Sandy tribute at South Bank Centre, 1 December

[martin driver]

here, here, well said that man

[billy]

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

I don't think Andrew ever posts here.That was what he had to say about it at the Sandy Denny group site.You can contact him there.

[billy]

SandyDennyList@yahoogroups.com

[jjjudy]

Perhaps capturing the spirit of a woman in her prime requires musicians of a similar age and energy level. So it all worked out fine.

The "not necessarily Bellowhead" house band on the evening was that -- energetic, young, appropriate backup for the featured artists, and deserving of all compliments. It was especially nice to see one of them step forward to the mike for a solo, and to learn that one of them (the drummer?) did the arrangements.

And could I also put in a vote for Johnny Flynn.

[billy]

I know nothing at all about Bellowhead except i may or may not have seen them on Monday night ! Did i see them ? I thought Andrew said a couple were missing.The lad who did Bushes and Briars,and all the others for that matter,were great.

[martin driver]

Billy, the house band on Monday evening,with the exception of Jerry Donahue and Sam Carter, are all members of Bellowhead.

The reason for referring to them as NOT Bellowhead, is because the two front men in Bellowhead, John Spiers & Jon Boden were not in attendance.

Bellowhead members who played;
 
Paul Sartin, violin/oboe/piano
Benji Kirkpatrick, bouzouki/mandolin/acoustic guitar
Andy Mellon, piano/trumpet
Pete Flood, drums/percussion
Sam Sweeny,violin/viola
John Bridgewood, acoustic bass

musical arrangements by Peter Flood and Andy Mellon

I agree with you, they were absolutely fantastic.

[folkynewbie]

Hi Martin,

I'd have thought the reason that the house band on Monday were not referred to as Bellowhead was not because Spiers and Boden weren't there, but because neither were Rachael Mcshane, Justin Thurgur, Brendan Kelly and Gideon Juckes. This means that less than half of the band were there and it would be somewhat ridiculous to refer to that as Bellowhead.


Absolutely amazing band though - whatever they were called!

[folkynewbie]

P.S. Not sure John Bridgewood's a member of Bellowhead either! Doesn't he play in Lisa Knapp's band?

[martin driver]

P.S. Not sure John Bridgewood's a member of Bellowhead either! Doesn't he play in Lisa Knapp's band?

Hello and welcome.

Thanks for your input, you clearly know far more about Bellowhead and Liza Knapp's band than I, I copied the info from the programme notes, in which John Bridgewood is listed as a member of Bellowhead, it's more than possible that info is wrong.
If my previous post was misleading, it wasn't meant to be. It was my attempt to give a simplified answer to Billy's direct question, in which he referred to two missing members of Bellowhead, I chose the two obvious names, apologies to those I didn't mention.

[Philip W]

Video of Johnny Flynn's two numbers ('Stranger To Himself' and 'It'll Take A Long Time'):
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca2niWzgsCY

[Brendan]

Video of Johnny Flynn's two numbers ('Stranger To Himself' and 'It'll Take A Long Time'):
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca2niWzgsCY

I am watching it at the moment, and regretting the fact that anything like this will always be on in London!!!

[MikeB (Mike)]

Hi Martin,

I'd have thought the reason that the house band on Monday were not referred to as Bellowhead was not because Spiers and Boden weren't there, but because neither were Rachael Mcshane, Justin Thurgur, Brendan Kelly and Gideon Juckes. This means that less than half of the band were there and it would be somewhat ridiculous to refer to that as Bellowhead.


Absolutely amazing band though - whatever they were called!

Gideon is no longer a member of BellowHead, having left a while ago. Sam was his unofficial replacement but, I believe, has now signed the contract permanently. I'll check with him next time I bump into him.

[martin driver]

Hi Martin,

I'd have thought the reason that the house band on Monday were not referred to as Bellowhead was not because Spiers and Boden weren't there, but because neither were Rachael Mcshane, Justin Thurgur, Brendan Kelly and Gideon Juckes. This means that less than half of the band were there and it would be somewhat ridiculous to refer to that as Bellowhead.


Absolutely amazing band though - whatever they were called!

I am listening to the concert soundtrack on CD, in his introduction, Robin Denselow the music critic of the Guardian says, the backing band look remarkably like Bellowhead but as Spiers and Boden were not there, he'd been told not to call them Bellowhead.

So it seems my memory was not playing tricks, as I thought that was what I heard on the night. But "folkynewbie" may well be correct in saying, that other Bellowhead members were also absent

[rogthedodge]

Listening to it. watching it and generally reliving it I'm bound to ask..

Can we do it all again next year?

[Chris]

I suspect those involved might have caught the bug of organising shows like this.......

[Chris Sweeney]

Just to clarify the Bellowhead membership issue, it was Giles Lewin (fiddle and pipes) that left Bellowhead and was replaced by Sam Sweeney, not Gideon Juckes (who plays the Helicon)

[davidmjs]

The compere's comments about Kristina being the kind of girl that could get you out of a really tight spot...what did he mean by that...did somebody not show at the last moment?

[MikeB (Mike)]

Just to clarify the Bellowhead membership issue, it was Giles Lewin (fiddle and pipes) that left Bellowhead and was replaced by Sam Sweeney, not Gideon Juckes (who plays the Helicon)

Sorry, that's what I meant, my bad.

[Chris]

The compere's comments about Kristina being the kind of girl that could get you out of a really tight spot...what did he mean by that...did somebody not show at the last moment?

Eliza Carthy who is laid up awaiting surgery on a throat problem until after she's given birth; Eddi Reader was absent too....

And Kev Dempsey stood in for Martin Carthy.

[davidmjs]

The compere's comments about Kristina being the kind of girl that could get you out of a really tight spot...what did he mean by that...did somebody not show at the last moment?

Eliza Carthy who is laid up awaiting surgery on a throat problem until after she's given birth; Eddi Reader was absent too....

And Kev Dempsey stood in for Martin Carthy.

But Eliza announced she wasn't singing any more months ago, didn't she?  Anyway, thanks for the explanation....