SANDY DENNY – Rendezvous Deluxe Edition

This is a re-release of Sandy Denny’s 1977 album re-packaged in a handsome gatefold sleeve with enclosed booklet and accompanying notes by Patrick Humphries. By the time she recorded “Rendezvous”, Denny had (more or less) deserted her ‘folk’ roots and even though it was produced by husband Trevor Lucas, another ‘folk music’ stalwart, a majority of the tracks are definitely a little heavy handed. At this time I’m sure she was probably under pressure by her record label to produce a commercially viable piece of vinyl but if that was the intended trajectory it failed quite spectacularly in my opinion. OK, so there are some good moments notably her cover of “Candle In The Wind” and on a more positive note for 2012 and in keeping with disks of this nature it’s the unearthed gems on the second CD that pay dividends for the hard-core fan. The bonus tracks (all fifteen of them) featuring interesting takes on some of the original album’s material make for not only a pleasant diversion but ‘must have’ if you are a complete-ist like me. Therefore we have “Full Moon” with its Swarbrick fiddle solo and a disconcerting but somehow hypnotic choral version of “All Our Days” and a paired-down piano arrangement of “Candle In The Wind” so, for me this 2-disk set proved a bit of a Marmite moment but possibly worth purchasing for the booklet and ‘out-takes’ alone.

PETE FYFE