Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Fotheringay
Company: A&M
Catalog: SP-4269
Year: 1970
Grade (cover/record): VG/VG+
Comments: minor ring, edge and corner wear; gatefold sleeve
Available: 1
Price: $20.00
Interesting, most folks assume Denny was the prime mover behind Fotheringay. They're wrong. Though Denny deserves credit for the band name (it was inspired by a Scottish castle that was mentioned in one of Denny's first Fairport compositions - "What We Did On Our Holidays"), singer/guitarist Trevor Lucas deserves credit for forming the band. The Australian born Lucas had previously been a member of the folk-rock band Eclection. Following Eclection's break up he decided to form a new band, quickly recruiting Eclection cohort/drummer Gerry Conway and former Zoot Money Band members Jerry Donahue (guitar) and Pat Donaldson (bass). It just so happened Lucas was dating Denny at the time, a fact that may have had some influence on her decision to join the band.
With Denny credited with writing most of the material, as well handling the majority of lead vocals, it was only natural that people would compare 1970's "Fotheringay" to the Fairport Convention catalog. Produced by Joe Boyd, there were certainly similarities, but in major ways "Fotheringay" stood as a major change in direction. With the exception of the haunting "Banks of the Nile" the album avoided the formers patented updating of traditional English folk songs in favor of a more conventional set of singer/songwriter material. Dark, measured and reflective, it wasn't exactly a boogie album, but on tracks such as "Nothing More", "The Sea" and "Winter Winds" Denny's instantly recognizable voice seldom sounded as good. Elsewhere, the biggest surprise may have been Lucas. Gifted with a strong and distinctive voice, he turned in several great performances, inclufing "The Ballad of Ned Kelly", "Peace in the End" and a rocking cove rof Gordon Lightfoot's "The Way I Feel". It's a set that should appeal to Fairport and Denny fans. Curiously, critics weren't particularly kind to the album and it proved a poor seller. (The album was originally released with a gatefold sleeve.)
"Fotheringay" track listing:
1.) Nothing More (Sandy Denny)
2.) The Sea (Sandy Denny)
3.) The Ballad of Ned Kelly (Trevor Lucas)
4.) Winter Winds (Sandy Denny)
5.) Peace in the End (Sandy Denny - Trevor Lucas)
6.) The Way I Feel (Gordon Lightfoot)
7.) The Pond and the Stream (Sandy Denny)
8.) Too Much of Nothing (Bob Dylan)
9.) Banks of the Nile (traditional - arranged by Sandy Denny)
The group actually wrote and recorded material for a planned follow up, but in the face of growing pressure for Denny to start a solo career, it was shelved. Some of the material appeared on Denny's 1971 solo debut "North Star Grassman and the Ravens". Other tracks were released on 1986's posthumous Denny boxed set "Who Knows Where the Time Goes".
Following the band's break up Conway, Donahue and Donaldson hooked up with Mick Greenwood. In 1974 Denny, Donahue and Lucas all joined Fairport Convention. Denny also enjoyed a moderately successful solo career prior to her untimely death in 1978.
We're also offering a sealed copy of the 1987 Hannibal reissue (catalog HNBL 4426).