Having recorded one album with the Strawbs, three with Fairport Convention and one with Fotheringay, Sandy Denny embarked on a solo career, during which she recorded three albums before returning to Fairport Convention and recording a further album. She then recorded a fourth solo album, released in 1977, before her career was cut short by her premature death in 1978.
This 1971 album is typical of Sandy's solo albums in being mainly filled with mellow, romantic songs, most of them written by Sandy herself, with the occasional cover version. Like the others, this album was re-issued in 2005 with extra tracks, some being alternate versions of those that appear on the main album and some being different songs.
Taking the eleven tracks on the album as originally issued first, Sandy wrote eight of them herself. The other three are covers of a traditional folk ballad (Black waterside), a mid-tempo Bob Dylan song (Down in the flood) and one of Brenda Lee's rocking songs (Let's jump the broomstick), the last two breaking up the general flow of the album by being at a different tempo from the other tracks; you may either appreciate the contrast or be annoyed by it, depending on your taste. In any case, Sandy performs them well, proving she can sing more than just ballads although ballads are what she does best. As ever with Sandy's albums, it is her own songs that are the best but it's not easy to pick out highlights, but I'm inclined to agree with the writer of the liner notes, who picks out Next time around (allegedly about American singer-songwriter Jackson Frank), Crazy lady blues (allegedly about Linda Thompson). Still, there's not much to choose between all of Sandy's songs here where quality is concerned.
Two of the four bonus tracks are alternate versions of tracks that appeared on the main album , these being Late November (recorded for an intended but unfinished second Fotheringay album) and Next time around (without the strings). The other two bonus tracks are a cover of a country song (Walking the floor over you, but Sandy's folk-rock version is very different from the Ernest Tubb original) and a cover of a song whose origin eludes me (Losing game), but which gives writing credit to Richard Clapton.
This is a great album from a singer who is better appreciated now than in her lifetime.