Bert Jansch

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Bert Jansch (1943-2011) was a singer and guitarist who influenced successive generations of folk and rock musicians. He began his career in the folk clubs of his home city, Edinburgh, quickly gaining a reputation as a skilful and original guitarist. Visits to London made him known on the folk scene outside Scotland, and he recorded his first album, simply entitled Bert Jansch, for Transatlantic Records in 1965. Although the LP was on a small label and had very little promotion or media attention, it sold remarkably well and established Jansch as a key figure of the contemporary, beatnik-influenced strand of the folk scene, centred around clubs like Soho's Les Cousins. At this time some critics even compared him to Bob Dylan, although Jansch lived like a typical "folknik" and had little of Dylan's commercial ambition.
Further LPs for Transatlantic followed, some featuring collaborations with fellow guitarist John Renbourn. The two guitarists began weekly sessions at the Horseshoe Inn, Tottenham Court Road in 1967, and other musicians attending these included bassist Danny Thompson, drummer Terry Cox and vocalist Jacqui McShee, with whom Jansch and Renbourn formed Pentangle, the successful and influential "folk-jazz" group which gained international acclaim and lasted until 1973. During this period Jansch continued to record solo albums but these were usually overshadowed by Pentangle's more widely-promoted recordings.
After Pentangle split up Jansch resumed a solo career, but this remained a low-key affair, due to his distaste for the limelight and also because of drink problems which, for a time, had an adverse effect on his performances and his reliability. He remained a respected figure, recording in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, collaborating with other musicians and participating in various revivals of Pentangle. His first LP in particular continued to sell and became recognised as a classic. With folk music back in fashion in the 1990s, Jansch was rediscovered by a new generation of folk-influenced musicians and enjoyed a renaissance of his career in the twenty-first century.
== Links to Peel ==
Peel was in the US when Bert Jansch was released in the UK. It did not find an American label until Vanguard issued an LP composed of tracks from Jansch's first two albums, and Jansch did not visit the US until Pentangle's first tour. So it was not until his return to the UK that Peel became aware of Jansch's music, as he recalled in his sleevenotes to the Pentangle's first LP:
In a brother's girlfirend's flat over coffee and behind forgotten conversations, we listened to records a year ago. Slowly the witless chatter fell into the black carpet and the music filled the spaces where it had hung. This was a first introduction to Bert Jansch and a week later the same music danced into the aromatic night air from a rusting ship within a few weeks' reach of legislation.....
One of Peel's favourite artists at this time was Donovan, who had acknowledged Bert Jansch's influence by recording two songs which namechecked him, "Bert's Blues" (on the Sunshine Superman LP) and "House of Jansch" (on Mellow Yellow). Peel therefore acquired the albums Bert and John (with John Renbourn) and Nicola, Jansch's thumb|319px|right|Goodbye Pork Pie Hatsummer 1967 release, and featured them on his Perfumed Garden show on Radio London. Pentangle's first session for Top Gear preceded the release of their first LP. From then on, they were Top Gear regulars. Their sessions usually included songs either written by Jansch or on which he sang lead vocal, but he only did one solo session, for Night Ride, during the group's heyday. Nevertheless Peel did play occasional tracks from Jansch's solo albums during the 1970s, although after 1980 he disappeared from the playlists until after the millennium.
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The list of Peel session artists who came under Jansch's influence would be very long, including fellow folk guitarists Roy Harper. John Martyn, Ralph McTell and Nic Jones and rock musicians such as Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page (who based his "Black Mountain Side" on Jansch's "Blackwaterside"), One of the key figures behind the revival in Bert Jansch's career was Johnny Marr, formerly of the Smiths, who repeatedly enthused over his fellow guitarist in press interviews, eventually collaborating with him in live performances and on record. Peel's long-time favourite Neil Young was also an admirer of Jansch, calling him the Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar; the last concerts Jansch played before his death in October 2011 were as a support act for Young.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None
== Sessions ==
One session. No known commercial release.
Recorded 1968-12-11. Broadcast 18 December 1968.
* Tree Song / I Loved A Lass / I Gotta Woman / Thames Lighterman / Haitian Fight Song / Birthday Blues
== Other Shows Played ==
The following list is incomplete and was compiled only from the database of this site. Please add further information if known.
*12 July 1967 (& John Renbourn): Along The Way (album - Bert And John) Transatlantic TRA 144
*02 October 1968: Come Sing Me A Happy Song To Prove We Can All Get Along / The Lumpy Bumpy Long And Dusty Road (LP - Birthday Blues) Transatlantic
*09 February 1969: Come Sing Me A Happy Song To Prove We Can All Get Along The Lumpy, Bumpy, Long And Dusty Road (album - Birthday Blues) Transatlantic TRA 179
*Night Ride Early 1969 Mix: One Day Old
*18 March 2003: Henry Martin (LP- Jack Orion) Transatlantic
== See Also ==
*As I Roved Out: A Century Of Folk Music
*Record Collection: V&A LPs
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Guardian obituary
*Official website
Category:Artists
Category:Folk