SANDY DENNY AND THE STRAWBS: ALL OUR OWN WORK

I bought a 1990's CD version of this album with a revised track selection, whilst I was searching albums of Sandy Denny. These tracks were recorded before Strawb's first studio album (released year 1969), so this is a quite old and traditional sounding folk record. Few of the songs released here were also re-recorded to their first album.

"Nothing Else Will Do" which opened my version of this album has a nice brisk acoustic guitar driven rhythm, and it acts as a good opening number. It also presents quite pleasantly the elements I adore on these recordings; Beautiful but simple acoustic instruments accompanied with soft amplified rock tones for the late 1960's psych sound, Sandy's recognizable clear voice echoing through old analogue sounds of yesterday, beautiful laidback feelings and emotional melodies on mostly fine compositions. About other memorable songs I would mention "Sail Away to The Sea", a very traditional sounding composition for both female and male vocals, resembling Peter, Paul and Mary's recordings. I like the melodies of this song very much, which are driven by several guitars and the singers' voices. "And You Need Me" is an adorable heartbreaker to the bar's vinyl jukebox, and this tune with Svend Lundvig's string arrangements made me think about factors deciding what makes some songs grow as hits and some being buried to the marginal of enormous masses of music choices. The much contemplated concept of "Time" affecting to governing massive amounts of possibilities may direct the resolution be found from marketing and trend issues helping humanity to cope with such choices, leaving many ingrown seeds for later discovery after original harvest times. "All I Need Is You" switches the vantage points of previous song's configuration, approaching the universal subject as a classic folk rock song of the 1960's with strong drum and bass rhythms and wonderful melodic lines. "Tell Me What You See In Me" has a slightly incense-flavored exotic feeling, and the other subtle beatnik influences on this record are crystallized in the few passages played with a sitar here and there. The early version of Sandy's "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" is also a nice performance of this song, but it doesn't differ much from the later version on the Fairport Convention's "Unhalfbricking" album or others; A fine but solid composition staying quite the similar during the years of Sandy's career. Interestingly her song about the change was the one that escaped mostly the entropy it describes.

Few of the songs weren't the most memorable of their kind here, but the good ones are interesting songs at least when observed as a part of Sandy Denny's career. On time of writing I have not heard Strawbs much except their "From The Witchwood" album, which surely has much more elements of progressive rock being from it than from this record. But I think that this is a nice little album still, probably pleasing mostly the fans of folk music and good lady singers. Have personally listened to this record more than the mentioned Strawbs album. I also have a little nostalgia towards this CD, as I got it when I was doing my military service, and these songs played in my head whilst I was running around the military shooting grounds.