The Pentangle - Basket Of Light

Released - October 1969

Genre - Psychedelic Folk

Producer - Shel Talmy

Selected Personnel - Bert Jansch (Guitar/Vocals/Banjo); Jacqui McShee (Vocals); John Renbourn (Vocals/Guitar/Sitar); Danny Thompson (Double Bass); Terry Cox (Drums/Percussion)

Standout Track - Light Flight

On America's West Coast, the likes of Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash were busy turning folk music into a particular entity, largely indebted to country music. But back in Britain, it's important to remember that several figures were keeping the spirit of traditional English folk music alive, none more so than the Pentangle, who not only managed to keep that spirit alive but even managed to make it sound new and full of vitality. I've come to this album very recently, and so it hasn't yet had much time to really get under my skin and take on a huge degree of significance for me, but it serves as a masterful example of the late 60s English folk scene and has a sunny pastoral quality to it that makes it an absolute delight to listen to at this time of year.

The Pentangle had first materialised in 1967 out of the partnership between guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn who had collaborated on an album together that year. With the addition of lead vocalist Jacqui McShee, double bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox, they became the Pentangle and set about indulging their love of traditional folk music while also incorporating the band members' interests in jazz, blues and early music. For me, listening to the Pentangle is an unusual experience as it's very rare that my affection for folk music leads me into listening to a full band. Most of the folk music I listen to tends to be solo singer-songwriter fare, from Mitchell to Cat Stevens, with the principal focus on the lyrics and the vocals. It's less common for me to end up listening to folk music where the full band sound and the intricacy of the music is as central a feature as the voice and lyrics, as in most rock music (no, I've never listened to Fairport Convention. I'll make time to give them a try some day), but Basket Of Light ably proves that the full band approach to folk music is just as successful.

Thompson's double bass keeps things finely anchored, while Terry Cox's use of glockenspiels and smaller handheld drums in addition to a conventional drumkit keeps the percussive side of these songs rich and unpredictable, but the main focus is on the interplay between Jansch and Renbourn, whose ability to play off one another has clearly been honed by their previous work together. The baroque style of their interactions keeps things firmly grounded in a pastoral, Medieval vein, with McShee's vocals suitably light and airy. "Light Flight" was the surprise hit after being used as the theme music for a BBC documentary, and is one of the catchiest and most memorable songs here, although its use of complex and constantly shifting time signatures betrayed the band's more eclectic influences and showed them to be much more than a collection of folk musicians rewriting traditional tunes. "Train Song" is another highlight, with McShee's scatting vocals tripping playfully over Jansch and Renbourn's twin guitar parts, and closer "House Carpenter" makes good use of Renbourn's sitar to keep the musical palette diverse and engaging. "Sally Go Round The Roses" is a reinterpretation of an early 60s pop song, and it's impossible to imagine it in any other format, it sounds so at home in these baroque folk stylings.

After the unprecedented success of "Light Flight" and, with it, Basket Of Light as a whole, the Pentangle followed it up with more of the same and quickly lost their brief acceptance from the mainstream audience before fading into obscurity. I've yet to really decide whether I enjoy Basket Of Light enough to delve into their back catalogue and find out more about them, and it's yet to really find a true place in my affections beyond my superficial enjoyment of pretty much every song here, but it's a terrific carefree listen, and serves as a key reminder of what was going on in the folk scene away from the West Coast. It needs a few more listens and perhaps it'll become a true favourite.

Track Listing:

1. Light Flight (Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

2. Once I Had A Sweetheart (Traditional, Arranged by Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

3. Springtime Promises (Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

4. Lyke Wake Dirge (Traditional, Arranged by Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

5. Train Song (Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

6. Hunting Song (Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

7. Sally Go Round The Roses (Lona Stephens & Zell Sanders)

8. The Cuckoo (Traditional, Arranged by Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)

9. House Carpenter (Traditional, Arranged by Bert Jansch; John Renbourn; Danny Thompson; Terry Cox & Jacqui McShee)