Bert Jansch
Encyclopedia
Herbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk music
ian and founding member of the band Pentangle
. He was born in Glasgow
and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter. He recorded at least 25 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.
Jansch was a leading figure in the British folk music revival of the 1960s, touring folk clubs and recording several solo albums, as well as collaborating with other musicians such as John Renbourn
and Anne Briggs
. In 1968, he joined the band Pentangle, touring and recording with them until their break-up in 1972. He then took a few years' break from music, returning in the late 1970s to work on a series of projects with other musicians. He joined a reformed Pentangle in the early 1980s and remained with them as they evolved through various changes of personnel until 1995. Until his death, Jansch continued to work as a solo artist.
Jansch's work influenced such artists as Al Stewart
, Paul Simon
, Johnny Marr
, Elton John
, Bernie Taupin
, Bernard Butler
, Jimmy Page
, Nick Drake
, Graham Coxon
, Donovan
, Neil Young
, Fleet Foxes
, Devendra Banhart
and Neil Halstead
.
Jansch received two Lifetime Achievement Awards at the BBC
Folk Awards
: one, in 2001, for his solo achievements and the other, in 2007, as a member of Pentangle.
, Glasgow in 1943, the descendant of a family originally from Hamburg
, Germany
who settled in Britain during the Victorian era
. The family name is pronounced ˈjænʃ "yansh" by almost everyone except Jansch himself. He and some close members of his family pronounce it ˈdʒænʃ "jansh".
Jansch was brought up in Edinburgh
, where he attended Pennywell Primary School and Ainslie Park Secondary School. As a teenager, he acquired a guitar and started visiting a local folk club ("The Howff") run by Roy Guest
. There, he met Archie Fisher
and Jill Doyle (Davey Graham
's half-sister), who introduced him to the music of Big Bill Broonzy
, Pete Seeger
, Brownie McGhee
and Woody Guthrie
. He also met and shared a flat with Robin Williamson
, who remained a friend when Jansch later moved to London.
After leaving school, Jansch took a job as a nurseryman, then in August 1960, he gave this up, with the intention of being a full-time musician. He appointed himself as an unofficial caretaker at The Howff and, as well as sleeping there, he may have received some pay to supplement his income as a novice performer who did not own his own guitar. He spent the next two years playing one-night stands in British folk clubs. This was a musical apprenticeship that exposed him to a range of influences, including Martin Carthy
and Ian Campbell
, but especially Anne Briggs
, from whom he learned some of the songs (such as "Blackwaterside
" and "Reynardine") that would later feature strongly in his recording career.
Between 1963 and 1965, Jansch travelled around Europe and beyond, hitch-hiking from place to place and living on earnings from busking
and casual musical performances in bars and cafes. Before leaving Glasgow, he married a 16-year-old girl, Lynda Campbell. It was a marriage of convenience which allowed her to travel with him as she was too young to have her own passport
. They split up after a few months and Jansch was eventually repatriated to Britain after catching dysentery
in Tangiers.
, at whose home they made a recording of Jansch's music on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Leader sold the tape for £100 to Transatlantic Records
, who produced an album directly from it. The album Bert Jansch
was released in 1965 and went on to sell 150,000 copies. It included Jansch's protest song "Do You Hear Me Now" which was brought to the attention of the pop music mainstream later that year by the singer Donovan
, who covered it on his Universal Soldier EP, which reached No. 1 in the UK EP chart and No. 27 in the singles chart. Also included in Jansch's first album was his song "Needle of Death".
In his early career, Jansch was sometimes characterized as a British Bob Dylan
. Jansch followed his first album with two more, produced in quick succession: It Don't Bother Me and Jack Orion
—which contained his first recording of "Blackwaterside", later to be taken up by Jimmy Page
and recorded by Led Zeppelin
as "Black Mountain Side
". Jansch says: The accompaniment was nicked by a well-known member of one of the most famous rock bands, who used it, unchanged, on one of their records. Transatlantic took legal advice about the alleged copyright infringement and were advised that there was "a distinct possibility that Bert might win an action against Page". Ultimately, Transatlantic were dubious about the costs involved in taking on Led Zeppelin
in the courts, and half the costs would have had to be paid by Jansch personally, which he simply could not afford, so the case was never pursued.
In London, Jansch met up with other innovative acoustic guitar players, including John Renbourn
(with whom he shared a flat in Kilburn), Davey Graham
, Wizz Jones
, Roy Harper
and Paul Simon
. They would all meet and play in various London music clubs, including the Troubadour, in Old Brompton Road
, and Les Cousins
club in Greek Street
, Soho
. Renbourn and Jansch frequently played together, developing their own intricate interplay between the two guitars, often referred to as 'Folk baroque
'.
In 1966, they recorded the Bert and John album together, featuring much of this material. Late in 1967 they tired of the all-nighters at Les Cousins and became the resident musicians at a music venue set up by Bruce Dunnett, a Scottish entrepreneur, at the Horseshoe pub (now defunct) at 264-267 Tottenham Court Road. This became the haunt of a number of musicians, including the singer Sandy Denny
. Another singer, Jacqui McShee
began performing with the two guitarists and, with the addition of Danny Thompson
(string bass) and Terry Cox
(drums), they formed the group, Pentangle. The venue evolved into a jazz club, but by then the group had moved on.
On 19 October 1968, Jansch married Heather Sewell. At the time, she was an art student and had been the girlfriend of Roy Harper
. She inspired several of Jansch's songs and instrumentals: the most obvious is "Miss Heather Rosemary Sewell", from his 1968 album, Birthday Blues, but Jansch says that, despite the name, "M'Lady Nancy" (from the 1971 Rosemary Lane album) was also written for her. As Heather Jansch
she has become a well-known sculptress
.
, in 1967, and their first album was released in the following year. Pentangle embarked on a demanding schedule of touring the world and recording and, during this period, Jansch largely gave up solo performances. He did, however, continue to record, releasing Rosemary Lane in 1971. The tracks, for this album were recorded on a portable tape recorder by Bill Leader at Jansch's cottage in Ticehurst
, Sussex
— a process which took several months, with Jansch only working when he was in the right mood.
Pentangle reached their highest point of commercial success with the release of their Basket Of Light
album in 1969. The single, Light Flight, taken from the album became popular through its use as theme music for a TV drama series Take Three Girls
for which the band also provided incidental music. In 1970, at the peak of their popularity, they recorded a soundtrack for the film Tam Lin, made at least 12 television appearances, and undertook tours of the UK (including the Isle of Wight Festival) and America (including a concert at the Carnegie Hall
). However, their fourth album, Cruel Sister
, released in October 1970, was a commercial disaster. This was an album of traditional songs that included a 20-minute long version of Jack Orion, a song that Jansch and Renbourn had recorded previously as a duo on Jansch's Jack Orion album.
Pentangle recorded two further albums, but the strains of touring and of working together as a band were taking their toll. Then Pentangle withdrew from their record company, Transatlantic, in a bitter dispute regarding royalties. The final album of the original incarnation of Pentangle was Solomon's Seal released by Warner Brothers/Reprise in 1972. Colin Harper describes it as "a record of people's weariness, but also the product of a unit whose members were still among the best players, writers and musical interpreters of their day". Pentangle split up in January 1973, and Jansch and his wife bought a farm near Lampeter
, in Wales
, and withdrew temporarily from the concert circuit.
and Pick Withers
. He then formed the band Conundrum with the addition of Martin Jenkins (violin) and Nigel Smith (bass). They spent six months touring Australia, Japan and the United States. With the end of the tour, Conundrum parted company and Jansch spent six months in the United States, where he recorded the Heartbreak album with Albert Lee
.
Jansch toured Scandinavia
, working as a duo with Martin Jenkins and, based on ideas they developed, recorded the Avocet album (initially released in Denmark). Jansch rates this as amongst his own favourites from his own recordings. On returning to England, he set up Bert Jansch's Guitar Shop at 220, New King's Road, Fulham
. The shop specialised in hand-built acoustic guitars but was not a commercial success and closed after two years.
promoter encouraged the original Pentangle to reform for a tour and a new album. The reunion started badly, with Terry Cox being injured in a car accident, resulting in the band's debuting at the Cambridge Folk Festival
as a four-piece Pentangle. They managed to complete a tour of Italy
(with Cox in a wheelchair) and Australia
, before Renbourn left the band in 1983. There then followed a series of personnel changes, including Mike Piggott replacing John Renbourn from 1983-1987 and recording "Open the Door" and "In the Round", but ultimately leaving Jansch and McShee as the only original members. The final incarnation consisting of Jansch, McShee, Nigel Portman Smith (keyboards), Peter Kirtley (guitar and vocals) and Gerry Conway
(drums) survived from 1987 to 1995 and recorded three albums: Think of Tomorrow, One More Road and Live 1994. As a solo artist in the mid-1980s, he often appeared on Vivian Stanshall
and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall
's showboat, the Old Profanity Showboat, in Bristol's Floating Harbour.
He had always been a heavy drinker, but in 1987 he fell ill while working with Rod Clements
and was rushed to hospital, where he was told that he was "as seriously ill as you can be without dying" and that he had a choice of "giving up alcohol or simply giving up". He chose the former option: Colin Harper
states that "There can be no doubt that Bert's creativity, reliability, energy, commitment and quality of performance were all rescued dramatically by the decision to quit boozing". Jansch and Clements continued the work they had started before Jansch's illness, resulting in the 1988 Leather Launderette album.
in Denmark Street
, London. One of his live sets there was recorded direct to Digital Audio Tape
(DAT) by Jansch's then manager, Alan King, and was released as the Live at the 12 Bar: an official bootleg album in 1996. In 2002 Jansch, Bernard Butler
and Johnny "Guitar" Hodge performed live together at the Jazz Cafe, London. In 2003, Jansch celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
in London. The BBC organised a concert for Jansch and various guests at the church of St Luke Old Street
, which was televised on BBC Four
.
In 2005, Jansch teamed up again with one of his early influences, Davey Graham
, for a small number of concerts in England and Scotland. His concert tour had to be postponed, owing to illness, and Jansch underwent major heart surgery in late 2005. By 2006 he had recovered and was playing concerts again. Jansch's album The Black Swan (his first for four years) was released on Sanctuary on 18 September 2006, featuring Beth Orton
and Devendra Banhart
on tracks "Katie Cruel", "When the Sun Comes Up", and "Watch the Stars", amongst other guests. In 2007, he featured on Babyshambles
album, Shotter's Nation
, playing acoustic guitar in the song "The Lost Art of Murder". After recording, he accompanied Babyshambles' lead singer Pete Doherty
on several acoustic gigs, and performed on the Pete and Carl Reunion Gig, where ex-Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things singer Carl Barat joined Doherty on stage.
In 2009 he played a concert at the London Jazz Cafe to celebrate the release of three of his older albums (LA Turnaround, Santa Barbara Honeymoon and A Rare Conundrum) on CD format. However, later that year, due to an unexpected illness, he had to cancel a 22-date North American tour that was due to start on 26 June. Jansch's website reported: "Bert is very sorry to be missing the tour, and apologises to all the fans who were hoping to see him. He is looking forward to rescheduling as soon as possible."
Jansch opened for Neil Young
on his Twisted Road solo acoustic tour in the US and Canada, starting on 18 May 2010. He also performed at Eric Clapton
's Crossroads festival in June 2010. These were Jansch's first shows since his illness. In 2011, a few reunion gigs took place with Pentangle, including performances at the Glastonbury Festival
and one last final concert at the Royal Festival Hall
, London , which was also Jansch's last ever public performance.
Jansch died on 5 October 2011, aged 67, at a hospice in Hampstead
after a long battle with cancer.
, and on 5 June 2006, he received the MOJO Merit Award at the Mojo
Honours List ceremony, based on "an expanded career that still continues to be inspirational". The award was presented by Beth Orton
and Roy Harper
. Rolling Stone ranked Jansch as #94 on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time in 2003.
In January 2007, the five original members of Pentangle (including Jansch) were given a Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
. The award was presented by Sir David Attenborough
. Producer John Leonard said "Pentangle were one of the most influential groups of the late 20th century and it would be wrong for the awards not to recognise what an impact they had on the music scene." Pentangle played together for the event, for the first time in more than two decades, and their performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 2
on Wednesday, 7 February 2007. In 2007, Jansch was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Edinburgh Napier University, "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the UK music industry".
and Brownie McGhee
, whom Jansch first saw playing at The Howff in 1960 and, much later, claimed that he'd "still be a gardener" if he hadn't encountered McGhee and his music. Jansch was also strongly influenced by the British folk music tradition, particularly by Anne Briggs
and, to a lesser extent, A.L. Lloyd. Other influences included jazz
(notably Charles Mingus
), early music
(John Renbourn and Julian Bream
) and other contemporary singer-songwriters — especially Clive Palmer
. The other major influence was Davey Graham
who, himself, brought together an eclectic mixture of musical styles. Also, in his formative years, Jansch had busked his way through Europe to Morocco, picking up musical ideas and rhythms from many sources. From these influences, he distilled his own individual guitar style.
Some of his songs feature a basic clawhammer
style of right-hand playing but these are often distinguished by unusual chord
voicing
s or by chords with added notes. An example of this is his song "Needle of Death", which features a simple picking style but several of the chords are decorated with added ninth
s. Characteristically, the ninths are not the highest note of the chord, but appear in the middle of the arpeggiated
finger-picking, creating a "lumpiness" to the sound.
Another characteristic feature is his ability to hold a chord in the lower strings whilst bending an upper string—often bending up from a semitone
below a chord note. These can be heard clearly on songs such as "Reynardine" where the bends are from the diminished fifth to the perfect fifth
. Jansch often fitted the accompaniment to the natural rhythm
of the words of his songs, rather than playing a consistent rhythm throughout. This can lead to occasional bars appearing in unusual time signature
s. For example, his version of the Ewan MacColl
song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
", unlike most other covers of that song, switches from 4/4 time to 3/4 and 5/4. A similar disregard for conventional time signatures is found in several of his collaborative compositions with Pentangle: for instance, "Light Flight" from the Basket of Light
album includes sections in 5/8, 7/8 and 6/4 time.
, Appalachian dulcimer
, recorder
and concertina
—on rare occasions he has even been known to play electric guitar
. However, it is his acoustic guitar playing that is most notable.
Jansch's first guitar was home-made from a kit but when he left school and started work, he bought a Hoffner cello-style guitar. Soon he traded this in for a Zenith which was marketed as the "Lonnie Donegan
guitar" and which Jansch played in the folk clubs in the early 1960s. His first album was reputedly recorded using a Martin
00028 borrowed from Martin Carthy
. Pictures of Jansch in the middle 1960s show him playing a variety of models, including Martin and Epiphone
guitars. He had a guitar hand-built by John Bailey
, which was used for most of the Pentangle recordings but was eventually stolen.. Jansch later played two six-string guitars built by the Coventry-based luthier, Rob Armstrong, one of which appears on the front and back covers of the 1980 Shanachie release, Best of Bert Jansch. He then had a contract with Yamaha
, who provided him with an FG1500 which he played, along with a Yamaha LL11 1970s jumbo guitar. Jansch's relationship with Yamaha continued and they presented him with an acoustic guitar with gold trim and abalone
inlay for his 60th birthday although, valued at about £3000, Jansch is quoted as saying that it is too good for stage use. Jansch was a well-known Fylde guitar
player.
saying "At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch. When I first heard that LP, I couldn't believe it. It was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing. No one in America could touch that." Page would record a version of Jansch's "Blackwaterside" controversially without crediting Jansch's arrangement.
The same debut album included Jansch's version of the Davy Graham instrumental "Angie". This was a favourite of Mike Oldfield
, who practised acoustic guitar alone as a child, and was then heavily influenced by Jansch's style. The title of the instrumental inspired Oldfield to call his first band (with sister Sally) The Sallyangie. Jansch's version of "Angie" inspired Paul Simon
's recording of the piece, which was retitled "Anji" and appeared on the Simon & Garfunkel album Sounds of Silence
. From the same era, Neil Young
is quoted as saying, "As much of a great guitar player as Jimi [Hendrix] was, Bert Jansch is the same thing for acoustic guitar...and my favourite." Nick Drake
and Donovan
were both admirers of Jansch: both recorded covers of his songs and Donovan went on to dedicate two of his own songs to Jansch; "Bert's Blues" appeared on his Sunshine Superman
LP, and "House of Jansch" on his fourth album Mellow Yellow
. Other tributes included Gordon Giltrap
's album Janschology (2000) which has two tunes by Jansch, plus two others that show his influence. Further afield, the Japanese acoustic guitar player Tsuneo Imahori
is known to have been heavily influenced by Jansch.
Live
Singles and EPs
Compilations
DVD
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian and founding member of the band Pentangle
Pentangle (band)
Pentangle are a British folk rock band with some folk jazz influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version has been active since the early 1980s...
. He was born in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter. He recorded at least 25 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.
Jansch was a leading figure in the British folk music revival of the 1960s, touring folk clubs and recording several solo albums, as well as collaborating with other musicians such as John Renbourn
John Renbourn
John Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
and Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she traveled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music...
. In 1968, he joined the band Pentangle, touring and recording with them until their break-up in 1972. He then took a few years' break from music, returning in the late 1970s to work on a series of projects with other musicians. He joined a reformed Pentangle in the early 1980s and remained with them as they evolved through various changes of personnel until 1995. Until his death, Jansch continued to work as a solo artist.
Jansch's work influenced such artists as Al Stewart
Al Stewart
Al Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...
, Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
, Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Bernie Taupin
Bernie Taupin
Bernard John "Bernie" Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history.In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement in...
, Bernard Butler
Bernard Butler
Bernard Joseph Butler is an English musician and record producer. He first emerged in the early Britpop era with Suede. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of his generation, as well as one of Britain's most original and influential guitarists...
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, Graham Coxon
Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He came to prominence as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of rock band Blur, and is also a critically acclaimed solo artist, having recorded seven solo albums...
, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes are a folk rock band which formed in Seattle, Washington. They are signed to the Sub Pop and Bella Union record labels. The band came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their second EP, Sun Giant, and their debut full length album Fleet Foxes...
, Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
and Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead is a British guitarist and singer, described as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters" by Allmusic. He was a founding member of Slowdive, a band often associated with the shoegazer musical genre...
.
Jansch received two Lifetime Achievement Awards at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
: one, in 2001, for his solo achievements and the other, in 2007, as a member of Pentangle.
Early years
Herbert Jansch was born at Stobhill HospitalStobhill Hospital
Stobhill Hospital is an Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic Hospital, located in the district of Springburn in the north of Glasgow, Scotland. It serves the population of North Glasgow and part of East Dunbartonshire.-History:...
, Glasgow in 1943, the descendant of a family originally from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
who settled in Britain during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. The family name is pronounced ˈjænʃ "yansh" by almost everyone except Jansch himself. He and some close members of his family pronounce it ˈdʒænʃ "jansh".
Jansch was brought up in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where he attended Pennywell Primary School and Ainslie Park Secondary School. As a teenager, he acquired a guitar and started visiting a local folk club ("The Howff") run by Roy Guest
Roy Guest
Roy Guest was a folk singer and impresario.Born in Izmir, Turkey, Guest came to prominence in the 1960s as a promoter with Harold Davison, and with Brian Epstein's NEMS enterprises. He oversaw the London concert debuts of Simon and Garfunkel, the Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention...
. There, he met Archie Fisher
Archie Fisher
Archie Fisher MBE is a Scottish folk singer and song writer.-The early years:Archie Fisher was born in Glasgow on 23 October 1939 into a large singing family. His sister Cilla Fisher is also a professional singer, as was his late sister Ray. In 1960 he moved to Edinburgh and appeared regularly at...
and Jill Doyle (Davey Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
's half-sister), who introduced him to the music of Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
, Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
, Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
and Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
. He also met and shared a flat with Robin Williamson
Robin Williamson
Robin Williamson is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
, who remained a friend when Jansch later moved to London.
After leaving school, Jansch took a job as a nurseryman, then in August 1960, he gave this up, with the intention of being a full-time musician. He appointed himself as an unofficial caretaker at The Howff and, as well as sleeping there, he may have received some pay to supplement his income as a novice performer who did not own his own guitar. He spent the next two years playing one-night stands in British folk clubs. This was a musical apprenticeship that exposed him to a range of influences, including Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
and Ian Campbell
Ian Campbell Folk Group
The Ian Campbell Folk Group were one of the most popular and respected folk groups of the British folk revival of the 1960s. The group made many appearances on radio, television, and at national and international venues and festivals. They performed a mixture of British traditional folk music and...
, but especially Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she traveled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music...
, from whom he learned some of the songs (such as "Blackwaterside
Down by Blackwaterside
Down by Blackwaterside is a traditional folk song, provenance and author unknown, although it is likely to have originated near the River Blackwater, Northern Ireland...
" and "Reynardine") that would later feature strongly in his recording career.
Between 1963 and 1965, Jansch travelled around Europe and beyond, hitch-hiking from place to place and living on earnings from busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
and casual musical performances in bars and cafes. Before leaving Glasgow, he married a 16-year-old girl, Lynda Campbell. It was a marriage of convenience which allowed her to travel with him as she was too young to have her own passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
. They split up after a few months and Jansch was eventually repatriated to Britain after catching dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
in Tangiers.
London (mid-1960s)
Jansch moved to London where, in the mid-1960s, there was a burgeoning interest in folk music. There, he met the engineer and producer, Bill LeaderBill Leader
Bill Leader is an English recording engineer and record producer. He is particularly associated with the British folk music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, producing records by Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Frank Harte and others....
, at whose home they made a recording of Jansch's music on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Leader sold the tape for £100 to Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records
Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...
, who produced an album directly from it. The album Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch (album)
Bert Jansch is the debut album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. The album was recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder at engineer Bill Leader's house and sold to Transatlantic Records for £100. Transatlantic released the album, which went on to sell 150,000 copies. It is also mentioned in...
was released in 1965 and went on to sell 150,000 copies. It included Jansch's protest song "Do You Hear Me Now" which was brought to the attention of the pop music mainstream later that year by the singer Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, who covered it on his Universal Soldier EP, which reached No. 1 in the UK EP chart and No. 27 in the singles chart. Also included in Jansch's first album was his song "Needle of Death".
In his early career, Jansch was sometimes characterized as a British Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. Jansch followed his first album with two more, produced in quick succession: It Don't Bother Me and Jack Orion
Jack Orion
Jack Orion is the third album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1966. It contains a number of traditional songs, including the epic "Jack Orion": a ten-minute adaptation of the Child ballad "Glasgerion" which tells of a court fiddler’s attempt to seduce a countess and his servant's...
—which contained his first recording of "Blackwaterside", later to be taken up by Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
and recorded by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
as "Black Mountain Side
Black Mountain Side
"Black Mountain Side" is an instrumental by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on the band's 1969 début album Led Zeppelin. It was recorded at Olympic Studios, London during October 1968.-Song structure:...
". Jansch says: The accompaniment was nicked by a well-known member of one of the most famous rock bands, who used it, unchanged, on one of their records. Transatlantic took legal advice about the alleged copyright infringement and were advised that there was "a distinct possibility that Bert might win an action against Page". Ultimately, Transatlantic were dubious about the costs involved in taking on Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
in the courts, and half the costs would have had to be paid by Jansch personally, which he simply could not afford, so the case was never pursued.
In London, Jansch met up with other innovative acoustic guitar players, including John Renbourn
John Renbourn
John Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
(with whom he shared a flat in Kilburn), Davey Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
, Wizz Jones
Wizz Jones
Raymond Ronald Jones better-known as Wizz Jones is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present...
, Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
and Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
. They would all meet and play in various London music clubs, including the Troubadour, in Old Brompton Road
Old Brompton Road
Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.It starts from South Kensington tube station and runs south-west, through a mainly residential area, until it reaches West Brompton and the area around Earl's Court tube station...
, and Les Cousins
Les Cousins (music club)
Les Cousins was a folk and blues club in the basement of a restaurant in Greek Street, in the Soho district of London. It had its heyday during the British folk music revival of the mid-1960s and was notable as a venue in which musicians of that period met and learnt from each other...
club in Greek Street
Greek Street
Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature.-History:...
, Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. Renbourn and Jansch frequently played together, developing their own intricate interplay between the two guitars, often referred to as 'Folk baroque
Folk baroque
Folk baroque or baroque guitar is the name given to a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British traditional music to produce a new and elaborate form of accompaniment...
'.
In 1966, they recorded the Bert and John album together, featuring much of this material. Late in 1967 they tired of the all-nighters at Les Cousins and became the resident musicians at a music venue set up by Bruce Dunnett, a Scottish entrepreneur, at the Horseshoe pub (now defunct) at 264-267 Tottenham Court Road. This became the haunt of a number of musicians, including the singer Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
. Another singer, Jacqui McShee
Jacqui McShee
thumb|300px|right|Jacqui McShee performing with [[Pentangle]] at the 2007 [[BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards]]Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz influenced folk rock band.-Biography:McShee's musical career began as a soloist in British folk...
began performing with the two guitarists and, with the addition of Danny Thompson
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
(string bass) and Terry Cox
Terry Cox
Terence William Harvey 'Terry' Cox played drums in the British folk rock bands The Pentangle, Duffy's Nucleus and Humblebums....
(drums), they formed the group, Pentangle. The venue evolved into a jazz club, but by then the group had moved on.
On 19 October 1968, Jansch married Heather Sewell. At the time, she was an art student and had been the girlfriend of Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
. She inspired several of Jansch's songs and instrumentals: the most obvious is "Miss Heather Rosemary Sewell", from his 1968 album, Birthday Blues, but Jansch says that, despite the name, "M'Lady Nancy" (from the 1971 Rosemary Lane album) was also written for her. As Heather Jansch
Heather Jansch
Heather Jansch is a British sculptor notable for making life-sized sculptures of horses from driftwood. She has also used cork as a material in her creations. Jansch reported that she struggled in her youth in schools, but had a passion for drawing and horses.A reviewer in Britain's Daily Mail...
she has become a well-known sculptress
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
.
Pentangle years: 1968–73
Pentangle's first major concert was at the Royal Festival HallRoyal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, in 1967, and their first album was released in the following year. Pentangle embarked on a demanding schedule of touring the world and recording and, during this period, Jansch largely gave up solo performances. He did, however, continue to record, releasing Rosemary Lane in 1971. The tracks, for this album were recorded on a portable tape recorder by Bill Leader at Jansch's cottage in Ticehurst
Ticehurst
Ticehurst is both a village and a large civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The parish lies in the upper reaches of both the River Teise before it enters Bewl Water and in the upper reaches of the River Rother flowing to the south-east...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
— a process which took several months, with Jansch only working when he was in the right mood.
Pentangle reached their highest point of commercial success with the release of their Basket Of Light
Basket of Light
Basket of Light is a 1969 album by the folk rock group Pentangle. It reached #5 on the UK charts largely on the basis of the single "Light Flight" , the theme from BBC1's first colour drama series Take Three Girls.-A side:-B side:...
album in 1969. The single, Light Flight, taken from the album became popular through its use as theme music for a TV drama series Take Three Girls
Take Three Girls
Take Three Girls is a drama series on BBC1 which ran between 1969 and 1971 about the lives of three girls sharing a flat in 'Swinging' London....
for which the band also provided incidental music. In 1970, at the peak of their popularity, they recorded a soundtrack for the film Tam Lin, made at least 12 television appearances, and undertook tours of the UK (including the Isle of Wight Festival) and America (including a concert at the Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
). However, their fourth album, Cruel Sister
Cruel Sister
Cruel Sister was an album recorded in 1970 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the most folk-based of the albums recorded by the band, with all the tracks being versions of traditional songs...
, released in October 1970, was a commercial disaster. This was an album of traditional songs that included a 20-minute long version of Jack Orion, a song that Jansch and Renbourn had recorded previously as a duo on Jansch's Jack Orion album.
Pentangle recorded two further albums, but the strains of touring and of working together as a band were taking their toll. Then Pentangle withdrew from their record company, Transatlantic, in a bitter dispute regarding royalties. The final album of the original incarnation of Pentangle was Solomon's Seal released by Warner Brothers/Reprise in 1972. Colin Harper describes it as "a record of people's weariness, but also the product of a unit whose members were still among the best players, writers and musical interpreters of their day". Pentangle split up in January 1973, and Jansch and his wife bought a farm near Lampeter
Lampeter
Lampeter is a town in Ceredigion, South West Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Teifi and the Afon Dulas.-Demographics:At the 2001 National Census, the population was 2894. Lampeter is therefore the smallest university town in both Wales and the United Kingdom...
, in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and withdrew temporarily from the concert circuit.
Late 1970s
After two years as a farmer, Jansch left his wife and family and returned to music (although Jansch and his wife would not be formally divorced until 1988). In 1977, he recorded the album A Rare Conundrum with a new set of musicians: Mike Piggott, Rod ClementsRod Clements
Rod Clements is a British guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Career:...
and Pick Withers
Pick Withers
David "Pick" Withers was the original drummer for the rock band Dire Straits and played on their first four albums, which included hit singles such as "Sultans of Swing," "Romeo and Juliet" and "Private Investigations."...
. He then formed the band Conundrum with the addition of Martin Jenkins (violin) and Nigel Smith (bass). They spent six months touring Australia, Japan and the United States. With the end of the tour, Conundrum parted company and Jansch spent six months in the United States, where he recorded the Heartbreak album with Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
.
Jansch toured Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, working as a duo with Martin Jenkins and, based on ideas they developed, recorded the Avocet album (initially released in Denmark). Jansch rates this as amongst his own favourites from his own recordings. On returning to England, he set up Bert Jansch's Guitar Shop at 220, New King's Road, Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
. The shop specialised in hand-built acoustic guitars but was not a commercial success and closed after two years.
1980s
In 1980, an ItalianItalian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
promoter encouraged the original Pentangle to reform for a tour and a new album. The reunion started badly, with Terry Cox being injured in a car accident, resulting in the band's debuting at the Cambridge Folk Festival
Cambridge Folk Festival
The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is renowned for its eclectic mix of music and a wide definition of what might be considered folk. It occurs...
as a four-piece Pentangle. They managed to complete a tour of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(with Cox in a wheelchair) and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, before Renbourn left the band in 1983. There then followed a series of personnel changes, including Mike Piggott replacing John Renbourn from 1983-1987 and recording "Open the Door" and "In the Round", but ultimately leaving Jansch and McShee as the only original members. The final incarnation consisting of Jansch, McShee, Nigel Portman Smith (keyboards), Peter Kirtley (guitar and vocals) and Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway (musician)
Gerald Conway is an English folk and rock drummer/percussionist, best known for having performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and currently a member of Fairport Convention as well as his side projects...
(drums) survived from 1987 to 1995 and recorded three albums: Think of Tomorrow, One More Road and Live 1994. As a solo artist in the mid-1980s, he often appeared on Vivian Stanshall
Vivian
- Places :* Vivian, Louisiana, USA* Vivian, South Dakota, USA* Vivian, West Virginia, USA* Vivian Island, Nunavut, Canada- People with the surname Vivian :* C. T. Vivian , U.S. civil rights activist...
and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall
Ki Longfellow
Ki Longfellow is an American novelist, playwright, theatrical producer, theater director and entrepreneur. In Britain, as the widow of Vivian Stanshall, she is well known as the guardian of his artistic heritage, but elsewhere she is best known for her own work, especially the novel The Secret...
's showboat, the Old Profanity Showboat, in Bristol's Floating Harbour.
He had always been a heavy drinker, but in 1987 he fell ill while working with Rod Clements
Rod Clements
Rod Clements is a British guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Career:...
and was rushed to hospital, where he was told that he was "as seriously ill as you can be without dying" and that he had a choice of "giving up alcohol or simply giving up". He chose the former option: Colin Harper
Colin Harper
Colin Harper is an Irish music journalist. He was born in Belfast and graduated in 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast. As a writer for the Belfast "Irish News" he wrote unsiged features on local bands and famous bands on tour...
states that "There can be no doubt that Bert's creativity, reliability, energy, commitment and quality of performance were all rescued dramatically by the decision to quit boozing". Jansch and Clements continued the work they had started before Jansch's illness, resulting in the 1988 Leather Launderette album.
Final years and death: 1995–2011
From 1995, Jansch appeared frequently at the 12 Bar Club12 Bar Club
The 12 Bar Club is one of the smallest live music venues in London, England. It is located in Denmark Street, aka "Tin Pan Alley", just off Charing Cross Road and close to Soho....
in Denmark Street
Denmark Street
Denmark Street is a short narrow road in central London, notable for its connections with British popular music, and is known as the British Tin Pan Alley. The road connects Charing Cross Road at its western end with St Giles High Street at its eastern end. Denmark Street is in the London Borough...
, London. One of his live sets there was recorded direct to Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As...
(DAT) by Jansch's then manager, Alan King, and was released as the Live at the 12 Bar: an official bootleg album in 1996. In 2002 Jansch, Bernard Butler
Bernard Butler
Bernard Joseph Butler is an English musician and record producer. He first emerged in the early Britpop era with Suede. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of his generation, as well as one of Britain's most original and influential guitarists...
and Johnny "Guitar" Hodge performed live together at the Jazz Cafe, London. In 2003, Jansch celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
in London. The BBC organised a concert for Jansch and various guests at the church of St Luke Old Street
St Luke Old Street (church)
St Luke is a historic Anglican church building in the London Borough of Islington. It is now a music centre operated by the London Symphony Orchestra and known as LSO St Luke's. It is the home of the LSO's community and music education programme LSO Discovery...
, which was televised on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
.
In 2005, Jansch teamed up again with one of his early influences, Davey Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
, for a small number of concerts in England and Scotland. His concert tour had to be postponed, owing to illness, and Jansch underwent major heart surgery in late 2005. By 2006 he had recovered and was playing concerts again. Jansch's album The Black Swan (his first for four years) was released on Sanctuary on 18 September 2006, featuring Beth Orton
Beth Orton
Beth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...
and Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
on tracks "Katie Cruel", "When the Sun Comes Up", and "Watch the Stars", amongst other guests. In 2007, he featured on Babyshambles
Babyshambles
Babyshambles are an English indie rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty during a hiatus from his former band The Libertines, but Babyshambles has since become his main project . Babyshambles has released two albums, three EPs and a number of singles...
album, Shotter's Nation
Shotter's Nation
Shotter's Nation is the second album by English rock band Babyshambles and was released in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2007 by Parlophone to generally favourable reviews. In the United States the album was released on October 23, 2007 by Astralwerks...
, playing acoustic guitar in the song "The Lost Art of Murder". After recording, he accompanied Babyshambles' lead singer Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
on several acoustic gigs, and performed on the Pete and Carl Reunion Gig, where ex-Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things singer Carl Barat joined Doherty on stage.
In 2009 he played a concert at the London Jazz Cafe to celebrate the release of three of his older albums (LA Turnaround, Santa Barbara Honeymoon and A Rare Conundrum) on CD format. However, later that year, due to an unexpected illness, he had to cancel a 22-date North American tour that was due to start on 26 June. Jansch's website reported: "Bert is very sorry to be missing the tour, and apologises to all the fans who were hoping to see him. He is looking forward to rescheduling as soon as possible."
Jansch opened for Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
on his Twisted Road solo acoustic tour in the US and Canada, starting on 18 May 2010. He also performed at Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's Crossroads festival in June 2010. These were Jansch's first shows since his illness. In 2011, a few reunion gigs took place with Pentangle, including performances at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and one last final concert at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, London , which was also Jansch's last ever public performance.
Jansch died on 5 October 2011, aged 67, at a hospice in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
after a long battle with cancer.
Recognition and awards
In 2001 Jansch received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk AwardsBBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
, and on 5 June 2006, he received the MOJO Merit Award at the Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
Honours List ceremony, based on "an expanded career that still continues to be inspirational". The award was presented by Beth Orton
Beth Orton
Beth Orton is a BRIT Award–winning English singer-songwriter, known for her 'folktronica' sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit and the Chemical Brothers in the mid 1990s. However, these were not Orton's first...
and Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...
. Rolling Stone ranked Jansch as #94 on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time in 2003.
In January 2007, the five original members of Pentangle (including Jansch) were given a Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British radio station BBC Radio 2....
. The award was presented by Sir David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
. Producer John Leonard said "Pentangle were one of the most influential groups of the late 20th century and it would be wrong for the awards not to recognise what an impact they had on the music scene." Pentangle played together for the event, for the first time in more than two decades, and their performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
on Wednesday, 7 February 2007. In 2007, Jansch was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Edinburgh Napier University, "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the UK music industry".
Music
Bert Jansch's musical influences included Big Bill BroonzyBig Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
and Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
, whom Jansch first saw playing at The Howff in 1960 and, much later, claimed that he'd "still be a gardener" if he hadn't encountered McGhee and his music. Jansch was also strongly influenced by the British folk music tradition, particularly by Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs
Anne Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she traveled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music...
and, to a lesser extent, A.L. Lloyd. Other influences included jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
(notably Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
), early music
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
(John Renbourn and Julian Bream
Julian Bream
Julian Bream, CBE is an English classical guitarist and lutenist and is one of the most distinguished classical guitarists of the 20th century. He has also been successful in renewing popular interest in the Renaissance lute....
) and other contemporary singer-songwriters — especially Clive Palmer
Clive Palmer
Clive Palmer is a British folk musician and banjoist best known as a founding member of the Incredible String Band.Born in Edmonton, North London, he first went on stage at the age of 8, and took banjo lessons from the age of 10. Around 1957 he began playing with jazz bands in Soho...
. The other major influence was Davey Graham
Davey Graham
David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham, originally spelled Davy Graham, , was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival...
who, himself, brought together an eclectic mixture of musical styles. Also, in his formative years, Jansch had busked his way through Europe to Morocco, picking up musical ideas and rhythms from many sources. From these influences, he distilled his own individual guitar style.
Some of his songs feature a basic clawhammer
Clawhammer
Clawhammer is a highly rhythmic banjo playing style and common component of American old-time music. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direction...
style of right-hand playing but these are often distinguished by unusual chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
voicing
Voicing (music)
In music composition and arranging, a voicing is the instrumentation and vertical spacing and ordering of the pitches in a chord...
s or by chords with added notes. An example of this is his song "Needle of Death", which features a simple picking style but several of the chords are decorated with added ninth
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is a larger than a second, its sonority level is considered less dense.-Major ninth:A major ninth is a...
s. Characteristically, the ninths are not the highest note of the chord, but appear in the middle of the arpeggiated
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
finger-picking, creating a "lumpiness" to the sound.
Another characteristic feature is his ability to hold a chord in the lower strings whilst bending an upper string—often bending up from a semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
below a chord note. These can be heard clearly on songs such as "Reynardine" where the bends are from the diminished fifth to the perfect fifth
Perfect fifth
In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...
. Jansch often fitted the accompaniment to the natural rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
of the words of his songs, rather than playing a consistent rhythm throughout. This can lead to occasional bars appearing in unusual time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
s. For example, his version of the Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl
Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who was later to become his wife. At the time the couple were lovers, although MacColl was married to someone else. MacColl and Seeger included the song in their...
", unlike most other covers of that song, switches from 4/4 time to 3/4 and 5/4. A similar disregard for conventional time signatures is found in several of his collaborative compositions with Pentangle: for instance, "Light Flight" from the Basket of Light
Basket of Light
Basket of Light is a 1969 album by the folk rock group Pentangle. It reached #5 on the UK charts largely on the basis of the single "Light Flight" , the theme from BBC1's first colour drama series Take Three Girls.-A side:-B side:...
album includes sections in 5/8, 7/8 and 6/4 time.
Instruments
Through the development of Pentangle, Jansch played a number of instruments: banjoBanjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, Appalachian dulcimer
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
, recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
and concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
—on rare occasions he has even been known to play electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. However, it is his acoustic guitar playing that is most notable.
Jansch's first guitar was home-made from a kit but when he left school and started work, he bought a Hoffner cello-style guitar. Soon he traded this in for a Zenith which was marketed as the "Lonnie Donegan
Lonnie Donegan
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan MBE was a skiffle musician, with more than 20 UK Top 30 hits to his name. He is known as the "King of Skiffle" and is often cited as a large influence on the generation of British musicians who became famous in the 1960s...
guitar" and which Jansch played in the folk clubs in the early 1960s. His first album was reputedly recorded using a Martin
C. F. Martin & Company
C.F. Martin & Company is a US guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. Martin is highly regarded for its steel-string guitars, and is a leading mass manufacturer of flattop acoustics with models that retail for thousands of dollars and vintage instruments that often...
00028 borrowed from Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
. Pictures of Jansch in the middle 1960s show him playing a variety of models, including Martin and Epiphone
Epiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
guitars. He had a guitar hand-built by John Bailey
John Bailey (luthier)
John Bailey was a British luthier who made and repaired guitars and other stringed instruments during the 1960s revival of English folk music and beyond. Bailey lived in London until 1972 when he moved to Dartmouth in Devon...
, which was used for most of the Pentangle recordings but was eventually stolen.. Jansch later played two six-string guitars built by the Coventry-based luthier, Rob Armstrong, one of which appears on the front and back covers of the 1980 Shanachie release, Best of Bert Jansch. He then had a contract with Yamaha
Yamaha (manufacturer)
is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, electronics, motorcycles and power sports equipment.-History:...
, who provided him with an FG1500 which he played, along with a Yamaha LL11 1970s jumbo guitar. Jansch's relationship with Yamaha continued and they presented him with an acoustic guitar with gold trim and abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
inlay for his 60th birthday although, valued at about £3000, Jansch is quoted as saying that it is too good for stage use. Jansch was a well-known Fylde guitar
Fylde Guitars
Fylde Guitars is an English manufacturer of hand-made fretted musical instruments.The company was founded in 1973 by luthier Roger Bucknall, and remains under his personal control. Originally located in The Fylde, in 1996 the workshop moved to the Lake District, and is today located in Penrith,...
player.
Influence
Jansch's music, and particularly his acoustic guitar playing, have influenced a range of well-known musicians. His first album (Bert Jansch, 1965) was much admired, with Jimmy PageJimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
saying "At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch. When I first heard that LP, I couldn't believe it. It was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing. No one in America could touch that." Page would record a version of Jansch's "Blackwaterside" controversially without crediting Jansch's arrangement.
The same debut album included Jansch's version of the Davy Graham instrumental "Angie". This was a favourite of Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
, who practised acoustic guitar alone as a child, and was then heavily influenced by Jansch's style. The title of the instrumental inspired Oldfield to call his first band (with sister Sally) The Sallyangie. Jansch's version of "Angie" inspired Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
's recording of the piece, which was retitled "Anji" and appeared on the Simon & Garfunkel album Sounds of Silence
Sounds of Silence (album)
Sounds of Silence is the second album by Simon and Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence"...
. From the same era, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
is quoted as saying, "As much of a great guitar player as Jimi [Hendrix] was, Bert Jansch is the same thing for acoustic guitar...and my favourite." Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
and Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
were both admirers of Jansch: both recorded covers of his songs and Donovan went on to dedicate two of his own songs to Jansch; "Bert's Blues" appeared on his Sunshine Superman
Sunshine Superman (album)
Sunshine Superman is the third album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in September 1966. but was not released in the United Kingdom because of a contractual dispute. In June 1967, a compilation of the Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow albums was...
LP, and "House of Jansch" on his fourth album Mellow Yellow
Mellow Yellow (album)
Mellow Yellow is the fourth album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in March 1967 Mellow Yellow is the fourth album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the United States in March 1967 Mellow Yellow is the fourth album from...
. Other tributes included Gordon Giltrap
Gordon Giltrap
Gordon Giltrap is an English acoustic and electric guitarist and composer, whose musical styles cross multiple genres, including folk, blues, folk rock, pop, classical and rock....
's album Janschology (2000) which has two tunes by Jansch, plus two others that show his influence. Further afield, the Japanese acoustic guitar player Tsuneo Imahori
Tsuneo Imahori
Tsuneo Imahori is a Japanese guitarist and composer. He started to play acoustic guitar aged 12, inspired by British folk music from the likes of Bert Jansch, and later the work of Frank Zappa and Andy Partridge. In 1986 he formed the band Tipographica, with saxophonist Naruyoshi Kikuchi and jazz...
is known to have been heavily influenced by Jansch.
Discography
Albums- 1965 – Bert JanschBert Jansch (album)Bert Jansch is the debut album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. The album was recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder at engineer Bill Leader's house and sold to Transatlantic Records for £100. Transatlantic released the album, which went on to sell 150,000 copies. It is also mentioned in...
- 1965 – It Don't Bother MeIt Don't Bother Me (album)It Don't Bother Me is the second album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in December 1965. The album was produced by Nathan Joseph and Bill Leader, although Leader was left uncredited....
- 1966 – Jack OrionJack OrionJack Orion is the third album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1966. It contains a number of traditional songs, including the epic "Jack Orion": a ten-minute adaptation of the Child ballad "Glasgerion" which tells of a court fiddler’s attempt to seduce a countess and his servant's...
(with John RenbournJohn RenbournJohn Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
) - 1966 – Bert And JohnBert And JohnBert And John is the fourth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1966. A number of songs are performed with friend and fellow guitarist John Renbourn, who would later join him in the group Pentangle. An expanded version of the album was later released in America in 1969 by...
(with John RenbournJohn RenbournJohn Renbourn is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence .While most commonly labelled a...
) - 1967 – NicolaNicola (album)Nicola is the fifth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1967. An orchestrated version of "Train Song" was attempted during the Nicola sessions but, while fondly remembered by arranger David Palmer, did not make the finished product...
- 1969 – Birthday BluesBirthday Blues (album)Birthday Blues is the sixth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1969.- Track listing :All songs composed by Bert Jansch except where noted....
- 1971 – Rosemary LaneRosemary Lane (album)Rosemary Lane is the seventh album by contemporary British folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1971.-Track listing:#"Tell Me What Is True Love?" - 2:02#"Rosemary Lane" - 4:04#"M'Lady Nancy" - 2:34...
- 1973 – MoonshineMoonshine (Bert Jansch album)Moonshine is the eighth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1973.- Track listing :# "Yarrow" - 5:09# "Brought with the Rain" - 2:55# "The January Man" - 3:31...
- 1974 – L.A. TurnaroundL.A. TurnaroundL.A. Turnaround is the ninth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1974. Two of the songs were recorded in Paris in 1973, and the others were recorded in Los Angeles in 1974. The album was produced by former Monkee and Country rock artist Michael Nesmith, who also played guitar...
- 1975 – Santa Barbara HoneymoonSanta Barbara HoneymoonSanta Barbara Honeymoon is the tenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1975.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bert Jansch; except where indicated#"Love Anew"#"Mary and Joseph"#"Be My Friend"#"Baby Blue"#"Dance Lady Dance"...
- 1977 – A Rare ConundrumA Rare ConundrumA Rare Conundrum is the eleventh album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1977 in the UK. The album was first released by Ex Libris in Denmark in late 1976 as Poormouth with an alternative cover and a slightly different tracklist....
(released 1976 in Denmark and 1977 in UK) - 1979 – AvocetAvocet (album)Avocet is the twelfth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1979 in UK. The album was first released by Ex Libris in Denmark in late 1978 with alternate album cover and one alternate track title, although no difference in recorded content. The title song "Avocet" was inspired by...
(released 1978 in Denmark and 1979 in UK) - 1980 – Thirteen DownThirteen DownThirteen Down is the thirteenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1980. The album, credited as "The Bert Jansch Conundrum", originally appeared with at least three different sleeves, in the UK, US and Australia...
(credited as "The Bert Jansch Conundrum") - 1982 – HeartbreakHeartbreak (Bert Jansch album)Heartbreak is the fourteenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1982.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bert Jansch; except where indicated#"Is It Real?"#"Up to the Stars"#"Give Me the Time"#"If I Were A Carpenter"...
- 1985 – From The OutsideFrom The OutsideFrom the Outside is the fifteenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released as a limited edition of 500 copies in Belgium in 1985...
(only released officially in Belgium) - 1989 – Leather LaunderetteLeather LaunderetteLeather Launderette is the sixteenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, recorded together with fellow musician Rod Clements. The album was released in March 1989. Reportedly Jansch suffered from health problems during the recording, but in 1987, after being rushed to hospital, he decided...
(with Rod ClementsRod ClementsRod Clements is a British guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Career:...
) - 1990 – SketchesSketches (album)Sketches is the seventeenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released virtually simultaneously with another album, The Ornament Tree.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bert Jansch; except where indicated#"Ring-A-Ding Bird" - 3:53...
- 1990 – The Ornament TreeThe Ornament TreeThe Ornament Tree is the eighteenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released virtually simultaneously with another album, Sketches.-Track listing:All songs Traditional unless otherwise noted....
- 1995 – When The Circus Comes To TownWhen The Circus Comes To TownWhen The Circus Comes To Town is the nineteenth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch released in 1995. The song "Born and Bred in Old Ireland" was also recorded during these sessions but omitted from the UK album. Bert's manager intended to add it to a projected Japanese version of the...
- 1998 – Toy BalloonToy Balloon (album)Toy Balloon is the twentieth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch released in 1998.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bert Jansch; except where indicated#"Carnival" - 4:25#"She Moved Through the Fair" - 4:55...
- 2000 – Crimson MoonCrimson Moon- Credits :* Bert Jansch - guitar, vocals* Johnny Marr - guitar, harmonica, backing vocals* Bernard Butler - guitar* Johnny "Guitar" Hodge - guitar, harmonica* Loren Jansch - vocals* Adam Jansch - bass* Makoto Sakamoto - drums, percussion...
- 2002 – Edge of A DreamEdge of a DreamEdge of a Dream is the twenty-second album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 2002.The title track is given a rock treatment, and two tracks are baroque instrumentals. The remaining songs are roughly equally divided between bluesy numbers and folky ones. The album features Bernard...
- 2006 – The Black SwanThe Black Swan (Bert Jansch album)The Black Swan is the twenty-third album by Scottish folk singer Bert Jansch. It was released in 2006 through Drag City. Jansch described the album: "It's been fantastic working with everyone who's been involved on the record...
Live
- 1980 – Bert Jansch Live at La Foret (released in Japan only)
- 1993 – BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert
- 1996 – Live At The 12 Bar: An Authorised BootlegLive at the 12 Bar: An Authorised BootlegLive at the 12 Bar: An Authorised Bootleg is a straight-to-DAT concert recording by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch released in August 1996. The concert was recorded in The 12 Bar Club, Denmark Street, London in 1995...
- 1998 – Young Man Blues
- 2001 – Downunder: Live In AustraliaDownunder: Live In AustraliaDownunder: Live In Australia is a live album by Scottish folk the late musician Bert Jansch, released in January 2001. The concert was recorded over two nights at the Continental Café in Melbourne, Australia....
- 2004 – The River Sessions
- 2007 – Fresh As a Sweet Sunday Morning (live concert 2006 CD/DVD)
Singles and EPs
- 1966 – Needle of Death (EP)
- 1967 – "Life Depends on Love"/"A Little Sweet Sunshine"
- 1973 – "Oh My Father"/"The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face"
- 1974 – "In The Bleak MidwinterIn the Bleak Midwinter"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a Christmas carol based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti written before 1872 in response to a request from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem....
"/"One For Jo" (non-album A-side) - 1975 – "Dance Lady Dance"/"Build Another Band"
- 1978 – "Black Birds of Brittany"/"The Mariner's Farewell"
- 1980 – "Time and Time"/"Una Linea Di Dolcezza"
- 1982 – "Heartbreak Hotel"/"Up To The Stars"
- 1985 – "Playing the Game"/"After the Long Night"
- 2003 – "On the Edge of a Dream"/"Walking This Road"/"Crimson Moon"
Compilations
- 1966 – Lucky ThirteenLucky Thirteen (Bert Jansch album)Lucky Thirteen is the first release by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch in America, compiled from his first two UK albums Bert Jansch and It Don't Bother Me...
(U.S. release containing tracks from Jansch's two UK LP's.) - 1969 – Bert Jansch: The Bert Jansch Sampler
- 1972 – Box Of Love: The Bert Jansch Sampler Volume 2
- 1986 – Strolling Down The Highway
- 1992 – The Gardener: Essential Bert Jansch
- 1993 – Three Chord Trick
- 1997 – Blackwater Side
- 2000 – Dazzling Stranger: The Bert Jansch AnthologyDazzling Stranger: The Bert Jansch AnthologyDazzling Stranger: The Bert Jansch Anthology is a compilation album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch released in August 2000. It is the first Bert Jansch compilation featuring material recorded for and owned by more than one label...
- 2011 - Angie : The Collection
DVD
- 2007 – Fresh As a Sweet Sunday Morning (live concert 2006)
External links
- Bert Jansch website
- Bert Jansch Complete Discography at the Folk Blues & Beyond website
- Acoustic Magazine The UK's only dedicated Acoustic magazine – cover feature with Bert Jansch
- http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/bert_jansch_tabs.htmBert Jansch tablatureTablatureTablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....
page, from Ultimate Guitar] - Interview with Bert Jansch on Trilogy Rock (Spain)