Jack Orion (2015 Remaster) Bert Jansch

• 1The Waggoner's Lad (2015 Remaster)03:31
• 2The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (2015 Remaster)01:45
• 3Jack Orion (2015 Remaster)09:50
• 4The Gardener (2015 Remaster)01:48
• 5Nottamun Town (2015 Remaster)04:38
• 6Henry Martin (2015 Remaster)03:14
• 7Black Water Side (2015 Remaster)03:49
• 8Pretty Polly (2015 Remaster)04:01
• Total Runtime32:36

Info for Jack Orion (2015 Remaster)

Jack Orion, Bert Jansch's third album, may have surprised some fans upon its 1966 release, as it features no original compositions by Jansch. While nearly all of the eight tracks (four of which include guitarist John Renbourn) are interpretations of traditional folk songs, Jansch's experimental approach breathes new life into this repertoire through his exploratory use of open tunings and passionate, gritty vocals.

According to Melody Maker, "his interpretations illuminate the songs from a completely new angle. As sung by him, with brilliant accompaniments, the brutal world that created the old ballads doesn't seem so very far off."

The ten-minute title song foreshadows the future through the past: with his sublime retelling of this dark tale of desire and revenge, Jansch embarks on a musical trajectory he would further develop with his group Pentangle. In "Black Water Slide," a haunting ballad he first heard from Anne Briggs, Jansch plants the seeds for future versions by Led Zeppelin and Sandy Denny. Jack Orion's unique combination of medieval themes and progressive arrangements would pave the way for the next wave of the British folk revival and beyond.

"After presenting almost all-original sets on his first two albums (albeit originals that sometimes borrowed heavily from traditional folk themes), Jansch opted to devote all of his third LP to traditional folk numbers. His future Pentangle partner John Renbourn joins him on four of the eight songs. Highlights include the ten-minute title track (whose length was a real oddity on contemporary folk albums of the time) and a cover of "Nottamun Town" (whose melody Dylan lifted for "Masters of War"). Not as original as the artist's first two LPs, the guitar and vocal work on these adaptations were still as influential to the '60s folk world as anything else in Jansch's catalog." (Richie Unterberger, AMG)

Bert Jansch, guitar

Digitally remastered

Bert Jansch
born in Scotland, he was steeped in American blues and jazz, North African music, and folk early in his career, and by the beginning of the ’60s he was playing the British folk clubs, extending his musical education. Artists like Martin Carthy and Anne Briggs turned him on to songs in the British folk tradition. By the mid-’60s Jansch had set up residence in London where he began and playing live shows, and by making the studio recordings that would come to influence a generation of songwriters, singers, and guitar players. Classic artists like Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Donovan, Elton John, and Nick Drake, all the way up to present artists like Fleet Foxes and Devendra Banhart, have acknowledged Jansch as a major influence and innovator of acoustic guitar playing. By his second album, Jansch was collaborating with John Renbourn, another seminal British folk guitar giant. Together in 1967, they formed The Pentangle, one of the most important British folk groups of the ’60s.

Bert Jansch is listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “Top 100 Guitar Players Of All Time.”

This album contains no booklet.