BERT JANSCH

Among the positives here, the production is by far the crispest of any JANSCH record up to that point, the choice of traditional source material is wise given the explosive popularity of FAIRPORT, STEELEYE and PENTANGLE among others, and both JANSCH's guitar and vocals have blossomed. The cost is in my chief criticism levelled at PENTANGLE as well - an almost android-like lack of emotion in the service of chill, or whatever that was called in 1971. He could be like the first court musician to say (somebody must have said it) "I'm not crazy about the job but hey it's a living". Compare the title cut to "When I was on Horseback" by STEELEYE, or "Reynardine" to that by the parent group and you might understand. For someone to sing about love so often and so poetically without apparently opening that heart seems like the consummate irony. I would like to award "Rosemary Lane" three stars but the absence of spice, let alone a track I ever need to hear again, forces my hand to hold up just a couple of fingers.

With the PENTANGLE having issued their well received eponymous debut a year prior, JANSCH appeared energized on his next solo project, even retaining bassist DANNY THOMPSON and incorporating some of the parent (child) group suave approaches on tracks like Poison", "Promised Land" and "A Woman Like You". Terry Cox's drums trade off Jansch's guitars. Elsewhere, the mood can be light, as in the oh so sixties "Come Sing me a Happy song" that should come with an addiction warning. "Tree Song" is wistful and romantic, one of several with pastoral flutes by Ray Warleigh. For the rest, it is middling a bit too often while still commendable for material that serves Jansch's voice better than on any prior album. This is fortuitous given that Pentangle sees him splitting duties with a top notch singer JACQUI MCSHEE, reflexively awarding bonus points to ensemble vs solo efforts. Loosely recommended to fans of both.

Rudderlessly lying in wait for PENTANGLE's illustrious history to commence, JANSCH marks time with this often depressive, sometimes angry sometimes pastoral and sometimes ingratiatingly sunny release. Acoustic blues, folk and naive 1960s pop are some of the outfits modeled.

It doesn't take long to go wrong, and "Go Your Way my Love", while actually decent, certainly hints at boredom being the likely cause of the departure. In a rare moment of thematic continuity, "Woe is Love my Dear" is really part 2 of the self induced self pity, but musically this is much more successful. It and the title track which follow result in an early pinnacle that is never even approached. Arrangements by David G Palmer which presumably include the uncredited flute and strings add luster to both tracks, to which NICK DRAKE may have listened.

After this, a combination of ouch and meh, with a few trad styled blues numbers like "Come Back Baby" (geez, again?) and "Sweet Little Sunshine" intermixed with his DONOVAN interpretation, minus the likeability ("Love is Teasing"), 2 or more Jansch's singing at once, netting the expected results ("Rabbit Run"), a PET CLARK impression ("Life Depends on Love", "Wish my Baby was Here") experiments, ditto. All the virtuosity could be summoned but it doesn't help the cause, though if I had to nominate a tune from the backsliding backside it would be the more thankfully understated "Box of Love".

I was beginning to wonder if any of these supposed classics would crack the 3 star barrier, without realizing that the first such case would fall through the floor. Not quite 2.5 stars

These two expressive guitarists were roommates during their very early careers and, shortly before they co-founded PENTANGLE, offered up this intriguing collaborative effort. While several aspects work in its favor, all of which can be summed up as less JANSCH more RENBOURN, or perhaps, more kindly, improved synergy resulting from 2 compatible players. The twin attack works better on instrumentals like "East Wind", which could almost be called "Andalusian wind" as well, the light jazz of "Red's Favourite", and the wistful folk of "Stepping Stones". Only two vocal tracks dot the opus, the masterful time capsule of "Soho" and the far less inspired and frankly monotonous "The Time Has Come". This is verifiably a keystone in several careers and inspirational in many others for its breadth of styles and playing, but at only 28 minutes, and with some of that attenuated, it falls a tad short of 3.5 stars.

After two albums of mostly original works, JANSCH turned to arrangements of traditional songs, some done on solo guitar. This about face was ahead of FAIRPORT CONVENTION, who weren't even on the recording landscape in 1966, and initially did mostly covers. Speaking of FAIRPORT, their well known "Nottamun Town" is covered here first in a suitably eerie arrangement. And speaking of PENTANGLE, "Jack Orion" would be reprised by that five sided supergroup in a more girthful guise on "Cruel Sister" in 1970. This also marks the first JANSCH album in which JOHN RENBOURN collaborated if only on a few tracks, setting the stage for their full fledged collaboration later in 1966 and their eventual founding of said PENTANGLE shortly thereafter.

With all this housekeeping swept aside, the album somewhat lives and dies by its 10 minute "epic" title cut, which is not majestic in any musical sense, being a story song with innumerable verses and little variation, as was custom ion the new folk rock realm. Unfortunately, Jansch's voice only magnifies the monotony. This is egregious in such a long term investment, so it's somewhat disappointing as is the similar "Pretty Polly", both notwithstanding enriched accompaniment by Renbourn. Instead, I look to the banjoed opener "The Waggoner's Lad", the too-brief "The Gardener" which might have helped move ALAN STIVELL beyond the harp building phase a few years hence, and the aforementioned "Nottamun Town" for the real triumphs here.

A voice like Jansch's would have been better suited for chortling "Wh'all be king but cherlie" or "Queen of Argyll" a la ANDY M STEWART, whose own Gallic timbre was arguably far more grating yet found a comfortable home within SILLY WIZARD and later solo from the 1970s thru the 2000s, thanks to the interpretation of compatible material and matching arrangements. For all I know, an album in the Jansch canon might well exploit his voice more suitably, though, cosmically speaking, fans of PENTANGLE must be content that the story played out as it did.

Having subsisted on JOHN MARTYN for a couple of weeks and now shifting over to BERT JANSCH, I know I shouldn't be comparing and contrasting but my first reaction to "It Don't Bother Me" was that it was Jansch's "The Tumbler" (Martyn's sophomore effort), but that is not only cruel but inaccurate. The similarity is only that Jansch now expresses his brogue better without affectation, but otherwise, for a second album in a year span, this is actually in some ways more captivating than the debut, with songs that better reflect or predict the philosophies of the time, and a quality that presages the prog folk era.

Somehow his vocals are better suited to these musings than in the more closed off predecessor. A consummate example is the superb "Apartheid", with the banjo laden closer "900 Miles" nearly as accomplished, reflecting an American influence coursing through the KINGSTON TRIO. I'm also partial to the rambling story style of "My Lover" and the existential patter of the title cut.

If I could only recommend one Jansch production from the first 2, I'd say don't bother yourself with the debut and grab this one instead.

Another month yet another Scottish folkie dating back to the 1960s to pour over, courtesy of my reviewing muse. To overuse a cliche that I am at least aware I am using, this fellow is truly a guitarist's guitarist. Unfortunately, that's also shorthand for "I am not a guitarist", and, while I am not oblivious to technical virtuosity on the acoustic platform, it's just not enough for me, and quite a number of the tracks are instrumental. The best of these by far is DAVEY GRAHAM's classic "Angie", which doesn't say much for JANSCH's own writing at this stage. Luckily quite a few tracks have vocals. Well, actually not that luckily. While his singing is not without its Scottish charm, his voice isn't very expressive, and so twangy that I briefly thought he hailed from Glasgow, Alabama.

In 1965, not many were doing this, so JANSCH's influence cannot be minimized, but it's hard to get excited about it today on listens 1 to 5, just so much water under the bridge since those early days. Again, at the risk of prosaism, I was painfully young in 1965 and I never heard this, and, while certain previously unheard works of that era do well up the nostalgia within me, this just doesn't. Nonetheless, with GORDON LIGHTFOOT singing, "I Have No time", "Needle of Death", "Running from Home", and "Dreams of Love" would all be 5 star glorious, so they are still nasally worthwhile as underperformed by JANSCH.

Only one way to go with this one. 3 tentatively solid stars, and onward.

Moonshine is the eighth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released shortly after his departure from Pentangle.

Although the cover painting suggests the booze-oriented interpretation for the title of this album, its sound feels like mostly related to nature and country ambiance to me. Building up this impression we find here a considerable congregation of instrumental talents, among which I particularly enjoy woodwinds & recorders.

As for Bert's own songwriting craftmanship, what can I say that's not been already said? Alternative tunings for his acoustic guitar, early english music reminiscences, uniquely sounding pastoral settings, modal flavoured vocal melodies, it's all there.

No doubt, this is excellent, and maybe a bit prog too

Herbert Jansch was a Scottish folk singer, songwritter & guitarist widely known as a founding member of the band Pentangle.

This album, one of my favourites, is a folk & blues affair based on acoustic guitar's non-standard tunings, a technique that was the hallmark of his sound. There's also nice yet sparse contributions by the band, here and there. Most prominently, we find here drummer Pick Withers, about entering world fame with Dire Straits by then, who delivers a tasty & tight sense of rythm in mostly mid-tempo incursions. Nice touches of Rhodes electric piano and fiddle, too. Badge of honor to Rod Clements (Lindisfarne) who underpins the whole recording with his precise and pulsating bass lines.

If folk may be seen as progressive, this may be a fine prog album.

— First review of this album —

My last walk down memory lane with the late John Renbourn features, exclusively, all instrumental collaborations with his old Pentangle sparring partner Bert Jansch. After The Dance is a compilation that focuses exclusively on the duo's joint solo recordings that showcase the interplay between the two acoustic guitar virtuosos and even includes four uncredited Pentangle tracks that also focus on the duo's playing. Starting off with the mesmerizing "Tic-tocative", from the album titled Bert And John, we are quickly followed by the jazzy Pentangle jam like song titled "Waltz" from the group's first album. The millisecond timing between the two is still breathtaking even 50 years after the fact. The jazzy "Piano Tune" is a perfect opener before the duo launch into the scrumptious Mingus standard "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" with, again, a heavy emphasis on jazz juxtapositions before being followed by the manic "Hole In The Coal" from Pentangle's second album "Sweet Child". The duo start to morph into more blues based playing on songs like 'Lucky 13", Stepping Stones" and "Red's Favorite" before switching back to jazz grooves on "No Exit" (another Pentangle jam), "Bells", and this compilation's title track "After The Dance". As a change of pace the stately pseudo Elizabethan "Orlando" and the manic eastern tinged "East Wind" keep this collection form becoming a monotony as does the rendering of the trad. song "The Wagoner's Lad". The latter featuring Jansch on a banjo!

How this great sounding and excellently remastered album is not essential listening for all up and coming guitar players is quite beyond me. 5 stars for something that has never been duplicated since on any record.