| Like an Old Fashioned Waltz | ||||
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| Studio album by Sandy Denny | ||||
| Released | June 1974 (UK)[1] | |||
| Recorded | Sound Techniques, and A&M Studios, Los Angeles, May and August 1973 | |||
| Genre | folk rock | |||
| Length | 42:55 | |||
| Label | Island ILPS 9258 (UK) | |||
| Producer | Trevor Lucas, John Wood | |||
| Sandy Denny chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Like an Old Fashioned Waltz | ||||
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Like an Old Fashioned Waltz is the third solo album by English folk rock singer Sandy Denny, released in June 1974.[1] The album featured a more pop and jazz influenced production style, a marked change from Denny's previous folk rock albums as lead vocalist for Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, The Strawbs and as a solo artist.
Although Denny originally hoped to tour in support of the album, difficulties with Island Records delayed its release from Fall 1973 to June 1974, by which time she had rejoined Fairport Convention. AllMusic has called Like an Old Fashioned Waltz "an intimate and moving record."[2]
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The 1972 album Sandy failed to cross over to mass market success, a fact which greatly disappointed Denny; she had recently decided that she desired to be received as a notable music act along the ranks of Led Zeppelin or The Who, two bands Denny had performed with as a guest vocalist. Denny decided that in order to establish her solo career, a record appealing to a new audience was required.[3]
The songs on Like an Old Fashioned Waltz saw Denny refining her songwriting craft, on a nostalgic panoramic song-cycle detailing many of her personal preoccupations: loss, loneliness, fear of the dark, the passing of time and the changing seasons.[4]
Like an Old Fashioned Waltz features covers of several jazz songs remembered from her father's record collection, including The Inkspots' "Whispering Grass" and Fats Waller's "Until The Real Thing Comes Along". Around this time, it was rumored that Denny was considering recording an album solely consisting of jazz standards (or possibly an entire cover album of songs written by The Inkspots), but the record never materialized.[2]
Work begun on the album whilst Denny was still promoting her previous LP Sandy. The first track recorded was No End at Walthamstow Assembly Hall on December 3, 1972 in a solo version accompanying herself on the piano (later abandoned in favor of a new recording with a band and strings).[5] Denny embarked on a month long tour of the US in April 1973, stopping at A&M Records' studios to record four songs; Friends, Solo, At the End of the Day and the new version of No End prior to a week long residency at The Troubador in Los Angeles.
After a tour of Europe throughout June and July, sessions for the album resumed at Sound Techniques in London in August where the remaining tracks were recorded; Carnival, Like an Old Fashioned Waltz, Dark the Night and the two jazz standards Whispering Grass and Until the Real Thing Comes Along. Harry Robinson added string arrangements to many of the tracks.
In addition to singing, Denny played acoustic guitar, piano and electric piano on Like an Old Fashioned Waltz. Denny's Fairport Convention bandmate Richard Thompson performed lead guitar on "Solo" and "No End".
The album was originally issued in an embossed gatefold sleeve styled in the colours described in the albums title track (primrose yellow and velvet green) and designed to look like an antique plate, with a floral motif drawn by Denny herself. The cover photograph by Gered Mankowitz depicts Denny in an old style image in the Edwardian style. The album's lyrics were reproduced in the gatefold.
A single of Whispering Grass / Friends was released in a sepia picture sleeve in the style of the album cover.
Like an Old Fashioned Waltz was warmly received by critics; however, like nearly all of Denny's solo work, it was by no means a commercial success.
AllMusic's Brett Hartenbach gave Like an Old Fashioned Waltz 3 1/2 stars out of 5, saying "Denny expands on the more polished moments that her previous work, Sandy, had suggested.[2] The tone throughout most of the record is melancholy and personal, with gentle piano, rich strings, and barely a trace of her British folk roots."[2] Hartenbach went on to call the album's opening track, "Solo", one of Denny's "best songs."[2]
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a lukewarm review, but conceded that "Solo" was "a four-minute masterpiece."[6]
Several weeks after Like an Old Fashioned Waltz had been recorded, Sandy Denny married longtime boyfriend and bandmate Trevor Lucas on September 20, 1973 at Fulham Registry Office. Shortly afterward, she put together a band comprising Pat Donaldson, Hughie Burns and Willie Murray, with intent to do an extensive tour in support of the album. The group recorded a session for BBC Radio on November 14, 1973, and also played a brief four-date tour around that time.[7]
However, the release of Like an Old Fashioned Waltz was delayed from Fall 1973 to June 1974, by which time Denny had rejoined Fairport Convention. Several songs from the album were regularly played during the Fairport tour that year.
Songs from Like an Old Fashioned Waltz have been covered by a number of notable artists. Following Denny's death, Fairport Convention has sporadically performed the songs "Solo" and "It'll Take a Long Time". "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz" was rerecorded by Emmylou Harris on her 1978 album White Shoes.[8] Eric Johnson and Susan Cowsill covered "At the End of the Day" for the 1995 compilation True Voices.
All tracks credited to Sandy Denny unless otherwise stated
The remastered CD version included four bonus tracks:
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