Herbert "Bert" Jansch (3 November 1943 โ 5 October 2011) was a Scottish fol… Read Full Bio ↴Herbert "Bert" Jansch (3 November 1943 โ 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician 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 co-founded 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, Neil Halstead, and Roy Harper.
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.
Herbert Jansch was born at Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow in 1943, the descendant of a family originally from Hamburg, Germany who settled in Scotland during the Victorian era. The family name is pronounced /หjรฆnส/ yansh by almost everyone except Jansch himself. He and some close members of his family pronounce it /หdสรฆnส/ jansh.
Jansch was brought up in the residential area of Edinburgh known as West Pilton, 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.
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 ยฃ100 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", a stark anti-drugs lament written after a friend died of a heroin overdose.
In his early career, Jansch was sometimes characterized as a British Bob Dylan. During this period, Jansch described his musical influences as "the only three people that I've ever copied were Big Bill Broonzy, Davy Graham and Archie Fisher". Jansch followed his first album with two more, produced in quick succession: It Don't Bother Me and Jack Orion โ 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. The arrangement and recording of Jack Orion was greatly influenced by Jansch's friend, singer Anne Briggs.
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 sculptor.
Pentangle's first major concert was at the Royal Festival Hall, 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 โ 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. 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 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. 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.
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, including Mike Piggott replacing John Renbourn from 1983 to 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 Marty Craggs, 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.
Bert was the prime mover in the Acoustic Routes film, first broadcast by the BBC in 1992. It shows him revisiting his old haunts and reminiscing with guests such as Al Stewart, Anne Briggs, John Renbourn, and Davy Graham.
From 1995, Jansch appeared frequently at the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, London.[60] 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. Bernard Butler had also appeared on Bert's 2002 album Edge of a Dream featuring, amongst others, Ralph McTell and guitarist Paul Wassif. The instrumental "Black Cat Blues", featuring Paul Wassif, appeared on the 2003 film Calendar Girls, and Wassif became a frequent sideman at Bert's live shows. 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.[66] 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 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. One of Bert's last recording sessions was with Eric Clapton for Paul Wassif's 2011 album Looking Up Feeling Down. 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 lung cancer.
He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
In 2001 Jansch received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, 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".
Bert Jansch's musical influences included Big Bill Broonzy 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[86] 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 โ 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 voicings 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 ninths. 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 was his ability to hold a chord in the lower strings whilst bending an upper stringโoften 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 signatures. 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.[94] 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.
Through the development of Pentangle, Jansch played a number of instruments: banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, recorder and concertinaโon rare occasions he has even been known to play electric guitar. However, it is his acoustic guitar playing that was most notable.
Jansch's first guitar was home-made from a kit but when he left school and started work, he bought a Hรถfner 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.[104] 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 ยฃ3000, Jansch was quoted as saying that it is too good for stage use. Jansch was a well-known Fylde guitar player.
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 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." 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
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 co-founded 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, Neil Halstead, and Roy Harper.
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.
Herbert Jansch was born at Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow in 1943, the descendant of a family originally from Hamburg, Germany who settled in Scotland during the Victorian era. The family name is pronounced /หjรฆnส/ yansh by almost everyone except Jansch himself. He and some close members of his family pronounce it /หdสรฆnส/ jansh.
Jansch was brought up in the residential area of Edinburgh known as West Pilton, 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.
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 ยฃ100 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", a stark anti-drugs lament written after a friend died of a heroin overdose.
In his early career, Jansch was sometimes characterized as a British Bob Dylan. During this period, Jansch described his musical influences as "the only three people that I've ever copied were Big Bill Broonzy, Davy Graham and Archie Fisher". Jansch followed his first album with two more, produced in quick succession: It Don't Bother Me and Jack Orion โ 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. The arrangement and recording of Jack Orion was greatly influenced by Jansch's friend, singer Anne Briggs.
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 sculptor.
Pentangle's first major concert was at the Royal Festival Hall, 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 โ 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. 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 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. 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.
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, including Mike Piggott replacing John Renbourn from 1983 to 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 Marty Craggs, 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.
Bert was the prime mover in the Acoustic Routes film, first broadcast by the BBC in 1992. It shows him revisiting his old haunts and reminiscing with guests such as Al Stewart, Anne Briggs, John Renbourn, and Davy Graham.
From 1995, Jansch appeared frequently at the 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, London.[60] 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. Bernard Butler had also appeared on Bert's 2002 album Edge of a Dream featuring, amongst others, Ralph McTell and guitarist Paul Wassif. The instrumental "Black Cat Blues", featuring Paul Wassif, appeared on the 2003 film Calendar Girls, and Wassif became a frequent sideman at Bert's live shows. 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.[66] 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 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. One of Bert's last recording sessions was with Eric Clapton for Paul Wassif's 2011 album Looking Up Feeling Down. 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 lung cancer.
He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.
In 2001 Jansch received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, 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".
Bert Jansch's musical influences included Big Bill Broonzy 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[86] 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 โ 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 voicings 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 ninths. 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 was his ability to hold a chord in the lower strings whilst bending an upper stringโoften 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 signatures. 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.[94] 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.
Through the development of Pentangle, Jansch played a number of instruments: banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, recorder and concertinaโon rare occasions he has even been known to play electric guitar. However, it is his acoustic guitar playing that was most notable.
Jansch's first guitar was home-made from a kit but when he left school and started work, he bought a Hรถfner 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.[104] 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 ยฃ3000, Jansch was quoted as saying that it is too good for stage use. Jansch was a well-known Fylde guitar player.
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 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." 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
The January Man
Bert Jansch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh the January man he walks abroad in woolen coat and boots of leather
The February man still wipes the snow from off his hair and blows his hand
The man of March he sees the Spring and wonders what the year will bring
And hopes for better weather
Through April rain the man goes down to watch the birds come in to share the summer
The man of May stands very still watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young and wants to lend a hand
And grins at each new comer
And in July the man in cotton shirts he sits and thinks on being idle
The August man in thousands take the road and watch the sea and find the sun
September man is standing near to saddle up and lead the year
And Autumn is his bridle
The man of new October takes the reins and early frost is on his shoulder
The poor November man sees fire and wind and mist and rain and winter air
December man looks through the snow to let eleven brothers know
They're all a little older
And the January man comes round again in woolen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn and walk along the icy road he knows so well
The January man is here for starting each and every year
Along the way for ever
The February man still wipes the snow from off his hair and blows his hand
The man of March he sees the Spring and wonders what the year will bring
And hopes for better weather
Through April rain the man goes down to watch the birds come in to share the summer
The man of May stands very still watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young and wants to lend a hand
And in July the man in cotton shirts he sits and thinks on being idle
The August man in thousands take the road and watch the sea and find the sun
September man is standing near to saddle up and lead the year
And Autumn is his bridle
The man of new October takes the reins and early frost is on his shoulder
The poor November man sees fire and wind and mist and rain and winter air
December man looks through the snow to let eleven brothers know
They're all a little older
And the January man comes round again in woolen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn and walk along the icy road he knows so well
The January man is here for starting each and every year
Along the way for ever
Bert Jansch's song "The January Man" is a poetic and reflective meditation on the passage of time and the changing seasons. The song follows the titular "January man" as he traverses through the year, observing and contemplating the various seasons and their characteristics. The lyrics are structured in a way that each month of the year is represented by a different "man," each with his own distinct personality and outlook on life.
The song opens with the January man, who is described as walking abroad in a woolen coat and boots of leather. This image evokes a sense of hardiness and resilience, as the January man navigates the icy roads and harsh winter weather. As the song progresses, the other men of the year are introduced, each with their own unique perspective on the passing of time.
The song is ultimately a celebration of the cyclical nature of life, as represented by the changing seasons. The repetition of the January man returning each year serves as a reminder that life is an ongoing journey, with each passing year bringing new experiences and opportunities. Through its wistful and contemplative lyrics, "The January Man" encourages listeners to appreciate the beauty in each moment and to embrace the inevitability of change.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh the January man he walks abroad in woolen coat and boots of leather
The first month of each year, the January man steps out in his warm attire, donning his favorite woolen coat and leather boots to embark on a new journey.
The February man still wipes the snow from off his hair and blows his hand
In the second month of the year, the February man still has to rid himself of remnants of winter snow by wiping it from his hair and blowing on his hands to keep them warm.
The man of March he sees the Spring and wonders what the year will bring
As springtime arrives, the man of March marvels at the new season and anticipates what might come of the rest of the year.
And hopes for better weather
The man of March hopes for a break from the cold weather and for some sunshine in his life.
Through April rain the man goes down to watch the birds come in to share the summer
When April rolls around and the rain falls, the man goes out to observe the birds migrating in, signaling the oncoming summer season.
The man of May stands very still watching the children dance away the day
In May, the man stands motionless, taking in the joyous sight of children dancing and playing throughout the day.
In June the man inside the man is young and wants to lend a hand
In June, the man feels youthful and eager to help others and be of service to his community.
And grins at each new comer
The June man welcomes newcomers with a wide grin and eagerly awaits what they might bring to his life.
And in July the man in cotton shirts he sits and thinks on being idle
The man in July wears light cotton shirts as he relaxes and reflects on the idea of being idle, enjoying a slower pace of life.
The August man in thousands take the road and watch the sea and find the sun
During August, countless men take to the road to witness the beauty of the sea and to bask in the warmth of the sun.
September man is standing near to saddle up and lead the year
As autumn approaches, the man of September stands nearby, ready to take charge and lead the way for the rest of the year.
And Autumn is his bridle
The season of autumn serves as the man of September's guide and influence, directing him throughout the months to come.
The man of new October takes the reins and early frost is on his shoulder
As October brings with it the start of a new season, the man takes charge, feeling the early chill of frost upon his shoulders.
The poor November man sees fire and wind and mist and rain and winter air
The unfortunate man of November experiences harsh weather conditions such as fires, strong winds, mist, rain, and cold winter air.
December man looks through the snow to let eleven brothers know
During the last month of the year, the December man gazes out into the snow and internally communicates with his eleven brothers.
They're all a little older
The December man acknowledges that he and his brothers have aged and grown a little older over the course of the year.
And the January man comes round again in woolen coat and boots of leather
As the year comes full circle, the January man once again dons his familiar outfit of a woolen coat and leather boots.
To take another turn and walk along the icy road he knows so well
The January man takes another step forward along the path he knows so well, facing the unknowns of another year with confidence and strength.
The January man is here for starting each and every year
The January man recognizes his role in beginning each new year, setting the tone for what is to come.
Along the way for ever
He knows that he will be there for each and every journey that comes his way, for eternity.
Lyrics ยฉ Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DAVE GOULDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
TheGreenDragon99
I've always loved this version, largely for Bert's singing, even though the accompaniment is fussier than the song wants. (Steeleye's version is painful!) Martin Carthy's cover is also lovely. But Dave Goulder's unaccompanied original is still the best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4UbWhtVCBE
harry hope
This is so wonderful. See Pentangle for more great stuff. And Jansch albums
Nik Gnashers
Magical, spellbinding, beautiful.
prathamesh shastri
Just genius
Steve Drake
Beautiful, heard this for first time on Huey Morgan Radio 2,masterful
hello my name is lynne
absolutely amazing
J C
Best version of a great Scots song.
Jimmy Grieves
Just gorgeous !
Fry Pan Music OnYouTube
Getting my clothes ready for the colder weather.
Medieval Richard
Splendid.