In 2012 we had the extensive Sandy Denny: The Notes and Words and last year Fotheringay – Nothing More: The Collected Fotheringay. Both were well received and brought a smile to the numerous Sandy Denny fans out there whose music is still reaching new audiences – the number of times her name has been used to describe a new female vocalists is beyond belief…I’ve yet to hear anyone that matches her magic.
There is another collection on the horizon in the form of, what the press release refers to as, ‘the best album that the late Sandy Denny never made’. I’ve Always Kept A Unicorn is a 40-track/2CD set, comprised of demos, live, radio and TV recordings, captures the sublimely gifted British singer-songwriter at her most intimate as she runs through stripped down arrangements of songs she performed with the Strawbs, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and The Bunch, along with material from her four solo albums.
Exclusive to this masterful set are three demos recorded at Richard Branson’s Manor Studios in December 1971 for the 1972 rock and roll covers album, The Bunch Rock On; alongside Love Made A Fool Of You and Learning The Game by one of her teenage heroes, Buddy Holly, she sings a charming duet with Linda Thompson on Phil Everly’s When Will I Be Loved.
The set comes complete with sleeve notes by Mick Houghton, the author of the critically lauded 2015 Sandy Denny biography, I’ve Always Kept A Unicorn.
All those who knew Sandy Denny well, and who worked closely with her, recall how brilliant she was as a solo acoustic performer and many welcome this compilation as fitting homage to her unique and true talent.
“Sandy was, as are our most brilliant performers, much better solo; I so wish she had recorded a solo album, and told her so.” (Linda Thompson)
I’ve Always Kept a Unicorn: The Acoustic Sandy Denny is released 22 April via UMC
Pre-Order it here via Amazon
Tracklisting
DISC ONE
01: Who Knows Where the Time Goes – Acoustic version – The Strawbs & Sandy Denny
02: You Never Wanted Me (Saga album version) – Sandy Denny
03: Milk and Honey (re-recorded version) – Sandy Denny
04: Autopsy (demo) – Fairport Convention
05: Now And Then (demo) – Fairport Convention
06: She Moves Through the Fair (acoustic master) ) – Fairport Convention
07: Fotheringay (acoustic master) – Fairport Convention
08: The Pond and the Stream (demo) – Fotheringay
09: Winter Winds (demo) – Fotheringay
10: Wild Mountain Thyme (BBC Sounds of the Seventies) – Fotheringay
11: Lowlands of Holland (BBC Folk On One) – Fotheringay
12: Wretched Wilbur (demo) – Sandy Denny
13: The Optimist (demo) – Sandy Denny
14: Late November (BBC One In Ten) – Sandy Denny
15: North Star Grassman and the Ravens (BBC Paris Theatre) – Sandy Denny
16: Next Time Around (BBC Paris Theatre) – Sandy Denny
17. John The Gun (BBC Paris Theatre) – Sandy Denny
18: Love’s Made A Fool Of You ( demo ) – The Bunch Previously Unreleased
19: When Will I Be Loved ( demo ) – The Bunch Previously Unreleased
20: Learning the Game (demo) – The Bunch Previously Unreleased
DISC TWO
01: Quiet Joys of Brotherhood (demo) – Sandy Denny
02: After Halloween ( demo ) – Sandy Denny
03: The Lady (demo # 2) – Sandy Denny
04: Bushes and Briars (live – BBC Bob Harris Show ) – Sandy Denny
05: The Music Weaver (demo) – Sandy Denny
06: No End (demo – piano version) – Sandy Denny
07: Solo (BBC John Peel Session – acoustic version) – Sandy Denny
08: Like and Old Fashioned Waltz (BBC John Peel Session – acoustic version)
09: King and Queen of England (demo) – Sandy Denny
10: Rising For The Moon (demo) – Fairport Convention
11: One More Chance (demo) – Fairport Convention
12: Take away the load (demo) – Fairport Convention
13: What Is True? (demo) – Fairport Convention
14: Blackwaterside ( live on Marc Time ) – Sandy Denny
15: No More Sad Refrains ( live on Marc Time ) – Sandy Denny
16: Full Moon (demo) – Sandy Denny
17: I’m A Dreamer (demo # 2) – Sandy Denny
18: By The Time It Gets Dark (studio demo 1976) – Sandy Denny
19: One Way Donkey Ride (acoustic master 1976) – – Sandy Denny
20: Moments ( acoustic version ) – Sandy Denny