Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch (1965) (@320)

Let's start a tribute to Bert Jansch who left us recently. A musician of tremendous importance but, sadly, relatively unknown outside the folk circles although his influence on rock artists is huge. Donovan has covered Do You Hear Me Now, Bob Dylan was based on Jansch's cover on the traditional Nottamun Town to create Masters of War, while Jimmy Page did the same with Blackwaterside and Waggoner's Lad to create Black Mountain Side and Gallows Pole (Nottamun Town, Blackwaterside and Waggoner's Lad can be found in Jack Orion lp, posted here some years ago). Jansch's influence is also apparent on Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Neil Young, Johnny Marr, Devendra Banhart, Fleet Foxes, to name just a few, while Jansch's major influence was Davy Graham, the subject of an older post as well. In addition, every "best guitarists ever" list that respects itself includes Jansch; his ability on acoustic guitar was so unique that Neil Young has said that what Hendrix was to the electric guitar, Jansch was to the acoustic. And of course we shouldn't forget Pentangle, one of the greatest folk acts of the 1960s to which Jansch was a member, for whom there will be a post and an upload as well. The album offered here is Jansch's first; his last is also on the way.

Further reading: Bert Jansch - a modest man with an immodest talent by Pete Paphides in Guardian

Further viewing: Acoustic Routes, a relevant BBC documentary (in 8 parts)


review link: here

download link: here (mirrorcreator) and here (rapidshare)