Talk:Gold Dust (Sandy Denny album)

I have undertaken general improvement and expansion of this article as far as my knowledge permits, but several aspects still elude me, concerning the real issues accounting for the album delay; the actual composition of the band for that tour; background info on the "new" band members; and the state of Sandy's voice for the final tour. I have broken these out into sections as below. Any additional assistance appreciated!Tony1212 (talk) 03:33, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Real issues accounting for the album delay
Karl Dallas says somewhere there was a "whistle across all tracks"; Joe Boyd apparently said that the guitar(s?) were out of tune; John Penhallow on the Attic Tracks Vol. 3 says that Nothing More was omitted because of an out of tune guitar; the album as released said "Technical problems with the guitar and backing vocals". However several tracks release on the Attic Tracks CD sound OK in these respects, also one would not expect a tuning problem to affect an entire show. Any additional info?Tony1212 (talk) 03:33, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
 * A bit more info is given in Mick Houghton's "I've Always Kept A Unicorn" (2015), on p. 389-390: Marcel Rodd from Saga Records had originally agreed to buy the tapes but backed out because of what Karl Dallas describes as "a nasty whistle right across every track"... also on re-appraising the tapes for the 2010 big box compilation, "Andrew Batt confirmed that on other tracks entire guitar parts are missing and there is a ringing hiss through much of it." Tony 1212 (talk) 05:26, 27 October 2016 (UTC)

Actual composition of the band
Phil Palmer is mentioned as in the band by Clinton Heylin yet he is not apparently there at least at Croydon (where Sandy's band introduction mentions everyone else). I am also curious why they should need an additional guitarist as well as Trevor Lucas on acoustic, Rob Hendry on electric, and Pete Wilsher (actually should be spelled Willsher according to his own page, http://www.davewindle.com/Pete%201.htm) on pedal steel, or whether maybe Phil Palmer substituted for Rob Hendry on some dates?Tony1212 (talk) 03:33, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Since I can find no other evidence that Palmer played on this tour (and he is not mentioned on the CD release) I have removed his name from the list of musicians and the main body of the text, and moved Clinton Heylin's mention to a footnote. If any additional info comes to light the text can always be adjusted further. Tony 1212 (talk) 19:47, 30 October 2016 (UTC)

Background info on the "new" band members
There is little info around (especially on wikipedia) for Pete Wilsher/Willsher or Rob Hendry (looks to me that Pete W. may well deserve his own entry). Rob Hendry was apparently a member of Renaissance for a short period in 1971 and appeared on one album with them, and would seem to have recently (1977) formed and then departed from The Motors, and then went on to work with Alan Price? I'd be interested to hear more about him; also how quickly it was possible to gather together and rehearse the new line-up for this tour (presumably the others would already be very familiar with Sandy's material from Fairport/Fotheringay days).Tony1212 (talk) 03:33, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

State of Sandy's voice for the final tour
Clinton Heylin's position on this would appear to be that Sandy's voice was in almost terminal decline on account of ongoing ill treatment (e.g. smoking) plus had a cold for this tour; at Croydon Sandy tells the audience that she "has the flu, in case you haven't noticed". Miranda Ward talks about her voice being in a shocking state and needing to feed Sandy lemons/honey/brandy plus more (see http://sandydennylist.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/gold-dust-royalty-theatre-november-1977.html), yet in fact her voice seems remarkably good (to me at least). Maybe any shortcomings were flu/cold induced and not terminal? I'd be interested in others' thoughts or impressions.Tony1212 (talk) 03:33, 7 August 2013 (UTC)