LIVE AT THE BBC [AKA: ON AIR]

During the run of their six studio albums, the Pentangle was particularly successful with a wide range of audience ranging from folk audiences to the rock crowds and their visibility was enhanced by regular apparitions at the Beeb, but some broadcast had been lost until recently found and released on the Hux label (cat# HUX049). On this disc are featured some three sessions, but be warned ahead of time, there are double presence of some tracks but those tracks doing overtime are simply musts and they are awesome: Hunting Song and Light Flight, both from the album Basket Of Light album.

The first session is from August 69 and presents their then-brand new album. Cuckoo song is a classic where McShee's voice works wonders over a great bells- and-chimes background. Hunting song presents a bit the same layout but the main difference resides in a strong presence of the stand-up bass and more evident the alternating vocals between Renbourn and McShee working to great effects. Light Flight is a much quicker paced affair with electric guitars and multi-layered vocals.

The second session featured here dates from June 72 and The Pentangle were then Between the Great Reflection Album and their last Solomon's Seal. The material they chose to feature is certainly more moody and thoughtful, dare I say reflective. This version of People On The Highway is not their best, and No Love In Sorrow is also quite a slow but charming track even a bit sedate. The rest of the track are a bit in the same mould and it was clear that The Pentangle were on the verge of their downhill slide which would see them stopping studio recordings, for a few years. Lady Of Carlyle is a tad different using the banjo and a droning bowed double bass.

The third session presented here dates from June 70 (but this time in a concert situation, which actually explains the lower sound levels), which is a rather odd choice to place behind the 72 session, but understandable since there are tracks which double in and it was smart to separate them as much as possible. Train Song is unfortunately not properly recorded and much inferior to the studio recording. Hunting Song is equal to itself, slightly different mostly due to a different sound- balancing scheme. Light Flight is a tad quicker than the studio version. In Time is an under-rated track from their second album Sweet Child and here unfortunately the improvisations are not as brilliant as the original version. Still worth a listen though! House Carpenter was a crowd favourite as well as one of the most covered trad folk song, and the rendition here with banjo and sitar is off to a rocky start but slowly picks up. The last track ends with a standing ovation.

Yet another precious album released from the Beeb's Archives, and a vital release for Pentangle enthusiasts as there are not many live recordings from those years!

Not to be confused with the poor quality "The Lost Broadcasts 1969-1972" Hux Records CD of off air BBC recordings, this 61 minute CD of Pentangle's BBC rarities is the real quality article. Most of the tracks here are BBC Radio One sessions , recorded from 1969 to 1972, and the sound quality is impressive throughout. What stands out is that these songs are from the group's Basket Of Light album as well as from Reflection and the almost invisible and forgotten Solomon's Seal album, where as most extant early live recordings focus on the group's self titled debut and its follow up album Sweet Child. This album is a real treat for the group's many fans of their later output. All tracks are excellent baring a clunky rendition of "Train Song" and a slow to get going "In Time". As with most BBC session recordings, the immediacy of the performances are striking when compared to their studio counterparts, with McShee's and Jansch's vocal being far superior here. Even on the six live recordings from 1972 included here that round out this collection. Standout tracks are the session and live versions of "Hunting Song", the live version of "Light Flight", along with the session take of "The Cuckoo Song" and a rousing live version "House Carpenter." This CD is out of print but can still be found online for a fair price is one knows where to look, and is almost an essential for Pentangle fans. 4 stars.