Sandy Denny impersonation" (Which I certainly do not) you misrepresented what I originally said.

[Sam]

Murdered!? I've held off commenting until now that I heard a recording.
(Firstly it is great to hear Swarb singing for the first time in a decade.)

Yes the song is sung in his style, but what were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation? I thought his 'Suits me well' was wonderful.

As I have said before I've always been a fan of Swarb's singing, as much as his fiddle playing. It's great to have him back.

It's amazing how quickly a quote can get swarmed on by the vultures... And frankly I find the "What were you expecting, a Sandy Denny impersonation" to be a complete Daily Mail-esk exaggeration and complete misrepresentation of what I actually said!

oi watch it.. i am no vulture and i thought i was very polite considering.

[Jamie73]

The Lady: Sandy Denny Tribute
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
4 stars out of 5.
•   Robin Denselow
•   The Guardian, Thursday December 4 2008
•   
The stage was dominated by a black-and-white photograph of a thoughtful young lady with windswept hair, staring purposefully into David Bailey's lens.
This is the best-known image of a singer who died 30 years ago at the age of 31, and has now acquired legendary status thanks to her often bleak and mysterious songs. She was a complex figure, and this was reflected in her writing. "These songs are biographical and only about 10 people understand them," she once told me.
Reinterpreting Sandy is no easy task, but this impressively varied show at a packed-out QEH set out to do just that. There were 10 soloists, mostly representing the contemporary folk scene. For many of the songs they were backed by a choir and a sturdy house band that included members of Bellowhead and guitarist Jerry Donahue, who played with Sandy for many years. It was a challenging night for young female singers, but Mary Epworth matched Sandy's varied moods with a gutsy Come All Ye and a sad, powerful treatment of Solo, a song of alienation, while Lisa Knapp produced a thoughtful Quiet Joys of Brotherhood, with help from Dave Swarbrick, the fiddle player who worked with Sandy in the Fairports.
It was a good night too for Jim Moray, with a no-nonsense, rousing treatment of the traditional murder ballad Matty Groves, and by way of contrast there was the highly theatrical Marc Almond trying to cope with the complex melodic shifts of The North Star Grassman.
To close, the entire cast performed Who Knows Where the Time Goes, with the lonely-looking figure of Sandy Denny playing along on piano, on a screen behind the stage. It had been a great evening, but I went home to listen to her original recordings.

[PaulT]

and if those reading the reviews have their curiosity roused, perhaps Sandy's music & words will reach even more people...

Congratulations on what appears to have been a successful event.

[martin driver]

I found it a most enjoyable evening, fair to say a couple of the turns were not completely to my taste but I went to the QE hall on Monday evening with an open mind, prepared to hear interpretations of Sandy's music presented by a variety of artists, who themselves are smitten as we are, by the lady and her music.

The content of the show and list of performers was made quite clear by the SBC and the promoters of the event, so with that prior information, I don't quite understand why anyone would attend knowing they would not find the experience a pleasant one.
It seemed quite obvious to me that we were to be presented with an interesting evening and it would therefore be necessary to go into the hall with an open mind.
It would appear there are some people, who under no circumstances wish to hear Sandy's music played by, or reinterpreted by other artists, if that is so, why did they chose to attend. One such person emerged from a two year hibernation to say how awful or ill conceived, in their opinion the event was ?  Surely they must have realised roughly what to expect before the event.

The organisers in my opinion did an admirable job, the singers and musicians without exception gave their all and I thank them wholeheartedly (even the ones I didn't quite get) for what for me was, a very enjoyable & successful evening.

[Jamie73]

Hi all

Just to answer an earlier question, this was a non-profit event which purely covered costs of all the people involved, which were many!

Jamie

[colin h]

Sorry to repeat the question,

but has the event been recorded and if so, it is available on Utube, BBC1 or WHY ?

[Jamie73]

Yes - it has been professionally recorded and will be broadcast by Bob Harris on BBC Radio hopefully before Christmas. I don't know re YouTube.

There will also be a feature on Sandy in a BBC4 series about British Female singers next year.

Jamie

[billy]

from the chief organiser................



Hi Guys,
 
Andrew here. Thanks for all the nice comments, the concert was a real labour of love for me, and alot of hard work on my part and for everyone involved- cant believe it all went like clockwork without a hitch!
 
Anyone that is a musician will know how hard Sandys songs are to play, so alot of effort was put into the arrangements by Pete and Andy from Bellowhead. I couldnt have asked for a better band. Secondly, the concert was non profit, and so everyone involved volunteered their services for practically nothing- they could all have earnt way more on solo bookings, so its a real testement to their commitment and interest in Sandy that they wanted to take part in this event- I will never forget that generosity of spirit.
 
I feel I must make a response to Bodger who was quite negative about the event; whilst I agree no one is going to top Sandy herself, we do have some excellent singers and performers on the contemporary folk scene. In putting this show together, I had several aims; the first was to have a bill of largely younger fans of Sandy who would be able to bring interest in her recordings to a new audience; I didnt see the point in a class of 69 reunion- (as in many ways I felt that had already been done with the Lieg and Lief concert at Cropredy).  and secondly if Sandy's legacy is to survive and grow, it needs to reach beyond the kind of audience that originally bought her records- they are already 'sold' on Sandy; and when they are gone where will Sandys legacy be without ongoing interest from the musicians and folk/music fans of today?
 
Sandy was never restricted by the folk genre and sang many different styles of music and worked with people not connected to the folk world- to that end, I wanted a bill that wasnt exclusivley folk based- also Sandys songwriting is so good, that I believe it can be sung by any good singer and her appeal is universal. for example the soul singer PP Arnold delivered totally authentic readings of I'm A Dreamer and Old Fashioned Waltz- she completley understood the songs. I will be happy if anyone that was a fan of PP or Marc Almond or any one else not associated with the folk world came to the show to see them, and went home thinking that tomorrow they would buy Sandys music. But even for folk fans, how could they not be interested in hearing singers of the calibre of Mary Epworth and Lisa Knapp or Jim Moray and Johnny Flynn perform Sandys songs? for many of us, myself included are to young to have seen Sandy and just hearing the songs played live was
thrilling.
 
I did of course want some people that had known and worked with Sandy to take part, and went straight to the top with Swarb and Jerry. I have to say that we also wanted other associates who for various reasons were unable to make it. Richard T was busy but supportive. As to Fairport the simple truth is they wanted to much money!
 
It was important to mark Sandys thirtieth anniversary with a musical event, and to keep Sandys name and reputation alive -  to try to bring her music to the widest audience possible. The concert should hopefully be on radio 2 before the end of the year.
 
As to the programme- which also took me forever to design! and which fellow listies Philip Ward and Jamie Taylor contributed to- we had no idea it would be so successful, so I'm looking into opening a mailorder list where if people let me know by a certain date, they can subscribe for a copy. The programme had many beautiful pics of Sandy in it, and it is a nice pictoral overview of Sandys life.
 
Thanks to all that came, and to Chris for taking piccies.
 
best
 
Andrew

[martin driver]

Two of the three guys in FC who knew and worked with Sandy, Gerry & Peggy were in Scotland on tour with the Dylan project, the third, Simon was probably wrapped up in rehearsal, preparing for Albion Xmas tour.

[David W]

Two of the three guys in FC who knew and worked with Sandy, Gerry & Peggy were in Scotland on tour with the Dylan project, the third, Simon was probably wrapped up in rehearsal, preparing for Albion Xmas tour.

Cheers Martin - I thought the swipe about then being too expensive was a tad below the belt.

[martin driver]

I'm not acting as a spokesman, or making excuses for anyone but think it's fairly common practice, if a band for any reason are unavailable, to simply ask for silly money.
That gives clear indication to a promoter that he/she should look elsewhere, rather than waste time, going up a blind alley.

As Billy stated the musicians that did appear, did so for practically nothing, full marks to each and everyone of them for that. That said, it is therefore reasonable to assume, none of them had other gig commitments on Monday evening.

 As mentioned in my earlier post, the FC guys were gigging on Monday and therefore unavailable.

[billy]

Andrew said in his introduction to Baby Dee that she had moved a concert scheduled for that night to the following day in order to appear.First time i've seen someone play harp then piano wearing hobnail boots !

[rogthedodge]

Andrew

No need to justify yourself or the choices you made. As far as I can see the dissenting voices are very few and in some cases didn't even attend so can be politely ignored.

Certainly I spoke to a couple of non-folkies for whom the night was a revelation and they were keen to learn more about Sandy and her music - job done!

On the programmes, yes please do offer them by mail order; they'd all been snaffled by the time I realised there were any.

Thanks again for a great night


Roger