Search - Fotheringay :: 2 (Dig)

All the flowers of the mountain

emperor nobody | california, USA | 10/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At last, it's here... and I think it was very well worth the wait.



Listening to this with headphones and spending as many hours a week as I do doing digital sound editing, it's apparent to anyone with ears to hear just what a labor of love this must have been for Jerry Donahue... these tracks are painstakingly reconstructed from a myriad of master tapes, with the greatest effort and most meticulous care taken to present the thing as close to "as it might have actually been in 1971" as you could ask for, and after hearing it through a few times the utter devotion that went into it just pours forth from the music like the honeyed bourbon of Sandy's vintage, vulnerably velvet voice.



I have heard almost all of the songs presented here in BBC transcription versions... maybe someday Virgin will do another of their "Complete BBC" sets (the Fairport and Sandy Denny ones are a must-must-MUST-have) on Fotheringay and those live-in-the-radio-studios takes will see the light of day. But forget about that for now... when I heard this it was like hearing the songs on a real album for the first time; the overdubs (particularly the vocals, which add a subtle-yet-essential dimension not as fully explored on the first -- and to this point what was the only -- Fotheringay record) and the way Jerry stripped it all together into a cohesive document make this sound holistic as a sophomore effort, in that you hear how their sound was developing after the touring and the debut album. That this can be possible fully 38 years after the tracks were recorded, and literally decades after the main singers/songwriters of the group are deceased, is a testimony to the Herculean caliber of achievement this CD represents.



There's not a filler track here either, it's as potent a progression as the (jaw-dropping) first one from this band. If I had to cite highlights I would go with the never-before-heard version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," which Sandy slows down to half speed so she can better wrap the song around her finger... much like the wedding ring the lady in the lyrics is trying to slide off of hers. Also the take of "Two Weeks Last Summer," with some marvelous background voices and Sandy just at maximum moody willow, k-i-l-l-i-n-g it vocally and making David Cousins a very proud Strawb for having written it. I'll go way out there and suggest that if some modern DJ/electronica character like Royskopp remixed this song, it might be a dancefloor smash.



Trevor Lucas really shines on this CD; there's a great balance between he and she and TL proves out as every bit Sandy's equal in terms of writing, inhabiting and carrying a good song to where it's worthy of going. There's a take of "Knights of the Road" here (one of the great songs to think about if you're ever making a compilation for a truck driver) that sounds like the basic track was reworked a while later for the Fairport "Rosie" album, but with a different vocal and production that suit the song well and make it seem more a Fotheringay song than a Fairport song, somehow. "Bold Jack Donahue" is a traditional Australian waltz-ballad about the outlaw, prison-breaking outback ranger that Lucas just OWNS, especially given his native roots Down Under. And I am loving Trevor's "Restless," which could've been a laid-back country-rock hit along the lines of Matthews' Southern Comfort (lo and behold, another Fairport connection!). If you're reading this wondering who or what "Fairport" is, I'd advise just googling "Fotheringport Confusion" and call me in the morning, you'll be fine.



The absolute diamond of the 11 tracks here is the stunning reading of the traditional Celtic tune "Wild Mountain Thyme," which countless artists have played and recorded, from Van Morrison to Sandy's friend Richard Thompson and beyond. Apparently there only existed a master of Sandy singing the song alone whilst accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, which Jerry Donahue (one of the world's master producers as well as one of the world's master guitar players) took into the studio and built a whole edifice around, using fragments of tapes from back then (1970) and with the help of the surviving rhythm section of Fotheringay: Gerry Conway and Pat Donaldson.



This is one of the world's most elegant & evocatively sentimental songs, carrying with it an ancient and timeless tone of reminiscence and celebration, if you will, of celebrations and loves past. I think this is what I found most fitting about its relationship to the rest of this lovingly constructed (and tremendously successful, IMO) re-approximation of what this band's 2nd record might have been like, and how I feel it finds its rightful place as a celebration of Fotheringay, and of Sandy and her unforgettable music in general. When it came on the first time, I was so moved by it I literally broke down and wept because I felt so privileged to have gotten to be alive at the same time as people like Sandy & Trevor, who are long gone physically but whose esteem will only grow and whose Art will live on forever thanks to reissue projects such as this one.



The first Fotheringay album is probably my all-time favorite British folk-rock record, and after merely 48 hours with the long-awaited (I'm about to be 42 so 38 years is a long time to me) follow-up I'm feeling like the new one is its equal... what more can be said?



If that doesn't convince you to get them both immediately, I'm not sure what will."

Don't Want To Be Late To My Own Beheading!

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 11/17/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I heard about this project very early in the year, {it was leaked from a well known British Folk Rock band's website.} And, as it was known in the history books that production of the second Fotheringay record was in it's earliest stages when Sandy Denny decided to leave her bandmates for a proper solo career, I had no idea of what form {finished or unfinished} these songs, would be in.



With so much work done in many studios by guitarist/producer Jerry Donahue, I cannot find fault in his labor in getting such high quality instumental backing that really invokes the real Fotheringay sound from this. The problem here, is that the two main singers of this band, Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas recorded: "guide vocals" and never returned to finish and complete their work on this.



Sandy, for my dollar is about the greatest English female vocalist of her day, and her singing is all about the emotion that she infuses into her words. The sad refrains that come forth in so many of her songs are so very far beyond almost any other singer that I have heard. Ms. Denny, uses her amazing instrument to full capacity on many Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and solo tunes, and she is untouchable as a talent when she does so.



Fotheringay 2, is not Sandy's or Trevor's best piece of recorded work, and it should not be reviewed as such. With the exception of: "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "Bold Jack Donahue", I have heard all of this music in various versions as done by Trevor, Fairport Convention and Sandy. And there is good to report here, "Knights of the Road" is much better than Fairport's later recorded take as there is so much more life in the music presented here. This version of: "John the Gun" is the best that I have heard it performed. The saxophone sounds fine to me, this is not folk music, but not everything that this band had recorded prior to this was folk music as well.



The problem here is quite evident on listening to: "Wild Mountain Thyme" the famous Scottish ballad of the ages. Sandy, is reading this, and she is learning it, she is not singing it yet, she is still very tentative with these words at this point. This song could have been the highlight of the second record, had Sandy been able to sing this song using all her powers, but this first run-through does not present that Sandy, this vocal was never meant as an completed take, but alas...here it is.



If you could hear any of the numerous live versions of: "Silver Threads & Gold Needles", that Sandy and Fairport performed in concert, this version would be blown right out of the water. "Late November". "Two Weeks Last Summer" and "I Don't Believe You" already exist is far superior versions than these rough takes.



Fotheringay 2, could have been a big record for this band, Sandy and Trevor, might have seen their careers rise up to match their talents. As we will never see the record that the band intended to release in 1971, we have this document of this project, in this fashion as: "baby steps."





I am glad to see this work released in ANY form, and I realize that this will never be considered a popular piece of music today. But, let's not let our love for Sandy, get in the way of good judgement here. This is not a: five-star recording, but it is an newly discovered work from a band that had a legend within it's ranks. Sandy Denny, had greatness, but this is not as she intended her music to be presented.



Thank you, Jerry for all your hard work, the music is beautiful. If this band had been able to complete this work, you can only imagine just how great this record could have been!

3.5 stars"

At L-O-N-G Last The Second Fotheringay Album

Christopher L. Dolmetsch | Hurricane, WV USA | 11/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It took thirty-eight years, but the second album by Fotheringay, the short-live English folk-rock supergroup, is now at-hand. The band, created by ex-Fairport Convention vocalist Sandy Denny and her soon-to-be husband, Australian Trevor Lucas (ex-Eclection)were to take the new sound of British folk-rock away from primarily traditional songs into self-penned folk-styled compositions with the help of capable sidemen such as Jerry Donahue (guitar, producer of this new disc), Gerry Conway (drums), and Pat Donaldson (bass). Strains within the group almost from the start meant that the group was destined to disintegrate after a brief existence. The first album was critically acclaimed, but sold poorly, and concert performances were often ragged and seemingly disorganized. Despite having sufficient material in the can to create a second album, the group splintered and the record remained offically unissued...until now.



Bootlegs of various tracks showed an album of considerable promise, and even the widely traded BBC recordings by the band showed material that was of interest to fans of the growing British folk-rock scene. Still, it took great persistence by Jerry Donahue--starting many years ago--to assemble the leftover rough surviving session recordings by the band and turn them into a marketable product, now a lasting tribute to both the late Sandy and Trevor. The result is a fine companion to the first Fotheringay album with classic cuts such as "Gypsy Davey" and "Late November" (the latter re-recorded several times by Sandy for solo release). If there is a complaint is may be the well-intentioned, but somewhat inappropriate use of a saxophone on tracks such as "John The Gun" which had also been re-recorded several times by Sandy and (after her return) Fairport Convention. The solo instrument of choice in the 1970s was the fiddle (the sax made its way into the line-up with performers such as Richard Thompson and the Albion Band) and here Jerry should have considered employing veteran fiddlers such as Ric Sanders (of Fairport Convention) or even the venerable Dave Swarbrick to overdub a suitable fiddle accompaniment, in keeping with the original spirit of the times.



Having said that, however, the fact remains that this is yet another piece of the great puzzle of what was Sixties and Seventies British folk-rock that has been restored and made available to those who are still enthralled by the sound that was one of the most inspiring and haunting to have ever graced the airwaves and records players of the world."