Colours Are Fading Fast by Loren Auerbach & Bert Jansch

Another rainy day, but I am quite content to remain indoors. Luckily for me the post lady delivered a new triple CD today which has created a nice atmosphere in my wee house. I am now on my second listen. It is called Colours Are Fading Fast by Loren Auerbach with Bert Jansch. Because I haven’t been going out for the last three months I have saved so much money I thought I would treat myself to some new music. I wanted to get something that was completely new to me. I first heard of Loren Auerbach last year when I read a biography of Bert Jansch called Dazzling Stranger by Colin Harper. Loren became the last woman in Bert’s life when she married him in 1999. However, their friendship went back to the mid 1980's. This triptych of albums consists of two albums that Loren recorded in 1985 plus a third CD of various tracks recorded in 1988 but never previously released until this set came out in 2016.

The first album Loren recorded is called After The Long Night. It is a short album of only five tracks and only 29 minutes. Loren made it in collaboration with a singer-songwriter and guitarist called Richard Newman and Bert was called in to provide acoustic guitar. There is also violin and bass. I love the opening four tracks. When I heard the first track The Rainbow Man I immediately thought of Nick Drake. I know it is a cliche to say Nick Drake. Almost every folk musician you hear of these days seems to be compared to Nick Drake, but that is what I thought. I also loved the second song Frozen Beauty. That song instantly reminded me of Shelagh McDonald who I have written about before. I will put that song on this blog page so you can judge for yourself. I also liked Cristabel and So Lonely. I wasn’t so keen on the last track Journey Of The Moon Through Sorrow because it isn’t Loren on vocals. I assume it is Richard Newman.

One reason I ordered this set of Cd's was because the publicity blurb said this music will appeal to fans of Virginia Astley, Bridget St John & Vashti Bunyan. I have albums by Vashti and Bridget, and I have ordered an album by Virginia Astley which I will tell you about in a few days hopefully. Loren’s voice is very intimate, you almost feel she is in the same room. I had the same feeling when I first heard Sibylle Baier. The second album in this set is called Playing The Game which came out in October 1985. It has a richer, more produced sound than the first one and has ten songs. The opening track Carousel has some great electric guitar by Newman. Weeping Willow Blues contains parts of Corrina Corrina and slightly reminds me of Norma Waterson. I think Bert might have written some of the songs but I’m not sure which ones. Is It Real after two listens is the best song with Loren’s delicate vocals perfectly accompanied by wonderful guitar playing.

Loren was planning a third album in 1988 which never came to fruition. There were recording sessions in October & November of that year which make up the third CD in this set called In Moonlights Grace.  Only Loren. Bert and Richard Newman feature on these songs. They are interesting, but not great. What they do show is Bert’s exquisite guitar playing. There is a version of Tam Lin which Fairport Convention made a sublime version of on Liege & Lief and a version of Fleetwood Mac’s Man Of The World. Bert’s guitar on this is wonderful but sadly Loren’s vocals don’t rise to the occasion. It did not really matter that the album didn’t see the light of day at the time because Loren had other strings to her bow. She went off to college and got a degree. I think she became an expert on Norse Mythology and published books on the subject. Loren did not see Bert again for quite a few years, but they met again in 1994 and became more than friends and married in 1999. Sadly, they both succumbed to cancer. Bert died in October 2011 aged 67 and Loren passed away only a few weeks later aged only 48. I am pleased I bought this CD set. It is not one of the greatest recordings I have ever bought by any means but it created a nice atmosphere in my kitchen today and anything that lifts your spirits during these depressing times has to be a good thing.