The North Star Grassman and the Ravens (Remastered)

As primary guitarist and producer, Richard Thompson is an unmistakable presence on Sandy Denny’s first solo album. Though his quicksilver guitar shines on songs like “Blackwaterside,” one can sense that his sole mission was to underscore Denny’s vision. Coming off of the late-'60s Fairport Convention albums, the influence of The Band looms large here, both in the woodsy resoluteness of the drums and the organic feel of the instrumentation. Still, unlike her compatriots, Denny was more mystical than frisky. Though she does some romping in the form of “Down in the Flood” and “Let’s Jump the Broomstick,” the album’s tone is best captured on “John the Gun,” “Wretched Wilbur,” and “The Optimist,” which employ the poetical structure and language of traditional British folk music to illuminate a darkness that becomes more and more personal as the album moves forward. While Denny was regarded as a singer, she was also a writer. When she delivered her self-made tales of life on the high seas (“Late November,” “The North Star Grassman and the Ravens”), her singing left no doubt that while the narratives were classical, the meaning was wholly autobiographical.