| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 28/03/2015 : 13:18:06
Nothing so fine as Bert & John...
John 1971 = White House Blues from my favoite album by John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJTcLojk01w
Guitarist and songwriter John Renbourn,
founder of Pentangle, dies
©The Guardian 2015
Renbourn found dead by police after failing to attend gig
The English guitarist and songwriter John Renbourn has died aged 70 at his home in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Best known for his work with the folk group Pentangle, he had been on tour with the guitarist and singer Wizz Jones.
Renbourn was due to play at the Ferry in Glasgow on Wednesday night but colleagues became concerned when he failed to turn up. Police found him at his home on Thursday morning, 26 March, where it is thought he had died from a heart attack.
RenbournÕs manager, Dave Smith, who worked with him for about 25 years, described him as a ÒdelightÓ. ÒHe was just larger than life. Game for anything. He was just finishing off a tour with Wizz Jones Ð and was looking forward to the next. He was a great teacher Ð he was always putting himself down as a teacher and running weekend workshops all over Europe, where he would have students come and learn from him.Ó
Smith added that Renbourn would probably be best remembered for his work with the folk band Pentangle, which he formed with fellow musicians including the guitarist Bert Jansch, who died in 2011. ÒObviously that was what brought him into prominence,Ó said Smith. ÒBut his solo career has been a continuous thing. It never got large because itÕs very specialist music, but heÕs had an international fan base because of his influential playing style.Ó
Among those paying tributes to London-born Renbourn was the DJ Cerys Matthews, who said: ÒSo sorry and sad to hear of John RenbournÕs passing. A loving, lovely man. RIP John, it was an honour and pleasure meeting you.Ó
Ñ Cerys Matthews (@cerysmatthews)
March 26, 2015
So sorry and sad to hear of John Renbourn's passing. A loving, lovely man. RIP John, it was an honour and pleasure meeting you.
Novelist Ian Rankin tweeted: ÒAch, and now John Renbourn has died. What a guitarist...Ó
Renbourn recently appeared on BBC 6 music where he was interviewed by Matthews.
He described growing up in a musical house: ÒMy family all played something ... thereÕs a picture of me when I was about five playing on the banjo, so I went through all kids of stuff, all sorts of music. It was just in the early 60s that I was faced with the terrible dilemma of having to get a job, and finding myself preferring to travel and play.Ó
Renbourn had an unusual technique whereby he used three fingers on the right and a thumb to the guitar, with filed down pieces of ping pong balls stuck on as artificial nails.
ÒPeople tell me IÕm living in the dark ages, IÕm scorned for using these old ping pong balls,Ó he told Matthews. ÒBut they work, thereÕs nothing too much wrong with them - apart from the fact that theyÕre flammable.Ó
He did admit that they occasionally fell off. ÒThe Pentangle came out of retirement and we were playing a very big show at the Barbican, and as I was playing, one fell off. I was clever and I had some superglue with me and another one under the chair... I stuck it on, but I didnÕt know if the glue was coming out or not, so I bit the top of the superglue, and I stuck my lips together.Ó
In 2007, the original members of the Pentangle were reunited to receive a lifetime achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Renbourn was also awarded the lifetime achievement award at the Ards Guitar Festival.
Renbourn leaves two sons and a daughter.
read more...
John Renbourn: ceaseless explorer of song Ð appreciation
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/27/john-renbourn-ceaseless-explorer-of-song-pentangle-folk-appreciation
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"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music".
-Aldous Huxley
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| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ashrob |
Posted - 30/03/2015 : 16:14:37
Saw them twice - Wolverhampton Civic Hall circa 1970 and The Lincoln Festival 1971 - excellent on both occasions.
I agree J9. At a time when performances could be sloppy, Pentangle were very professional.
A wonderful group |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 30/03/2015 : 13:04:39
quote:
Originally posted by John9
This is very sad news indeed LK - I was surprised that it did not receive more extensive coverage in the media here - I learned of it only from a short paragraph in the newspaper I take. In addition to the classic Pentangle albums that you and I have discussed many a time, I've also got The Enchanted Garden and A Maid in Bedlam - both by the John Renbourn Group - and both wonderful.
If there is a folk rock heaven waiting for us up there then the memory I would most like to take with me is from one Pentangle night at the palatial De Montfort Hall in Leicester. It was a Sunday evening in October and the immaculately presented band members took to the stage at precisely the appointed time. The magic began with the first note of the first song - Sally Go Round The Roses. I think that it was the most professional concert I ever attended. RIP John - and thank you for some of the best music to have come out of these islands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swXX7h8LKFk
Nice, J9. Faro Annie is one of my favorite Renbourn LPs....some great blues and rock with John on sitar on several tracks. And a nice mix of his electric guitar with wah-wah...he does a nice reading of two Pentangle covered tracks too....Willie O' Winsbury & The Cuckoo.
________________________________________________
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music".
-Aldous Huxley
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| John9 |
Posted - 29/03/2015 : 20:35:55
This is very sad news indeed LK - I was surprised that it did not receive more extensive coverage in the media here - I learned of it only from a short paragraph in the newspaper I take. In addition to the classic Pentangle albums that you and I have discussed many a time, I've also got The Enchanted Garden and A Maid in Bedlam - both by the John Renbourn Group - and both wonderful.
If there is a folk rock heaven waiting for us up there then the memory I would most like to take with me is from one Pentangle night at the palatial De Montfort Hall in Leicester. It was a Sunday evening in October and the immaculately presented band members took to the stage at precisely the appointed time. The magic began with the first note of the first song - Sally Go Round The Roses. I think that it was the most professional concert I ever attended. RIP John - and thank you for some of the best music to have come out of these islands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swXX7h8LKFk |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 28/03/2015 : 16:38:19
Pentangle before Pentangle - Folksangere 1967
In 1967, a Danish film crew went to london to document the folk music scene. Amongst the artists that were filmed and interviewed were Bert Jansh and John Renbourn before they had formed Pentangle. -youutube
[or actually, with Bert talking about the "band" he had just formed in the interview at the end. Bert talks of folk music, jazz, drugs and the "new" band.]
At around 17 minutes they play what will later be known as the fine track "Pentangling"
A rare film with Bert & John, Carthy & Swarbrick...1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjEsRWGxVLM&spfreload=10
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"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music".
-Aldous Huxley
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