JOHN RENBOURN

John Renbourn's first official solo album release is naturally of greater historical as opposed to artistic value. It does have many high points such as showcasing, for the one and only time, what an awesome slide guitar player Renbourn was especially on the track "Louisiana Blues" It also showcases Renbourn's Achilles heal which was his limited vocal abilities which was always magnified whenever Renbourn tried to sing American blues songs. His thin nasal voice , while working well on British traditional songs was just sorely out of place on songs like "John Henry", "Candyman", and "Motherless Children".

A couple of oddities almost make this album essential and that's the two instrumental duets that he performed with the future Pentangle partner Bert Jansch. Indeed, while "Blue Bones" is interesting, "Noah and Rabbit' is phenomenal and points the way for the duo's future jazz/blues fusion projects on the album titled Bert And John and the early Pentangle albums like their eponymous debut and it's follow up titled Sweet Child. 3 stars due to the album's up and down characteristics seems about right.

Back to the mid 1960s we go again. I did this with BERT JANSCH so feel compelled to do the same with his friend, roommate, and later bandmate (in PENTANGLE) JOHN RENBOURN. Like Jansch, Renbourn sings with a twang, though this may have more to do with the material he chooses, traditional or trad styled southern US acoustic blues, having not yet developed a fascination with British Isles folk, or committed it to disc. Where he shines more is in his instrumental work, just as notable as his compatriot's but somehow more vivacious and, while he could never be thought of as other than a guitarist's guitarist, Renbourn's playing suggests an awareness of guitar as an instrument for the masses, and I can hear future influences on the likes of PAUL BRETT and GORDON GILTRAP. "Judy" and "Train Tune" are the best of these, and "Song" is one of the few vocal numbers in a more folk style and thus refreshing in the context of the album. This is a promising debut to another massively prolific and successful career.