Jack Orion by Bert Jansch.

A few days ago I didn’t own any Bert Jansch albums, now suddenly I have two. When I wrote my story about Rosemary Lane a few nights ago a Danish friend whose views I respect recommended I listen to Jack Orion. I found a copy on eBay at a price I liked and this morning it popped through my letter box. I was pleased about that because I couldn’t go out due to the rain and it gave me something to do.

It is Bert’s third album and recorded in 1966 at 5 North Villas, Camden, London which I am guessing was a friend’s house. There are just eight tracks and the album is quite short at just 32 minutes. All the songs apart from one are traditional with Bert’s own arrangements. 

Unusually, Bert plays banjo on the opening instrumental track called The Waggoner’s Lad. It shows that Bert can shine on other instruments besides the guitar. I believe that his friend John Renbourn plays the guitar part on this tune. The second track is also an instrumental, a short but sweet interpretation of Ewan McColl’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. The third song is the epic title track Jack Orion. It weighs in at just under ten minutes. Apparently, Bert learned it from Anne Briggs and he got her to write down the words for him to learn. It must have taken her ages. Anne would have learned it from A.L. Lloyd who dusted off a medieval ballad called Glasgerion and called it Jack Orion. By contrast the fourth track called The Gardener is less than two minutes long. I first heard the song Nottamun Town in 1969 on a Fairport Convention album. Bert’s version is pure class as well. That thieving magpie Bob Dylan took this traditional song and used it as the tune for his song Masters Of War. Henry Martin is a song of dirty deeds and piracy on the high seas. It has been recorded by many people over the years such as Burl Ives, Joan Baez & Donovan. John Renbourn plays guitar on this track as well.  Blackwaterside is another song that Anne taught to Bert. She recorded it herself later. It has caused controversy over the years because Jimmy Page copied Bert’s arrangement note for note and put it on the first Led Zeppelin album as Black Mountain Side. I think Jimmy should have given Bert a few quid because he must have made a fortune from it. The final song Pretty Polly is a murder ballad, telling of a young woman lured into the forest where she is killed and buried in a shallow grave. Many variants of the story have the villain as a ship's carpenter who promises to marry Polly but murders her when she becomes pregnant. When he goes back to sea, either he is haunted by her ghost, confesses to the murder, goes mad and dies, or the ship will not sail, he denies the murder and is ripped to pieces by her ghost. (I found all that info on Wikipedia) It is another song that Dylan put to good use, recording it himself and using  it as the basis for The Ballad Of Hollis Brown.

I have played the album three times now on this rainy Saturday afternoon and think it is great. Reading the enclosed booklet, I learned that Anne last visited Bert in May 2011. They went in his studio at the end of his garden and sang Go Your Way. They considered working together again and Bert had a list of songs he was keen to record. Sadly, it never came about because he died later that year. I think it is a shame that Anne Briggs and Bert Jansch never made an album together. It would have taken the world of folk music by storm. I expect they might both have hated the attention but just one filmed concert for posterity would have been wonderful.

See below for a nice film of Anne Briggs and Bert Jansch singing Blackwaterside in 1992.

Blackwaterside Anne Briggs & Bert Jansch

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros 'Dear Believer' Acoustic

Rosemary Lane by Bert Jansch.

Me And Rosemary Lane.

 I caught the bus over to Warminster. I met my friend Sian and we retired to the warmth of the pub. I had a drink called J2O orange flavour because it is day 16 of dry January. After a while I got a bit bored and said I would be back in a minute and I nipped across the road to Raves From The Grave because I thought I’d treat myself to a new album as my reward for not drinking. I asked for a new album by Steve Earle but they said it wasn’t released yet. I was determined to buy something and in the Folk section I spotted cd’s by the late Bert Jansch. I was pleased about that because I have been reading and writing a lot about Bert recently but to my shame I haven’t got a single Bert Jansch album in my collection. In fact, the only album I have ever owned featuring Bert is Basket Of Light by Pentangle. There were several albums to choose from and I didn’t have a clue which one was the best, so in the end I opted for one called Rosemary Lane purely because I liked the name.

I re-joined Sian in the pub and got her to take a photo of me perusing the cd. It is a very attractive cd. The cover was designed by Bert’s wife of the time Heather who is now a sculptor of world wide renown. There is also a nice little booklet with very interesting information about the album. It was raining as we left the pub. I said cheerio at the bus stop and was home by 2.30. I played the album as soon as I got home and was pleased that I chose Rosemary Lane because I really like it. Like all great music it has a wonderful timeless quality and although I have only heard it once I get the feeling that this album will grow on me and hopefully I will enjoy listening to it for many years to come. The album was recorded on portable equipment in Bert’s house over several months in 1971. The reason it took so long was because Bert was in no hurry and only recorded a song when he was in the mood for recording which must have added to the laidback feel of the album.

I was immediately taken with the first track called Tell Me What Is True Love? A self-written love song by Bert. You can feel the influence of his first muse Anne Briggs on this album particularly on songs like Reynardine and the title track Rosemary Lane. These are both traditional songs that Anne taught to Bert. It was through being a fan of Annie Briggs that first led me to taking an interest in Bert. There are eight tracks written by Bert plus some traditional songs and even a classical instrumental called Sarabanda written by Arcangelo Corelli and another instrumental by Robert Johnson called Alman. The real beauty of the album is in the guitar playing. I don’t play the guitar so I can’t describe the technical reasons why it is so great, but the words intricate and sophisticated spring to mind. It is one of those albums that doesn’t just accentuate a mood, it actually creates a mood. It certainly created a nice atmosphere in my kitchen this afternoon. This album definitely  has my approval and I am very pleased that I bought it today.

Anne Briggs

Listening To Anne Briggs.

This evening I have been listening to Anne Briggs who I rate as one of Britain's greatest ever singers. This is how I discovered her music. In 1968 I started going to Peterborough Folk Club which was held every Sunday evening at the Grand Hotel just off Bridge Street. I was only about 17 but loved the folk music, probably because of being from an Irish background. One night I saw this young singer who had just returned from busking in Paris and was paid £19 for appearing. his name was Ralph McTell and he was later to achieve worldwide acclaim for his song Streets Of London. The following year I discovered the music of Fairport Convention. The first album I bought  was What We Did On Our Holidays which is still one of my favourite albums of all time. Fairport contained two of the greatest talents of English music, Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny. I thought Sandy was great, the most perfect singing voice  had ever heard. Other people said Sandy was nearly as good as Anne Briggs.

Fairport then brought out Unhalfbricking followed by Leige And Lief. The latter was a defining moment in music when Fairport invented the genre of English Folk Rock. Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention after this album and founded the short lived Fotheringay .One of the songs on their eponymous album was called The Pond And The Stream which was about Anne Briggs. 'Annie wanders on the land. She loves the freedom of the air. She finds a friend in ev'ry place she goes. There's always a face she knows. I wish that I was there'.

When I attended my first ever festival in 1972 at Bardney near Lincoln they had a folk tent and Anne was due to play on the Sunday night (See Poster) but I think the Folk tent collapsed on the Friday night, so I don't know if Anne was there or not. Years went by going into decades and I had gradually lost interest  in buying new Fairport Convention albums without Sandy & Richard but  still liked Richard Thompson and followed his career. In 1994 I first heard a song of Richard's called Beeswing. I thought it was fantastic, one of the best songs he had ever written, sad and haunting. She was a rare thing, Fine as a beeswing, So fine a breath of wind might blow her away, She was a lost child She was running wild, she said as long as there's no price on love, I'll stay, And you wouldn't want me any other way, Brown hair zig-zag round her face, And a look of half-surprise,Like a fox caught in the headlights,There was an animal in her eyes.

I don't know if it is true, but I was told the song was inspired by Anne. My curiosity grew. Apparently she had lived in Ireland for a while where Johnny Moynihan had taught her to play the bouzouki.  I decided to find out what I could about Anne Briggs. She had recorded three albums before disappearing from the music scene.
Early in 1973 she recorded an album called Sing A Song For You. The album includes the song Standing on the Shore, previously recorded by Sweeney's Men. It was to be her final studio recording. By the time it was issued, she was living in The Hebrides, The album sank without trace until re-released in 1996, when it was acclaimed by folk music aficionados as a lost gem. She became a market gardener and avoided all contact with the music scene. Despite coaxing from some of the brightest names in British folk music, she refused to return to the studio.
Anne Briggs's musical legacy as well as her recordings is her significant influence on the work of other musicians, rather than recognition by the general public. Her earlier partner, Bert Jansch, who described her as one of the most underrated singers recorded Anne's songs including Go Your Way  and Wishing Well on his albums. She was also his source for several of the traditional songs which he recorded, including Blackwaterside. Jansch's instrumental accompaniment to this song was later copied, virtually note-for-note by Jimmy Page and recorded as Black Mountain Side. Her name continues to be praised by younger singers such as Eliza Carthy and Kate Rusby, to name but two.
A few years ago I bought the Anne Briggs Collection and I love it. It might not be to everyone's taste because a lot of the songs are unaccompanied,  but there is no doubt that Anne has a wonderful voice and her legend continues to grow.

Reading Big Bill Broonzy

I have been listening to Big Bill Broonzy this afternoon because I was inspired to listen to him again after reading the Bert Jansch book. He was a hero to Bert and many others on the Folk and Blues scene in the early 60's. I first heard of Big Bill Broonzy when I listened to the Hymns To The Silence album by Van Morrison. I wrote a piece about Bill quite a while ago in 2012 so today I thought I would dust it off and republish it. This is it......................................

One of the many things I like about listening to Van Morrison's music is that he is such a name dropper. Van's songs are littered with references to the writers and musicians who have influenced him.Van is trying to turn on the listener to the things that he enjoys. He is saying "I dig this,check it out".It is very educational being a Van fan and I have discovered lots of great music because of Van and learned a lot about the history of music. In the song 'On Hyndford Street' Van says
'And reading Mr. Jelly Roll and Big Bill Broonzy
And Really The Blues by Mezz Mezzrow
And Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Over and over again'.

I have mentioned Really The Blues by Mezz Mezzrow and Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac in previous articles so today I would like to have a look at Big Bill Broonzy who I had been curious about for a while. I had heard the name and  knew that Eric Clapton and Keith Richards were big fans of him. I looked him up on Wikipedia and found that the book that Van must have read was 'Big Bill Blues', his autobiography which Bill narrated to Belgian writer Yannick Bruynogue. It was published in 1955. My curiosity was aroused and I knew I had to read this book. I looked on eBay and found a hardback edition published by the Jazz Book Club in the UK in 1957. "That will do nicely", I thought to myself and clicked 'Buy Now'. Then I thought that it was pointless reading the book without hearing the music so I bought a CD as well, 'Big Bill Broonzy, The Anthology' .A couple of days later they both arrived. The book is a wonderful read. It is divided into three sections, My Life, My Songs and My Friends in which Bill narrates his story in a very droll manner. It is full of amusing anecdotes about his life. There are also lots of great photos of himself and his friends such as Washboard Sam, Memphis Slim, Lonnie Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Jack Dupree, Sonny Terry and many others. I listened to the CD while reading the book and I must say that I really like it. Sometimes when I listen to Blues albums I find them a bit samey and I get bored, but not so with this double album because there is lots of variety in it. It contains his most famous song 'Key To The Highway' which as you know Eric Clapton recorded with Derek And The Domino's. The influence on Van can be seen on such songs as Outskirts Of Town, John Henry and Midnight Special. What really impressed me about the album though is the seemingly effortless blues guitar picking.You can see why the likes of Bert Jansch, Eric, and Keef looked up to him. Also you can see where the British Skiffle movement of the 50's got some of its ideas from, such as the use of a washboard as an instrument and Lonnie Donegan even took his name from Bill's friend Lonnie Johnson. Like a lot of American blues artists such as Champion Jack Dupree, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGee and Little Walter, Bill spent a lot of time touring Europe where he was a huge success and even met and fell in love with a lady in Amsterdam and had a son who still lives there. He died in 1958 from cancer. His influence lives on though and many great guitarists cite him as an influence.  During the inauguration of President Obama the words of his song Black,Brown And White Blues were used in the benediction, so thank you very much to Van for introducing me to the music of Big Bill Broonzy.