Anyone Interested in a Pentangle Album by Album Thread?

Well, I've decided I like it here, and I especially enjoy the album by album threads, so I thought I'd see if anyone would be interested in participating a Pentangle album by album thread. They're one of the few (well, 20 or so) acts that I obsessive about, and I think they're under-discussed generally.

I can start it off, and I assume most people will be more interested in the classic Jansch-Renbourn-Thompson-Cox-McShee records, but I'd be willing to see it through the various reunions, but, for now, keeping it to group, not solo or session stuff.

If response is good, I may try my hand sometime in the future on at least a similar thread for solo and collaborative Bert Jansch records.

 

I would be interested....I was thinking of attempting a list of the essential BRITISH FOLK albums. This isn't really my sytle so it would be educational.

 

Omie Wise...

I'm in!

Huge fan of The Pentangle and Family (all Jansch-Renbourn solo Lps...)

Where do i sign up/in? oh wait...

 

hella yeah, count me in ... big Pentangle fan here ... ... as long as it don't move too fast or crawl off the plate ...

 

Quick responses: I'll start this off, then, with the single before (concurrent with) the debut album, but, otherwise, I'm going to omit singles unless they contain non-lp material, and I'll try to post an album every two or three days depending on the response.

 

We have their first four albums up through Cruel Sister. All favorites with us. I love the late 60's/early 70's English folk scene.

 

Single: May, 1968

"Travellin' Song" (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson)/"Mirage" (Jansch) Big T B1G109 (UK)

The Pentangle's debut single is something of a curiosity in their collective discography for a number of reasons. First off, its A-side is not entirely reflective of their sound as the only orchestrated (violin section, at least) track in their catalogue. In this respect, it sounds rather like some of the songs on Jansch's then most recent solo album Nicola, for which an early version was tried (according to Colin Harper's wonderful Jansch biography, Dazzling Stranger. I suspect that the orchestra is arranged, like that album, by future Jethro Tull member David Palmer.

"Travellin' Song" ("Travelling Song" on all the CD reissues I've seen) was also something of a "great lost Pentangle" track for a time, as well, not making its first appearance on album, to the best of my knowledge, until 1992's Harper-compiled Demon Label People on the Highway, and then in a very very noisy needledrop (one of the worst I've ever heard on a legit release). It was appended to the debut, The Pentangle on the 1996 Wooden Hill CD, but dropped for the Castle Deluxe issue. However, in the chaotic re-envisioning of the Pentangle's catalog that has produced the box set The Time Has Come and The Pentangle Collection and The Pentangle Family and Light Flight, it has made numerous CD-era appearances on compilations, from a clean, tape source, but always in mono (I suspect no stereo mix was done for it).

As for the song itself, it's one of those eccentric songs that could only come from the pen of Bert Jansch, just undergoing his transition from inspired folk-baroque-beat songwriter/guitar virtuoso into one of the most clever and often downright weird songwriters of his (or any) time. It features many of his signature melodic, harmonic, and lyrical ticks, slurred vocals (in duet with Jacqui McShee, the band's ostensible lead singer), and a nonsense syllable chorus (or is it a bridge or a turnaround? always hard to tell with Jansch songs), used to present a quite peculiar take on the familiar rock/folk/blues theme of 'going home'. I nearly always chuckle when I hear Jansch inebratedly sing "A policeman will do us gooood." Uh huh.

A live version appears among the bonus tracks on the live disc of the Castle Reissue of Sweet Child and Jansch later retooled the song as "Going Home" on his 2000 solo release Crimson Moon.

A great debut single (I will discuss the B-side on its appropriate album), but perhaps one that seems to reflect its composer and co-singer, Bert Jansch, more than it does the Pentangle as a band. As a sidenote, there is an amusing video on youtube of an early performance of "Travellin' Song" that features Jacqui McShee wearing huge insect-like fake eyelashes and Jansch looking not unlike Maynard G. Krebs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q9of8OhkeQ

 

'Travelling Song' was available on album in 1969 on the fantastic 'Listen Here' Transatlantic sampler. Extremely good fidelity too. The song was based on a true (and tragic) story about a folk music friend.

 

Would definitely be interested in participating if you start that thread. Brit folk is my big genre after, well, the Beatles (they do have to appear in every thread here at least once, don't they?)

 

"Travellin' Song"

A great tune and excellent performance on that YT video ... right off the hop they are bringing us the goods!

Was there ever any better rhythm section than Terry and Danny or acoustic guitar duo than Bert and John?

Not for me in the whole history of UK folk and folk rock!

 

Some of my very fave music of all time that genre is, Pentangle, Fairport, Steeleye, Strawbs, Lindisfarne, and a whole lot more...

But if you only have through Cruel Sister, then you are missing one of their best, IMHEFRO, their next one, the fifth, Reflection.... some real gems on there...


cheers,

 

I first heard Travelling Song on the first Light Flight CD comp, the one on Recall, not to be confused with the one on Castle. That was a great comp, which I no longer have because I since aquired all the individual albums and the box set. If anyone is interested that you tube video is on a DVD collection call John Renbourn Rare Performances 1965-1995 that has other Pentangle and Renbourn footage, including a short bit of early b&w footage of Renbourn & Jansch sitting around the apartment playing.

 

That Renbourn DVD also has a performance of "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" from the same TV appearance, "In Time" from the 1970 BBC special, and, as Ragu mentions, footage of Renbourn & Jansch sitting around playing an early version of "Bells".

 

The Pentangle: The Pentangle

Produced by Shel Talmy

Terry Cox – Drums and percussion
Bert Jansch – Acoustic guitar and vocals
Jacqui McShee – Vocals
John Renbourn – Acoustic guitar and vocals
Danny Thompson – Double bass


Transatlantic TRA162 (17 May 1968) (UK)
Reprise RSLP63 15. (US)

CD Reissues on Line, Wooded Hill, Castle Communications

1. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme (Traditional, arr. Cox-Jansch-McShee- Renbourn-Thompson) – 2:37
2. Bells (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson) – 3:52
3. Hear my Call (The Staple Singers) – 3:01
4. Pentangling (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson) – 7:02
5. Mirage (Jansch) – 2:00
6. Way Behind the Sun (Traditional, arr. Cox-Jansch-McShee-
Renbourn-Thompson) – 3:01
7. Bruton Town (Traditional, arr. Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-
Thompson) – 5:05
8. Waltz (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson) – 4:54

I've modified something I wrote a while back when I used to blog about music, so this has appeared elsewhere, in a slightly different form.

*******************

The Pentangle's self-titled debut, released early in 1968, has always been an album that is difficult to place into pop musical context, sounding simultaneously ancient and modern, drawing on the traditions of blues, jazz, folk balladry, gospel, early music, and a soupcon of everything else, all at once, in a combination that is at once instantly recognizable and consistently foreign. Perhaps that's what draws me to it and to them; this is music that is constantly challenging, and rewards repeated attention. It's also pure ear-candy, a marvelous combination of production and performance. And, most importantly, as always, it's soulful.

The orginal Pentangle concept was to draw upon each of its five members' considerable talents equally (it's a five-pointed star, get it?) Gradually, as the band's fortunes waxed and waned, conditions grew far less democratic, but here on the debut, this is truly a band of equals. Bert Jansch and John Renbourn bring the dual-baroque-blues acoustic guitars, interweaving lead and rhythm in a fashion that rivals any pairing you'd care to mention (Richards-Jones, Fripp-Belew, Richards-Taylor, Morrison-Reed). Jacqui McShee, who had apprenticed as a blues singer in London, and sung on Renbourn's second album, Another Monday, provides occasionally otherworldly vocals that are by turns tender and ghostly, and affectingly human when her very British pronunciations combine (not always perfectly) with her Americanized blues phrasings. Danny Thompson and Terry Cox provide the bop-leaning rhythm section that propels it all, squeezing the most out of the tricky polyrhythms without ever sounding merely professional, without ever once falling into wankery.

Encompassing eight songs and a running time of just over a half-hour, The Pentangle wastes no notes. Airy production from Shel Talmy (who'd previously made a name for himself suing the Who for not recording enough of his compositions and making the Kinks sound like their albums were recorded in a room filled with feathers using a mixing board made entirely of tin cans and string) is a minor miracle: it's spacious, and, apart from a little abuse of the panpots during the bass and drum solos, doesn't sound in any way dated. The opener, "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme", an ancient 'come-all-ye' has been described as volcanic, and McShee demands full attention from the moment she opens her mouth. "Bells" (originally titled "Belles of St. Mary's") follows, the first of the band's signature instrumentals, in which Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, and Cox spin some amalgam of blues/bop/folk out of a series of interrelated figures (and it has a drum solo that is not gratuitous, to boot). "Hear My Call" is a seriously swinging cover of a Staples Singers song, propelled by an irresistible Thompson descending riff. The album's first original, "Pentangling" became a central part of the band's concert repertoire, joining an opening segment that begins to suggest Swinging London pop, before turning into a boppish jam, a bass solo, and a final segment that is furious double-tempo folksong. I've been listening to this song for more than twenty years and still have almost no idea what it's about, but it contains the line "Death Alone Walks with No One to Converse With" and that's hard to argue, er, with.

"Mirage" is pop song rendered Pentangular, a love ballad written by Jansch featuring the sort of cryptic melancholic lyrics that defined his early solo work (and which were a major influence on the young Nick Drake). "Way Behind the Sun" has been credited both as a traditional song and as a band composition; either way, it's a rollicking blues, with McShee doing her best impression of Southern blues diva. "Bruton Town", on the other hand, is pure (or impure) traditional, a murder ballad of the sort that would define the careers of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span just a few years after this album. McShee and Jansch debut here a feature of all the Pentangle albums to come, duetting and providing a perfect light/dark, soft/husk contrast in their harmonies; the song indeed is such a showpiece for all five that it provided the opener for the band's reunion on BBC radio in early 2007. "Waltz", an instrumental based on a combination of Renbourn's early solo track "Waltz" and on Davy Graham's cover of Charles Mingus's "Better Get Hit in Your Soul" (aka "Better Git It in Yo Soul", rewritten as both "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and "Slop"), sees the album out on a shambolic virtuoso tour-de-force, a group of Brits channeling everyone from Cecil Sharp to Mingus himself, and spitting the pieces back in Joycean quilted fashion. This is as close to a perfect debut album as anyone has ever released, endlessly new, and comfortingly familiar.

The 2001 re-rerelease adds seven bonus tracks, the most interesting being the instrumental (Big Jim Sullivan cover) "Koan" (called "Koran" on the recent box set) and an edit of several takes of "Bruton Town" that features a head-spinning Renbourn solo. Band versions of Jansch's solo songs "The Wheel" and "The Casbah" are unremarkable, though an instrumental version of "Way Behind the Sun" is a nice curiosity since it features Renbourn on slide guitar).

I believe a mono version of the original was released on vinyl (almost certainly UK-only), but have never heard it. There are mono mixes (not fold-downs) of "Pentangling" and "Bells", I believe, on the 1992 compilation People on the Highway. Sound-quality-wise, the only really bad version of this I've ever heard was my first vinyl one, an 80s Logo label reissue (some of the worst vinyl I've ever heard is on the Italian label; my Angel Delight sounds like my cartridge is dragging a thumbtack). I've heard the US Reprise vinyl and it sounds great; the Castle and Line CDs sound about the same to my ears, though the Castle might be a little bit louder. Anyone ever hear a mono UK vinyl copy?

 

Bump. Anyone? Bueller?

 

The Stunning Debut...

Transatlantic TRA162 (17 May 1968) (UK)
Reprise RSLP63 15. (US)

I've got the UK and US vinyl originals and the white and Purple Transatlantic vinyl blows the socks off the US Two-tone Reprise pressing, the US WLP too...



CD Reissues on Line, Wooded Hill, Castle Communications

I've got the most recent Cd reissue with bonus tracks (Castle?) but I hope to go find the German Linn Cds of this someday soon, those always sound great/better....


1. Let No Man Steal Your Thyme (Traditional, arr. Cox-Jansch-McShee- Renbourn-Thompson) – 2:37

classic opener, one of my fave McShee vocals, early storytelling efforts, a great way to srat off a debut record,s cks me right in every time...


2. Bells (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson) – 3:52
3. Hear my Call (The Staple Singers) – 3:01

I need to revisit these two, been too long...

4. Pentangling (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson) – 7:02

This instrumental kicks butt! I love the middle bit when they all come crashing in and someone (Bert, John, Danny? ) scream out in passion and they light off in flight again....


5. Mirage (Jansch) – 2:00
6. Way Behind the Sun (Traditional, arr. Cox-Jansch-McShee-
Renbourn-Thompson) – 3:01

I need to revisit these two too, been too long...


7. Bruton Town (Traditional, arr. Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-
Thompson) – 5:05

Always loved this track, and this song is a stone cold classic, although my heart rests with Sandy Denny's lovely, solo BBC verison from her 1985 box set, the first place I every heard i, and still the purest...



8. Waltz (Cox-Jansch-McShee-Renbourn-Thompson) – 4:54

I'll try to dig the viny or cd out of this fine debut record asap, spinit, and give some thoughts, no rush is there?


Interesting to note that the sprawling double Sweet Child would come out in November of this same year, a mere six months later... three slabs of wax in six months, them was the days...


cheers,




pS: Thanks for taking on this thread, a noble (frustrating?) cause, and much appreciated...

 

I was not aware there was a mono copy - something to keep an eye out for. I thought the US reprise sounded pretty good (and it does) until I got a hold of a UK Transatlantic pressing (stereo of course!).

 

You're thinking of "Waltz" there and it is indeed an amazing track!

I have the Canadian Reprise green, pink, yellow steamboat vinyl and the German Line CD and as much as I love the Line disc the vinyl blows it away for me.

A great debut with its jazz, folk, blues, trad mix and combined with the half hour running time the whole thing always feels like its 15 minutes long.

Shall return soon with a few more thoughts on this classic ...

 

Open Ears, Insert Cd...

Duh... Just finished listening to this in the car player, and yes, you are right sir, Waltz was the epic track I was thinking of, not Pentangling, however I love that track too, both 'side-enders' are real highlights for me... What a great album--first offering...


One of my very fave things about the Pentangle, and why this group is so unique and stands apart from most British Folk-Rock groups, is the combo of players. Having that Jazzy-rooted rhythym section flying all over the place holding down the bottom end whilst the two guitarist (often blending East and West by playing a Sitar vs. a Banjo) explore the top end makes for such a unique, and sublime listening exp. The fine young lady singer isn't too bad either...




cheers,

 

Anyone know for certain who lets out that phenomenal whoop when the band kicks back in after the bass solo in "Waltz"? I've always assumed it to be Danny because it doesn't sound like Bert or John to me, though I suppose it could be Terry. It's not Jacqui; of that much I'm sure.

 

Don't know for sure but I've always thought it was Danny ... the bass playing momentarily ceases during that moment and Terry is still real busy ... love the hand claps in that track ...

 

This is my favorite Pentangle album and you say it so much better than I could.
i discovered this music as late as 1975 and was floored - everyone liked it and it was so untypical esp. for that time.
The opener just sucks you in and commands all your attention and the momentum is there the whole time. It is the quality of each musician PLUS the perfect fitting vocals, simply overwhelming. The other favorite vocal track is Way Behind The Sun, just a cool idea for a song title and that Staple Singer Cover, I also like Pentangling and Waltz - but more in the context of the album. Pentangle was in the first place all about the female vocals and that old english folk sound - just on a level like never before- Forget Steeleye Span and others trying the same thing.
No one could hold a candle vs Pentangle, just a pity that I never found another Pentangle LP I liked nearly as much as this one- not that here are no good sor even excellent songs on other albums as well, but Pentangle is simple perfect from the moment you put the stylus in the groove you're fixed to the TT. Impossible to skip a tune or play only one side ...
Out of all the so called 'perfect albums', this is probably the most perfect - there is always this or that piece on a great album you do not appreciate as much as the next part, but Pentangle is different - a bit like Side A on Solid Air = as magical as music could be around those times for my 2 cents...

 

Every track on this debut is great and the interplay between Bert, John, Danny and Terry I find nothing short of outstanding.

Favorites (in order of appearance) are every track on the record ... ... well if pressed to 4 they would be "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme", "Bells", "Pentangling" and "Waltz".

Jacqui's vocals are clean and very well delivered though her highest register in the early days can still come off as a bit 'shrill' to my ears on tracks like "Hear My Call" and the intro to "Pentangling".

That being said, I'm a huge fan of her voice which has kind of fallen right into itself over the years in the best ways possible.
Was lucky enough to have had a spine tingling, brain numbing experience standing six feet away from Jacqui as she delivered an exquisite acapella version of "When I Was In My Prime" but I shan't get ahead of things now.

As much as I love the intricate woven musical tapestries of Bert and John on this album, I think the contributions from Danny and Terry are phenomenal.
Would have to dig real deep to find another album from the late sixties that the drum/percussion and bass have had such an effect on me, stated as a fingerstyle guitarist who worships the musical altars of Bert and John.

A difficult album to express with words as many great musical endeavors can prove to be but John Peel does sum up quite nicely in the last three sentences from his back cover liner notes:

"Is it necessary to talk of "fusions of traditional folk-forms", "musical innovations", "collective explorations" and the like? Answer "No" in sixty words or less. Play this record to those you love."

I fully agree!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwT0COKXFMM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pentangle

 

My error in translation ... ... upon looking at the back cover again Peel summed up in only two sentences not three.

"Is it necessary to talk of "fusions of traditional folk-forms", "musical innovations", "collective explorations" and the like? Answer "No" in sixty words or less, and play this record to those you love." - John Peel

 

Nice to see this taking off. Lovingthesound: I had the experience of hearing Jacqui sing "When I Was in My Prime" in a small venue, maybe 20 feet away from her, and it was astounding.

My appetite is whetted now for an original Transatlantic vinyl; I've heard the Reprise, and have the noisy Italian Logo reissue on vinyl. For CDs, I have the the late 80s Line Reissue and the Castle with the bonus tracks, which is very nicely done: I just wish "Travelling Song" were included - there is room for it.

I agree with everyone that The Pentangle is one of the great debut records of all time, rivalled, for me, only by Jansch's debut, VU and Nico, and Songs of Leonard Cohen, but none of those records is anywhere near as fun as this one is.

Will put up Sweet Child over the weekend; in the meantime, discuss amongst yourselves.