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Herbert Jansch (born 3 November 1943 1), known as '''Bert Jansch''', is a Scottish Folk Music ian and founding member of the band Pentangle . He was born in Glasgow and, in the 1960s, he was heavily influenced by the guitarist Davey Graham and folk singers such as Anne Briggs . He is best known as an innovative and accomplished acoustic guitarist but is also a singer and songwriter. He has recorded at least 25 albums and has toured extensively starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 21st century. His work has influenced such artists as Johnny Marr , Bernard Butler , Jimmy Page , Ian Anderson , Nick Drake , Donovan and Neil Young , and earned him a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2001 BBC Folk Awards . EARLY YEARS Bert Jansch was born at Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow in 1943 , but brought up in Edinburgh , where he attended Pennywell Primary School and Ainsley 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 sister2), who introduced him to the music of Big Bill Broonzy , Pete Seeger , Brownie McGhee and Woody Guthrie .3 After a stint as a nurseryman, Jansch became a full-time musician and spent two years playing one-night stands in British Folk Club s. This was a musical apprenticeship which exposed him to a range of influences, including Martin Carthy and Ian Campbell, but especially Anne Briggs , from whom he learnt some of the songs (such as " Blackwaterside " and "Reynardine") that would later feature strongly in his recording career. Between 1963 and 1965, he travelled around Europe and beyond, hitch-hiking from place to place and living on earnings from . They split up after a few months and Jansch was eventually repatriated to Britain after catching Dysentery in Tangiers .Harper. p.125 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 Leader , 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.See sleevenotes of the CD re-release of the album The album '' Bert Jansch '' was released in 1965 and went on to sell 150,000 copies.4 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.John Crosby's sleeve notes from the Donovan CD ''Donovan: The Very Best Of The Early Years'' Also included in Jansch's first album was his song "Needle of Death" which is claimed to have influenced the drug-taking habits of a generation of British youth.Grunenberg & Harris. pp.139-140: "Needle of Death...did far more to make skag a drug of choice among hip British teenagers than a decade's worth of later releases on the same subject by the likes of Lou Reed others ..." In his early career, Jansch was sometimes characterized as a British Bob Dylan . This, however, was misleading, in that Jansch's best work has always been fundamentally instrument-driven unlike Dylan's which is primarily lyric-based. 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.Kennedy p.21 In London, Jansch met up with other innovative acoustic guitar players, including John Renbourn (with whom he shared a flat in Kilburn ), Davey Graham 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.5 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.6 Interview with Bert Jansch on his 60th birthday In album, ''Birthday Blues'', but Jansch says that, despite the name, "M'Lady Nancy" (from the 1971 ''Rosemary Lane'' album) was also written for her.Kennedy p.26 PENTANGLE YEARS (1968–1973) Pentangle's first major concert was at the Royal Festival Hall , in 1968, and their first album was released in the same year. Although Pentangle were regarded as a folk music group, they played many of their own compositions and Jansch undertook much of the writing. 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.7 ''Triste'' examines just what makes Bert Jansch's 1971 solo album, Rosemary Lane, recorded on sabbatical from Pentangle, so special. Pentangle split up in 1973, and Jansch and his wife bought a farm near Lampeter , in Wales , and withdrew temporarily from the concert circuit. LATE 1970S , Rod Clements 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 .Kennedy p.32 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).Harper. p.263 Jansch rates this as amongst his own favourites from his own recordings.Harper. p.313 On returning to England, he set up ''Bert Jansch's Guitar Shop'' at 220, New King's Road, Fulham .Kennedy p.32 The shop specialised in hand-built acoustic guitars but was not a commercial success and closed after two years.Harper p.296 1980S In 1980, an Italian 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, ultimately leaving Jansch and McShee as the only original members.Harper. pp. 269–282 Jansch had always been a heavy drinker but, in 1987 he fell ill while working with 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".Harper. p.279 Jansch and Clements continued the work they had started before Jansch's illness, resulting in the 1988 ''Leather Launderette'' album. 1995 ONWARDS .]] Since 1995, Jansch has appeared frequently at the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street , London. ''Live at the 12 Bar'' was originally a bootleg, but was of studio standard, and issued officially in 1996. In 2002 Jansch, Bernard Butler and Johnny "Guitar" Hodge performed live together at the Jazz Cafe, London. In 2003, Jansch celebrate his sixtieth birthday with a concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall , London. Guest musicians included Johnny Marr , Ralph McTell , Hope Sandoval , David Roback and Colm O'Ciosoig .Harper. p.313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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