"Fotheringay" was the album Sandy Denny released after she left Fairport Convention, when that group decided to explore traditional English music more and Denny wanted to continue writing songs (the title comes from one of the first songs she wrote for Fairport).  On this 1970 album Denny wrote four of the tracks, with "The Sea" and "Winter Winds" being the best of the quartet.  There are also covers of songs by Bob Dylan ("Too Much of Nothing"), Gordon Lightfoot ("The Way I Feel"), and David Cousins ("Two Last Weeks in Summer") of the Strawbs, with whom Denny had recorded an earlier album.  Ironically, the best track on the album ends up being the traditional song, "Banks of the Nile," a Napoleonic Wars-era story-song ballad, and very much in the style of "A Sailor's Life" and "Tam Linn" that Denny did with Fairport.  In addition to Denny on Guitar and Piano, the group consisted of Trevor Lucas and Jerry Donahue on guitars, Pat Donaldson on bass, and Gerry Conway on drums, with everybody joining in on the vocals.  The one serious complaint about the album would be the vocals by Lucas, which does not compliment Denny's sublime vocals, even when he is singing his own song, "The Ballad of Ned Kelly" (and even though the pair married shortly after this album was produced).  But the album ends on a strong note, with Denny's expressive vocals on "Two Weeks Last Summer" and "Gypsy Davey," and serves as a potent reminder that she was the pre-eminent British folk singer of her generation.  "Fotheringay" is not quiet as good as "Unhalfbricking" and "Liege & Lief," but its best moments match any on those classic Fairport Convention albums.  Together, they make a nice Sandy Denny folk-rock group trilogy.