Bert Jansch was born in Glasgow in 1943, but brought up in Edinburgh. As a teenager he began playing the folk guitar, enjoying the music of such artists as Pete Seeger, Big Bill Broonzy and Woody Guthrie. He also met and shared a flat with Robin Williamson, with whom he travelled to London in 1963.
Between 1963 and 1965, he travelled around Europe and beyond, hitch-hiking from place to place and living on earnings from busking and playing in bars and cafes. Then, in 1965, he met engineer and record producer Bill Leader at whose home they made a recording of his songs on a reel to reel. Leader sold the tape for £100 to Transatlantic Records who produced an album, called Bert Jansch, directly from it. It went on to sell 150,000 copies. One of those copies was mine.
I loved it and, along with John Wildash, who introduced me to Jansch’s music, it formed the basis of the folk guitar style that I still use. I remember listening to his version of Davey Graham’s Angie and thinking – but how can he play all those different things at once? (With the bass line and the tune – it sounds like two guitarists playing – at least it did to me then.) Angie is still great fun to play – in its day it was the folk equivalent of Stairway to Heaven, played by aspiring folk guitarists everywhere. It was definitely an album for teenagers featuring tracks such as Running From Home, and the influential Needle of Death, about drug addiction. Many of the songs on that album were covered by others such as Donovan, and it’s an album I often return to for a folk fix.
I saw Bert Jansch play in Coventry Cathedral with Pentangle in the early seventies. That was a magical night. And he’s still going as strong as ever with around thirty or so albums to his credit. In 2001 he received a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC 2 Folk Awards.
If you like folk music and are unfamiliar with this man’s work, do yourself a favour and look him up. .
Between 1963 and 1965, he travelled around Europe and beyond, hitch-hiking from place to place and living on earnings from busking and playing in bars and cafes. Then, in 1965, he met engineer and record producer Bill Leader at whose home they made a recording of his songs on a reel to reel. Leader sold the tape for £100 to Transatlantic Records who produced an album, called Bert Jansch, directly from it. It went on to sell 150,000 copies. One of those copies was mine.
I loved it and, along with John Wildash, who introduced me to Jansch’s music, it formed the basis of the folk guitar style that I still use. I remember listening to his version of Davey Graham’s Angie and thinking – but how can he play all those different things at once? (With the bass line and the tune – it sounds like two guitarists playing – at least it did to me then.) Angie is still great fun to play – in its day it was the folk equivalent of Stairway to Heaven, played by aspiring folk guitarists everywhere. It was definitely an album for teenagers featuring tracks such as Running From Home, and the influential Needle of Death, about drug addiction. Many of the songs on that album were covered by others such as Donovan, and it’s an album I often return to for a folk fix.
I saw Bert Jansch play in Coventry Cathedral with Pentangle in the early seventies. That was a magical night. And he’s still going as strong as ever with around thirty or so albums to his credit. In 2001 he received a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC 2 Folk Awards.
If you like folk music and are unfamiliar with this man’s work, do yourself a favour and look him up. .
Here's Angie...http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RqjUWJtH88c&feature=related
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aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.
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aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.
