#bert jansch

[jt1674]

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Bert Jansch & Finn Kalvik - Norwegian Television, May 7, 1973

It's been on YouTube for several years, but for some reason I had never seen this quite wonderful half-hour of Bert Jansch performing with Norwegian singer-songwriter Finn Kalvik. I blame you! OK, not really. But someone should have told me, this is good shit.

The setup couldn't be simpler. After a very brief intro from a gloriously mustachioed host, Bert and Finn sit on a floral print couch in an admirably barren studio space and trade tunes, sometimes accompanying one another, sometimes just providing an audience. The black-and-white cinematography is terrific, very intimate; guitar nerds will love the closeups of Jansch's hands as he plays. As ever, the dude makes it look easy, but (as Kalvik's reactions occasionally betray) it most certainly is not easy.

Bert is obviously the main draw, but Finn (who is new to me) is very good as well, sort of like a Norwegian Jackson C. Frank or something. I'll have to check him out further ...

[capturing-earths-beauty]

Pentangle - Reflection

from 1972

This recording is one of my favorites, every note is perfection. This song is a true jam! It blends folk, traditional, and jazz with psychedelic rock sounds in such a beautiful way.

The video is also amazing. The camera angles, and use of double exposure from multiple cameras and overall very artsy and surreal look is just captivating. Sorry to sound cheesy, I just love every aspect of this performance and video.

A little technical nerd enthusiasm about the production. This was captured with TV cameras that very likely used a Vidicon camera tube. (Camera tubes are very similar to their CRT TV counterparts but capture images rather than produce them. I won't get into that detail here) These cameras have a characteristic of darkening bright areas of the image or even creating a black circle around a very bright highlight. This results in a very interesting tonality to the image. This video looks like it was transferred from expensive video tape to film for storage which is where the grain and dust comes from which adds another layer of abstraction. When this was produced, there was no such possibility with video, as there is with film and modern cameras, to record multiple camera feeds at once. So every cross-fade, every double exposure, and every cut, was done live during the performance. Editing video in post wasn't an option. It was possible to record multi-tack audio and mix in post, and add that back to the video, but it was likely mixed live as well. I wish I could get my hands on one of these cameras but they are very large, expensive, and rare in working order.

[thesobsister]

Anne Briggs, Bert Jansch, "Blackwaterside"

A gorgeous voice with masterful accompaniment. If you like Sandy Denny, Anne Briggs is the OG. She recorded little—only two solo albums in 1971 and one other that was recorded in the early '70s and only released 25 years later.

A keening voice. She didn't really gaf about fame or a career in music and behaved accordingly, either absenting herself to places like the Hebrides or, earlier in life, partying hard (English folk-rock luminary Richard Thompson "recalled that he only ever encountered Briggs twice and on both occasions she was drunk and unconscious."). But there are a few other places where one can hear her voice, including a few tunes on this recording of British "traditional erotic songs" such as "The Whirly Whorl," the story of the sexual incompatibility between a young bride and an old groom:

"Well, first she modestly turned her back And then she turned her front, And long she wished for kindliness But kindness she got none. So at last she’s grabbed him all in her arms And shoved him against the wall, Saying, 'Are you there, you silly old devil? You’ve lost your whirly whorl!'"

[radiophd]

bert jansch -- up to the stars

[originalharmonysalad]

Donovan's "Bert's Blues"" An Unofficial Slideshow Tribute to Bert Jansch

Album Sunshine Superman (1966)

[heaveninawildflower]

‘Kittiwake’ by Bert Jansch from the album ‘Avocet’

[prdzx]

Bert Jansch x Hope Sandoval x All This Remains 

[jt1674]

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Bert Jansch - Sounds of the 70s

A Bert At The BBC collection came out last year collecting decades of Bert Jansch sessions — and lo, it was good. At eight discs, you'd assume that it would be fairly comprehensive ... but this Sounds of the 70s broadcast from 1971 only emerged a few months back. And, holy smokes, it is amazing, peak Jansch!

"It has long been the holy grail of Bert's BBC career - songs almost all from the 'Rosemary Lane' LP that in several cases he would never perform again," writes uploader / author / songwriter Colin Harper. Really beautiful stuff, thanks a million to Colin and Christopher Gardiner, the guy who taped it all those years ago. My only complaint is that it isn't long enough. Oh well, you can also listen to Gardiner's recording of Bert at the Royal Festival Hall from right around the same time, which has just been shared in upgraded sound quality. A dream a dream a dream.

[washdayradionetwork]

One For Jo (2009 Digital Remaster)

[hastioexquisito]

Bert Jansch - When the Teardrops Fell

[cruelsister-moved2]

Well love is like a little boy Building castles in the sand And the higher he builds them The longer they stand

[radiophd]

bert jansch -- a man i'd rather be