This thread started out as review of the Sandy Denny biography ‘Ive Always Kept A Unicorn’ – which is great by the way and well worth checking out if you have any interest of either the subject matter or just as a great insight into the British music scene of the late 60s and early 70s.
However what came out strongly (for me) in Mick Houghton’s book is a bit of a re-alignment of both Trevor Lucas and the ill-fated Fotheringay. Lucas has often been portrayed negatively – overly controlling Sandy’s artistic direction and being in part responsible for her eventual breakdown and tragic death. Actually Joe Boyd comes across as being the more manipulative and has over the years continued to heavily criticize both Lucas and Fotheringay suggesting it was nothing more than a poor man’s Fairport. Because of that (and Boyd has always been a bit of a god of good taste for me over the years) Ive never bothered with the album – or indeed the 2nd one which came out about 40 years later.
Anyway this drove me to go back and listen again to their music whilst reading the book and I’m amazed how good it is, easily up there with the best things that Sandy has done – great songs and fabulous playing – more back to the pre Liege and Lief style when Ian Mathews was in the band. Like a lot of the older roots based music from either side of the Atlantic it holds up really well today.
Of course I suspect many of you may be saying we all know this so apologies for being a bit late to the party. Anyway here’s a track – which actually has Trevor Lucas on lead vocals and the guitar interplay between him and Jerry Donahue is wonderful.
Great post. Couldn’t agree more about the quality of Fotheringay and the likeness to the Ian Matthews era Fairport.
And how great is ‘The Way I Feel’ arguably Trevor Lucas’s finest vocal and as you say the guitar interplay is fabulous!
Tremendous track. His voice is unremarkable but the playing is fantastic. With Sandy singing it would have been magical. I am tempted to got an see The Gay as we call them – they are near us in late November FF. Actually `i think that is two Jerry Donahues we are hearing, but great nonetheless.
The Gay? Shirley not! they were The Fothers to us.
Incidentally I do subscribe to the neg view of TL – very lucky lad in his choice of friends, and deserted Sandy when she most needed him, taking their child with him. Charming.
Let’s not be too judgemental here, eh? Sandy was by all accounts impossible to live with when this happened, and Lucas would have been an even greater “villain” if he’d left their child to someone who wasn’t best placed to look after it. Life gets complicated sometimes.
I agree TL was no saint – but neither was Sandy. I guess no one will know the real story but certainly the book gives a more balanced view based on conversations with a lot of people involved – I think the jury is and always will have to be ‘out’ on this one. From a musical perspective what I like about this album more than any of the Denny solo albums is that it really does feel like a band of which she was a part (a big part of course) eg her piano playing is more integrated into the overall arrangements rather than being the centrepiece.
Let me know about the Late November gig – sorry couldn’t resist that obvious play on the SD song
8th Dec, the Stables.
http://www.stables.org/Whats_on/Event/Fotheringay
Fancy it?
Saw them in the summer at Lowdham, do go they did not disappoint. Seeing them again at Saltaire in December. @makka-pakka reviewed them on these very pages.
I put the Fotheringay album(s) on a par with the reconvened Rise Up Like the Moon Fairport: Sandy back, and Jerry D along for the ride, all flawed LPs with tracks of sheer beauty whenever Sandy gets to sing. Sooo much better than her solo stuff, bar, of course, the best of the lot, North Star Grassman and the Ravens, which is where, if you haven’t, the myth suddenly falls into place
I think you might be confusing two LPs there, Retro (one by a FC spin-off act).
I think the Fairport album in question is Rising For The Moon (Sandy joining the lineup that made Nine, with Dave Mattacks replaced by Bruce Rowland during recording). The description is spot on.
Rise Up/Rising, whatever. I’ll blame spellcheck rather than me not actually checking, but the Count knows what I meant.