Fate has been unkind to England's female folk singers. Linda Thompson has struggled with dysphonia, Anne Briggs prematurely retired before she reached 30, Lal Waterson died of cancer aged 55 but arguably the greatest loss was Sandy Denny who ,with Fairport Convention and as a solo artist, had the kind of voice that melts hearts and transcends musical boundaries.
The purity of her voice was at odds with the demons she fought in her personal life. The official cause of her death in 1978 aged 31 was a brain haemorrhage resulting from a fall but battles with alcohol and cocaine addiction undoubtedly also played some part.
When biographer Phil Smee discovered a cache of unscored lyrics to twenty songs held by Denny's widower Trevor Lucas in Australia, her estate were keen for these to reach a wider audience. Thea Gilmore, coincidentally the same age as Denny was when she died, was asked to take on this responsibility and was more than happy to accept.
Gilmore has stated that she wanted this to be more of a collaborative project than just another tribute album. Her love and respect for Denny's legacy was never in doubt and she speaks of her as "a reference point, a fountainhead even, for any girl who didn't wish they'd been born American".
The songs are brought alive with some sweeping string arrangements by Scottish musician Donald Grant which give the tunes the kind of warm spiritual glow that you find on mid-period Van Morrison albums like Enlightenment or No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.
Gilmore's acoustic backing band includes multi-instrumentalist Benji Kirkpatrick from Bellowhead and Kirkpatrick's father, John, who once played with Denny, contributes accordion to the album's most upbeat tune, London.
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The best song is the opening track, Glistening Bay, with words expressing homesickness, an awe of nature ("hills, high and winding"...."the fickle sea") and a fascination with city life.
The irony in the title song ("don't stop singing until you drop")
combines with poignant lines of dealing with emotional trauma in Pain In My Heart("stage fright and thoughts of you stir up the butterflies") and Goodnight ("I'm afraid to start a war within myself again". The latter would have made an appropriate album closer but instead the record ends with a touching lullaby to Denny's daughter Georgia ("my beautiful, precious child") who was born the year before her death.
Gilmore's voice is well suited to the task in hand but, as I'm sure she would be the first to admit, she cannot hope to emulate the grace and beauty of Denny.
As such, this is a record that is more likely to draw listeners towards the impressive discography of the late singer than to Gilmore's own back catalogue.
Thea Gilmore's Website
Sandy Denny's Offical Website
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