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Sandy Solo

Reproduced from Hokey Pokey #11, April 1988.
Copyright © 1988 Hokey Pokey. Reproduced by permission
Submitted by Dr. Levent Varlik from Turkey

A new-style Sandy Denny, confident, happy and exuberant, started to make a dignified entrance into her publicist's house. She was anxious to create a good impression of ladylike calm - Sandy always worries just a little about her meetings with the press - but tripped on the top step of the flight of stairs, scattering her money all over the landing.

The impression wasn't very important anyway, except to prove that Sandy's old nervousness had gone, hopefully for good. At the end of last year, around the time of her last album, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, she was so nervous she was almost afraid to say anything in case it looked worse in print.

It's a relief to see her with confidence restored, and with good reason, because her new album Sandy is excellent.

This metamorphosis may be the result of having her brother David as her new manager, Sandy is now produced and looked after by the people who know her best - David, and Trevor Lucas - and can leave most of the responsibilities to them.

Sandy's attitute seems to have altered towards her music, and Sandy is undoubtedly the best material she has sung in a long time.

“Now I feel I'm doing what I should be doing,” said Sandy, settling herself on the floor with her first food of the day - a plateful of cheese and biscuits. She is looking slimmed these days, too, which also adds to the sense of well-being.

“I'm not relying on other people so much and feel better for having done a few concerts on my own. I'm nervous before I go onstage, but once I've started, it goes well. I just felt that I'd come to the end of the road I was on and it was time to have a go on my own.”

In the days of wine and Fairport, Sandy used to stand at the side of the stage to sing, because the band's policy was to spread the attention of the audience throughout the group, instead of throwing the limelight and the bulk of the responsibility on one person. Spreading out the load like this also meant spreading out the confidence.

“I lost a lot of confidence. The first time that I ever stood up on my own was at a tiny folk club on a barge in Kingston. My mouth went all dry and I could hardly sing, but when I came off and they all applauded, I knew that although it was a great efford, I'd always want to do it.

“But you can't measure experience in years, it's the number of appearances that count. I felt that I was losing my grip on myself and the time had come for me to have a go on my own.”

Sandy's first solo appearance in recent times was at the Chelmsford Folk Festival.

“I really felt confident because I told myself that I couldn't possibly let all these people think that I was terrified. I couldn't just go on and frobberty-gibbet all over the stage, and I've felt like that ever since.

“But when I'm in public, I always shut myself off from people. I don't like looking around a crowded room when I walk in through the door, in case people see me and think 'oh, look at her, watching to see if anyone recognises her.' I know it's silly. I scan the floor a couple of feet around me and if I recognise anyone's shoes, fine! I make a bee-line for them; not looking up!”

The success of the shows Sandy has done so far means that she won't let her appearances peter out like the last time. She has a whole lot of concerts lined up, and is planning a trip to the States later in the year.

Island records have released Listen, Listen from the album as her new single, but apart from that, there is another single called Man of Iron. It is a song from the soundtrack of a half-hour film called Pass of Arms.

“I didn't aim at making Listen, Listen as a single. I wouldn't go into the studio and make a single because I don't know how to. I always feel more inhibited in the studio than I do onstage at a concert. I would find it difficult to make a rock single because it seems so silly - imagine going into the studio and going bananas all by yourself and then coming out quite normal and asking the engineer, ‘how was that?’

“I think the days are gone, too, when you could label things. I wouldn't like to mislead the folkies by saying the new album was a folk album, and I wouldn't mislead rock fans by saying it was a rock album. I like romantic songs. I'm a romantic at heart.”