Entertainment For Lively Minds
Bert Jansch
Posted by mojoworking on 7 December 2011 - 7:58am.
What's it called?:
The Guitar Artistry Of Bert Jansch - DVD
What It Sounds Like:
Recorded in Athens, Ohio in 1980 and featuring Bert performing 12 songs with his short-lived trio Conundrum, here, finally, are some of the tracks we’ve been drooling over on YouTube for years. 'Blues Run The Game', 'Daybreak', 'Running From Home' and an exquisite solo 'Blackwaterside' are delivered in fine style with multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins and bassist Nigel Portman-Smith providing a sympathetic backing. Available before his recent death in October, it should be mentioned, this is the first official Bert Jansch DVD I've ever seen and the extras are just as tantalising as the main feature. Three songs recorded as a duo with Martin Jenkins in Stockholm in 1978 lead into a 35 minute documentary from 1985 combining interviews, solo concert performances and, best of all, some fascinating rehearsal footage. Bert was truly a giant of British folk music and while filmed slightly after his peak period, this DVD shows a master craftsman at work. Remember him this way.
What Does It All "Mean"?:
Neil Young, Jimmy Page, Donovan, Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler. They all swore Bert walked on water and so will you after watching this. The documentary in particular is essential viewing.
Goes well with...:
All those great Transatlantic folk LPs from the 60s
Might Suit People Who Like...:
Pentangle, Nick Drake, John Martyn and Roy Harper.
Sounds fantastic
On Wish List. Should go nicely with my DVD of the Union Chapel Beeb 4 concert! Tell you what though, clearly Johnny and Bernard are big fans but I can't hear a scintilla of his sound in theirs. Clearly Pagey nicked the easy bits quite shamelessly but never got near what made Bert so unique.
Pagey
Jimmy Page may have nicked heaps of stuff along the way, but in Bert’s case there was a subtle but important difference which I know you'll understand Twang.
Bert always performed Blackwaterside in dropped D (standard tuning but with the bass E string tuned down a tone to D). And, to be pedantic, he also used a capo on the second fret, which is neither here or there.
When Jimmy Page appropriated Blackwaterside and turned it into the instrumental Black Mountain Side for the first LZ album, he played it in the open tuning of DADGAD. This changed the whole feel and sound of the piece. Conveniently, it also meant that onstage, Page could perform Black Mountain Side as a 8-10 minute medley together with White Summer another DADGAD instrumental piece he'd lifted back in his Yardbirds days from Davy Graham's arrangement of the traditional song She Moved Through The Fair.
Agree with that
It suited Bert to have Marr & Butler name-dropping him to a younger audience, but their playing couldn't be more different.
Just to clarify the dates...
...the 'A Man & His Songs' doc is from 1976, from Danish TV, not 1985 as apparently credited on this release.
Thanks Colin
It does state 1985 for the documentary no less than twice on the DVD cover, but I should have realised just by looking at Bert's appearance that it dates from earlier than that.
The densely-typed sleeve notes also misspell Martin Jenkins' name at one point.
All of which is strange, since this DVD is distributed by Stefan Grossman's company.
Stefan, for some reason, often...
...gets dates wrong on his DVD packaging. It's as if someone's trying to deliberately obscure the origin of some of the clips. weird.