Sandy Denny

Divas are a dime a dozen. Sandy Denny was the penultimate goddess of British Folk. Whether she sang with the interestingly attired Fotheringay, the electric Fairport Convention, or a pre-prog version of the Strawbs, the late (and we do mean great) Denny possessed an absolutely unpolluted voice that sounded like it was never touched by smoke or drink. Her singing was like the touch of the fabled King Midas, turning everything she graced into gold. Her own songs balanced all the folkloric tones of yore and the fantastical renaissance images of Middle Earth with a grounded side that made her work relevant. In this balance Denny displayed a bittersweet earnestness that could make Joni Mitchell cry. She died in 1977 from critical injuries following a fall down a staircase.