Main content
This programme is not currently available on BBC iPlayer

Songs of Sandy Denny at the Barbican

Filmed at the Barbican in London, this tribute concert to the singer-songwriter Sandy Denny spans her career with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and as a solo artist.

Filmed at the Barbican in London, this tribute concert to the singer-songwriter Sandy Denny spans her career with Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and as a solo artist. Her most famous song, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, has been covered by everyone from Judy Collins to Nina Simone, but when she died in 1978 aged 31, Sandy left behind a rich songbook and here an eclectic cast from the folk world and beyond set out to explore and reinterpret it.

English folk queen and Sandy contemporary Maddy Prior performs the menacing John the Gun and the courtly Fotheringay. Veteran Sandy cohorts are represented by Fotheringay and Fairport guitarist Jerry Donahue and fiddler extraordinaire Dave Swarbrick. Fine young troubadours Sam Carter and Blair Dunlop - son of Fairport's Ashley Hutchings - show the tradition is in safe hands.

With a house band featuring members of Bellowhead, the line-up also includes former Scritti Politti singer Green Gartside, Joan Wasser aka Joan as Policewoman (with a heartbreaking No More Sad Refrains), Trembling Bells singer Lavinia Blackwall and American soul singer PP Arnold (with a roof-raising Take Me Away), plus Thea Gilmore, who was asked by Sandy's estate to put some of her unset lyrics to music.

The performances on stage are interspersed with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage that shed light on how the concert came together, plus rare archive of Sandy herself. The show is evidence that, even without the magic of her singing voice, the songs still shine.

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Wed 20 Apr 201603:00

Music Played

  • Lavinia Blackwall

    Late November

  • Maddy Prior

    Solo

  • Green Gartside

    North Star & The Grassman

  • Thea Gilmore

    London

  • Lavinia Blackwall & Dave Swarbrick

    Quiet Joys of Brotherhood

  • Dave Swarbrick & Sam Carter

    It Suits Me Well

  • Maddy Prior

    John the Gun

  • Maddy Prior

    Fotheringay

  • P.P. Arnold

    I'm A Dreamer

  • Green Gartside

    Nothing More

  • Blair Dunlop

    The Sea

  • Joan Wasser

    The Lady

  • Joan Wasser

    No More Sad Refrains

  • Thea Gilmore

    Don't Stop Singing

  • Sam Carter

    Bushes and Briars

  • All Performers

    Who Knows Where The Time Goes

  • P.P. Arnold

    Take Me Away

Credits

RoleContributor
PerformerLavinia Blackwall
PerformerGreen Gartside
PerformerThea Gilmore
PerformerDave Swarbrick
PerformerJerry Donahue
PerformerBlair Dunlop
PerformerJoan Wasser
PerformerSam Carter
Music DirectorAndrew Batt
DirectorJanet Fraser-Crook
ProducerSerena Cross

Broadcasts

  • Fri 9 Nov 201222:05
  • Sat 10 Nov 201201:40
  • Mon 12 Nov 201201:40
  • Fri 14 Dec 201223:50
  • Wed 20 Apr 201603:00