Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. He recorded more than 28 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.
Jansch, whose forebears had come from Germany in the 19th century, was born in Glasgow but the family moved to Edinburgh, where he attended Ainslie Park secondary school. He worked, briefly, as a nurseryman, spending his early wages on a guitar. He sought lessons at the Howff folk club, wishing to emulate the guitar style of the American Big Bill Broonzy. Soon, Jansch had become resident unofficial caretaker at the Howff, spending much of his time developing his playing skills, with the Scottish singer Archie Fisher as a significant influence.
In the early 1960s, Jansch graduated from playing for his own pleasure to performing for an audience. He was one of the first guitarists to understand and then interpret and popularise Davy Graham's guitar solo Anji. At the time, his personal, self-composed songs contrasted with the usual traditional or political repertoire of folk singers. After busking in Europe in 1964, he moved to London, where his instrumental and songwriting skills were recognised by the producer Bill Leader, who recorded his eponymous first album, released on the Transatlantic label in 1965.
Recorded on a single microphone and a borrowed guitar at Jansch's apartment, his first album immediately established him as a major force in British folk. Consisting almost entirely of original compositions, the brooding, plaintive songs showcased his dexterous fingerpicking. "Needle of Death," inspired by the heroin-related death of a friend, may still be his most famous composition.. His second record, It Don't Bother Me, followed the same year.
He
vagabonded around the U.K. and Europe for a while before basing himself in
London in the early '60s. He made an impact on the city's folk community not
only with his guitar skills, but with his original songwriting, singing his own
compositions at a time when Dylan was just beginning to make that practice
widespread in folk circles. Friend and fellow folksinger Anne Briggs helped
Jansch get a contract with Transatlantic, a small British folky label.
Jansch graduated to a real studio for his second album, It Don't Bother Me. This LP featured some contributions from guitarist John Renbourn, and the pair would record a joint effort in the mid-'60s as well, Bert and John. Soon Jansch and Renbourn would be playing together as part of a five-member group, Pentangle, one of the greatest folk acts of the '60s. Pentangle, also featuring vocalist Jacqui McShee and the rhythm section of Danny Thompson and Terry Cox, was very much a group effort. Of all the group members, however, Jansch was probably the most important, writing the best original material, singing occasional lead vocals, and recording some enthralling guitar tandems with Renbourn.
Jansch's increasing involvement (and eventual commercial success) with Pentangle did not mean an end to his solo career, although Pentangle got first priority in the late '60s and early '70s. Nicola, from 1967, was a pretty good attempt to commercialize his sound somewhat with poppier material and some fuller studio arrangements. Released in 1969, Birthday Blues was an effort more consistent with his early folk recordings, and included instrumental support by some members of Pentangle. Rosemary Lane (1971) is acclaimed by Jansch fans as one of his finest works.
Jansch found the touring with Pentangle too much, and he forced the band to split in early 1973. He retreated to his farm in Wales, but he needed musical challenges, and also to relearn his craft as a solo performer. By the time his album LA Turnaround was released in 1974, he had separated from his second wife, Heather, and moved back to London. At this point, his heavy drinking was taking its toll on his performances and reliability.
Pentangle re-formed in 1982, but within a couple of years Renbourn, Thompson and Cox had left. Replacements were found, but the nostalgia surrounding the part-time band had a detrimental effect on Jansch's already diminishing solo career. In 1987 Jansch became seriously ill and he gave up alcohol. In 1995 he left Pentangle, which then re-formed as Jacqui McShee's Pentangle. His back catalogue emerged on CD, and a new generation of musicians discovered his work.
In 2001 Jansch received a lifetime achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and, in 2007, so did Pentangle. Jansch had heart surgery in 2005, and a further operation for lung cancer led to the cancellation of his 2009 tour of the US. But in the summer of 2010, he joined Young on his Twisted Road tour of the US. He was also reunited with the other original members of Pentangle at Glastonbury and the Cambridge folk festival. He had recently been forced to cancel several planned solo concerts because of his failing health.
Jansch lost a long battle with cancer at the Marie Curie Hospice in north London on October 5, 2011, less than two months after his final live performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London. He was 67 years old.
(Edited
from AllMusic, The Guardian & Progarchives)