Bert Jansch

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

http://guitarsquid.com/Squid_Picks/Oct2 ... ansch.html

Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, a founding member of the band Pentangle and a well-known guitarist in his own right, has died at the age of 67.

Jansch, who had cancer, passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning at a hospice in Hampstead, north London.

Born in Glasgow in 1943, the musician recorded his first album in 1965 and his last, The Black Swan, in 2006.

Between 1967 and 1973 he was part of acoustic group Pentangle, best known for their 1970 hit single Light Flight.

John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox were the other original members of the band, whose albums included Basket of Light and Solomon's Seal.

The group reformed in 2008 after receiving a lifetime achievement honour the previous year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

As a solo artist, Jansch received his own lifetime achievement accolade at the same event in 2001.

He last performed, with Pentangle, at the Royal Festival Hall on 1 August.

A scheduled solo show at the Edinburgh Festival later that month was cancelled due to the singer's ill health.

Pentangle singer McShee said Jansch "never complained throughout his illness".

"I saw him last Friday and it was tragic," she told BBC Four's The World.

"He recovered from his cancer last year and I thought this was it. We even made plans for the future, for new material and music.

"He will be so missed. We've got his music but I shall miss him as a friend."

Speaking to The Guardian last year, Jansch - who is survived by his wife Loren - said he was "not one for showing off".

But he admitted that his guitar-playing "sticks out" - a skill that once prompted Neil Young to put him on the same level as Jimi Hendrix.

Booking agent John Barrow, who helped the musician stage shows throughout his career, said he would remember Jansch as a "hard-working musician" and "a great man".

"He was very quietly spoken," he told the BBC. "People used to say to me, 'he doesn't talk much, does he?' But when he could play the guitar like that, why should he be talking?"

The Smiths former guitarist Johnny Marr also paid tribute, calling him "a leader of his generation".

"He really was the king of the beatnik troubadours and no one ever tried to usurp that," he told BBC 6 Music.

"As a person he exuded a secret wisdom. Getting to play with him...was an absolute privilege."

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon called Jansch a "flawless guitar player" and a "no frills, staunch fellow with nothing to prove to anyone."

"He was top of the pile whether he thought so or not."

[Tony Davis]

In the early 60's I was fortunate to be invited to a week-end long guitar party,Burt was there.....his guitar had been stolen so he used mine a fair bit of the time....he cut his finger on it somehow and left blood on the face of it !!!!!
I learnt a lot from Burt...even how to play Anji.
Very nice guy..liked his beer but told me he prefered grass.
Sad to see him go
Tony

[CrowBear Schmitt]

" Beatnick Troubadour"
i like that & i liked him
Rest in Peace Bert

[Dave Mudgett]

Very sorry to hear this. Great, great guitar player, very influential on at least a couple of generations of guitar players, and that influence will undoubtedly continue to transmit through them. Was lucky enough to see him a couple of times way back when - Pentangle with him and Renbourn was unbelievably talent-stacked. He definitely let his guitar speak for him, and how. RIP.

[Joachim Kettner]

Bert Jansch was one of the best of the singers, songwriters and guitarists. I'v seen him play a few times and listened to Pentagle a lot when I was a boy. This is very sad news.

[Alan Brookes]

Sorry to hear this. 67 is too young to go. I met him once in 1964 in his blues days before Pentangle. Nice guy.

[Micky Byrne]

Mike, about 1967 I was in a folk band for a short while. This was before my Pedal steel days. We were a support band to Pentangle in a crowded London pub.I was at the back of the crowd just listening as it was too busy to see them. I heard what I thought was a great duo on Acoustic guitar. Not till I stood on a chair did I realise that it was just Bert on his own...what an amazing picker who got so many onto the claw hammer style of picking. May he R.I.P.


Micky Byrne U.K.

[steve takacs]

My condolences to Bert's family. My wife and I had the good fortune of living in dodgy apartment in London in the late 1970s and saw Bert perform several times in pubs like the Half Moon and Star And Garter etc, in Putney. It was always quite a special experience. Bert sure was not a person to toot his horn from what we saw; he allowed his music to do the talking. I can confirm what Micky said about Bert playing like a duo all by himself. I was big into learning fingerpicking guitar then, and he and John Renbourn, Duck Baker, Sam Mitchell, Steffan Grossman, and many of the artists on Steffan's Kicking Mule label had a huge influence on me, but Bert was my favorite. Pick away wherever you are, Bert. stevet