Bert Jansch

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 had an adverse effect on his performances and his reliability. He remained a respected figure, his first LP in particular continuing to sell and becoming recognised as a classic, before being rediscovered by a new generation of folk-influenced musicians and enjoying a renaissance of his career in the twenty-first century.

tbc....

Links to Peel
Peel was in the US when Bert Jansch was released in the UK. It did not find an American label until after the success of Pentangle's early records, when 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:

[quote]

One of Peel's favourite artists at this time was Donovan, who acknowledged Bert Jansch's influence on him. Peel therefore acquired the albums Bert and John (with John Renbourn) and Nicola, Jansch's summer 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 Pentangle 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 tracks from Jansch's solo albums as they appeared.

tbc......

Sessions

 * Number of sessions? Any commercial release of sessions?

1. Recorded: YYYY-MM-DD. First broadcast: DD Month YYYY. Repeated: DD Month YYY 2. Recorded: YYYY-MM-DD. First broadcast: DD Month YYYY. Repeated: DD Month YYY etc
 * Song title / Song Title / Song Title / Song Title
 * Song title / Song Title / Song Title / Song Title

(Please correct mistakes and add any missing info)

Other Shows Played
(Please add any missing info)
 * DD Month YYYY: Song (single/album) Label