Genre
Folk rock and chamber pop. "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz" is a nostalgic song-cycle exploring loss, loneliness, the fear of the dark, and the passing of time, set against orchestral arrangements — strings and brass — by Harry Robinson, alongside intimate acoustic settings featuring Richard Thompson, Danny Thompson, and other key figures of the British folk revival.
Release
Released in June 1974 by Island Records. Recorded in May and August 1973, the album's release was delayed from autumn 1973 to June 1974, by which time Denny had rejoined Fairport Convention. Shortly after completing the recordings, on 20 September 1973.
Production
Produced and engineered by Trevor Lucas and John Wood. Sandy Denny played vocals, piano, and acoustic guitar; other musicians included Richard Thompson and Diz Disley on guitar, Jerry Donahue on electric guitar, John "Rabbit" Bundrick and Jean Roussel on keyboards, Pat Donaldson, Dave Pegg, and Danny Thompson on bass, and Gerry Conway and Dave Mattacks on drums. Orchestral arrangements by Harry Robinson, with brass conducted by Bob Leaper. Recorded at Sound Techniques, London, and A&M Studios, Los Angeles, United States.
Reception
The album received warm critical notices for the quality of its songwriting and the intimacy of its performances. Denny's interpretation of Fats Waller's "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" and the Ink Spots' "Whispering Grass" attracted particular praise. It remains a cult record, beloved by devotees of British folk and singer-songwriter music.
Sandy Denny
Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (January 6, 1947, Merton Park, Surrey – April 21, 1978, Wimbledon, London) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist, widely regarded as the greatest British female folk rock vocalist of her era. She briefly worked with the Strawbs before joining Fairport Convention in 1968, contributing to three of their landmark albums — What We Did on Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking, and Liege & Lief. She wrote "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" - subsequently covered by Judy Collins, Nina Simone, Sinéad O'Connor, and Eva Cassidy, among many others - and remains the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin studio album, having duetted with Robert Plant on "The Battle of Evermore" (1971). After leaving Fairport, she formed Fotheringay and recorded four solo albums. She died aged 31, of a traumatic brain haemorrhage following a fall, on 21 April 1978.
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