Sandy Denny (ex Fairport Convention) - The North Star Grassman And The Ravens (1971)

Year: September 1971 (CD May 2, 2005)
Label: Universal Island Records (Europe), IMCD313/982 802-1
Style: Folk Rock
Country: Surrey, England (6 January 1947 - 21 April 1978)
Time: 57:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 349 Mb

The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies. Denny launched the sequence of solo albums that underlie the claim that she is one of Britain's finest recent singer-songwriters.
Two original compositions from the Fotheringay 2 sessions, "Late November", inspired by a dream and the death of Fairport Convention band member Martin Lamble, and "John the Gun" were re-worked for the album and supplemented by a further six self penned songs and two cover versions, Bob Dylan's "Down in the Flood" and "Let's Jump the Broomstick", recorded by Brenda Lee. Sessions began with Andy Johns producing but in the end the album was produced by Denny herself, former Fairport Convention bandmate Richard Thompson and John Wood, who recommended to Denny the film-score arranger Harry Robinson, who added strings to "Next Time Around", a cryptogram about former boyfriend Jackson C. Frank (one of her many portraits in song) and "Wretched Wilbur". Robinson would arrange strings for Denny's further albums as well as for Nick Drake and other artists signed to the same company.
The first songs recorded were the traditional "Blackwaterside" and "Let's Jump the Broomstick" in March 1971 at Sound Techniques. Sessions continued the following month until the end of May at Island studios, where the album was completed with the cutting of the title track, a sea voyage as a metaphor for death inspired by the loss of her friend 'Tigger' (Paul Bamber) who was in the Merchant Navy.
The album was issued in a gatefold sleeve with a distinctive cover photograph of Denny weighing seeds in an old fashioned apothecary shop (surely casting tea leaves). The image covered both the front and rear sleeve, and was taken by Keef (Macmillan) who went on to do a lot of work with another British female singer-songwriter: Kate Bush.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_North_Star_Grassman_and_the_Ravens)

01. Late November (04:30)
02. Blackwaterside (04:13)
03. The Sea Captain (03:08)
04. Down In The Flood (03:19)
05. John The Gun (04:37)
06. Next Time Around (04:24)
07. The Optimist (03:25)
08. Let's Jump The Broomstick (02:43)
09. Wretched Wilbur (02:36)
10. The North Star Grassman And The Ravens (03:29)
11.  Crazy Lady Blues (03:26)
12. Late November (Bonus Track) (04:30)
13. Walking The Floor Over You (Bonus Track) (04:21)
14. Losing Game (Bonus Track) (03:28)
15. Next Time Around (Bonus Track) (04:45)

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