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HISTORICAL FACTS: Sandy denny | History Defined

“Robert Plant sat at the back. You could see his brain ticking away, thinking, ‘I should do this.’ That’s what I like”: What drives the prog veteran who’s been compared to God?

With 100 albums to his name, prime mover of folk rock Ashley Hutchings has never run out of creative goals.

Louder

"The music evokes the past in an extraordinary way. The public own it now, and it has a kind of magic to it." The story of Meet On The Ledge, Fairport Convention's most stirring, emotive anthem

Richard Thompson used to think Fairport Convention's Meet Me On The Ledge was “immature, juvenile" - now it's a much-loved communal singalong

Louder

“He couldn’t stand up so I hit him over the head with my bass. He fell to the floor. I ran away… I didn’t know if he was still alive”: The bassist who survived Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull and believing he’d murdered his bandmate on stage

Veteran admits he sailed close to the wind as he taught prog giants to drink – but he learned how much it means to play live with a band

Louder

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read the most diverse news in one place.

“We thought it would be hard to replace her, so we didn’t. There had always been changes and this was a big one, but our attitude was to soldier on”: The prog pioneers who evaded disaster and reinvented themselves in 1970

What happens when a band’s trademark vocalist leaves? In 1970, the answer for this band was to take the pain and rely on their other strengths

Louder

“Perhaps the strangest recording session of the era”: Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp, Sandy Denny, Phil Collins and the novelty single no one talks about

In 1975 some of the biggest names in prog became the backing band for comedian Charlie Drake to record the Gabriel-penned song You’ll Never Know. It was an utter flop

Louder

‘He lived his whole life in that fire’: the tragic story of ‘lost’ singer Jackson C Frank

A school fire, a shooting and mental health issues plagued a man whose legacy is remembered in a new documentary

The Guardian - US

“We’d been paying Rick Wakeman £25 a week and Yes offered him £100… We had his son Oliver with us for a while, and he left for Yes too!” Dave Cousins and the life and times of Strawbs

Prog veteran recalls connecting with Sandy Denny, his band’s attempt to fire him, being loved by Led Zeppelin, why they’ve never had a Steven Wilson remix, the “albatross” of Part Of The Union and the unreleased, more political version

Louder

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“How dense was I, singing those songs and not realising those things were happening to me?” Linda Thompson on struggling to sing, struggling to perform live and why her kids aren’t her greatest achievement

The folk icon – who never planned on being one – recalls hilarious haircuts, playing musical bedrooms, boxing clever with label execs and becoming a heavy metal fan

Louder

“There are qualities of grandeur and flight in her music, yet it comes across as totally unpretentious and emotionally grounded”: Remembering Sandy Denny

Tragically silenced at 31, she only had a decade to demonstrate her talents – but her persona and performances remain indelible after more than 40 years

Louder

A pre-Fairport Sandy Denny collection, Early Home Recordings, to be released

Sandy Denny's new Early Home Recordings collection will be released in September

Louder

“There’d be three numbers in the set; Dave Swarbrick would go berserk with his Echoplex and wah-wah. Especially in America, with substances being consumed”: The origins of Fairport Convention

The folk-rock pioneers’ 80s resurgence was no less unlikely than their earlier years, as they meandered towards success and influence

Louder

‘They said I was worse than the Sex Pistols!’: folk legend Linda Thompson on trashing dressing rooms and losing her voice

Her struggles with spasmodic dysphonia has led her to write an album for a bevy of other stars to sing. She talks about trauma, ageing and stealing an audience member’s car

The Guardian - UK

"This has to be the album against which every rock album that followed should be measured": Led Zeppelin attain peak Led Zeppelin status on Led Zeppelin IV

Of all their records, Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, released in late 1971, remains their most admired work

Louder

Gerry Conway, drummer with Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, Pentangle and more, dead at 76

Gerry Conway's death has been confirmed by Fairport Convention

Louder

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Louder

“To me, it was like getting the car back on the road. The fact that we only managed to do about 10 shows before the wheels came off again was a bit of a slap from the gods”: Despite the challenges, Fairport Convention never gave up

Simon Nicol reflects on how British folk prog pioneers Fairport Convention took a career path rather than a short cut to temporary success

Louder

The 50 best collaborations in rock

Guest spots, duets, team-ups and mashups – we take a look at the weird, wonderful world of the rock’n’roll collaboration…

Louder

“The media built up this mutual hatred between prog and punk, but really I don’t think it existed”: Sonja Kristina on Curved Air’s impact - and the time she nearly quit

Singer became a sex symbol and inspired Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux... but she also pretended to sleep to avoid interaction at parties

The Guardian - UK

The 100 greatest BBC music performances – ranked!

As the Beeb celebrates its centenary, we take a look at its most memorable pop moments, from the birth of grime to the first sightings of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, plus TOTP goes Madchester and countless classic Peel sessions

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