The cream of the British folk-rock set forgive her the occasional stumble, looking past the drug-and-alcohol troubles of her final years and preferring to remember instead her ability to move even the most curmudgeonly among them to tears with an expertly pitched song.
On exiting Fairport Convention in 1969 to extend herself more fully as a singer-songwriter, Denny formed her own band, Fotheringay, which released one eponymous album before folding.
Free to pursue her own interests, she then embarked upon a series of solo albums that saw her roam increasingly further from her folk roots.
Sandy (1972) is the second of Denny's solo efforts, a delicately balanced album that finds her still immersed in the rich history of traditional storytelling music while casting a line towards more contemporary sounds.
Backed by a supporting cast of past associates and contemporaries that includes producer and then future husband Trevor Lucas, Richard and Linda Thompson, Dave Swarbrick and Flying Burrito Brothers pedal-steel player ''Sneaky Pete'' Kleinow, Denny delivers a 10-song set that includes eight originals, the Bob Dylan-penned Tomorrow Is A Long Time and her final recording of a traditional song, The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (lyrics by Richard Farina).
Denny's reading of that traditional number is faultless, as is Swarbrick's evocative violin coda.
Its place among other tracks that lean towards country-rock, music-wise if not lyric-wise, serves as a reminder of Denny's uncanny ability to connect with the mother/daughter/lover/loner figure through history.
Through the plaintive quality of her voice, she is able to carry the listener back through time to scenes of suffering, joy and discovery.
It is a quality Denny can't shake, even on horn-driven soul track For Nobody To Hear and on laid-back drifter It'll Take A Long Time.
Hers is a voice aged in the mead of ancient times.
