Herbert \"Bert\" 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, as well as a singer-songwriter. He recorded at least 25 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.
Bert Jansch is my guitar hero. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential folk singer/songwriters of his generation and despite not becoming a runaway success like the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Donovan etc, he quite rightly must be mentioned in the same breath as them. Bert was a phenomenal guitarist and a soothing singer whose lyrics captivated minds and took them to forgotten times of old. His music is a testament to the sheer genius contained within him and he will remain one of the greatest folk singers of all time.
It's a bit sad that not many people have heard of him or his music considering his obvious genius but my aim is to change that with the upload of this album. I want future generations to 'feel' Bert's music and get in tune with what he was all about - beautiful music.
I have his entire discography on a hard-disk that is being recovered and spent many a day and night just listening to him sooth my ears. His guitar playing is as unique as they come and his Scottish roots give his voice a definite edge. His music evokes a tingling sense of medieval times gone by and casts your mind into lands and stories unheard of and untold.
The Album: Crimson Moon
Bert Jansch was 60 years old and celebrating the 35th anniversary of his first album when Crimson Moon was released in 2000, and although many critics termed it a comeback set, it was essentially Jansch doing what he has been doing all along, with a few embellishments. Like every other Jansch album, Crimson Moon centers around his amazing acoustic guitar playing and his limited, but disarmingly natural and sincere sounding vocals, and if having Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler along on electric guitar made it seem like this was a major change of direction for Jansch, it really wasn't, since Marr's and Butler's contributions are mostly atmospheric and non-intrusive. Jansch is doing here what he always does. He sings about being on the road, tackles a traditional ballad or two, works in some blues, and plays the acoustic guitar with the sensibility and touch of a jazz horn player. Highlights include the opening track, \"Caledonia,\" the title tune, \"Crimson Moon,\" an ambient take on the Appalachian murder ballad \"Omie Wise,\" and covers of Robin Williamson's \"October Song\" and Guy Mitchell's \"Singing the Blues.\" Jansch's son Adam plays bass on a couple tracks here, while his daughter Loren sings the lead vocal on \"My Donald.\" Crimson Moon is not so much a return to form for Jansch as a continuation of it, and his many admirers will find this album to be wonderfully familiar.\"
It's a shame Bert didn't become that popular outside the UK, but hopefully, ardent fans of his work like me are trying to change that!
No money is being made off this video(monetization is off) and all copyrights go to Bert, his family and the labels he released his records on. I hope the labels let me keep this video online, it's for Bert and for people to listen to more of his music.
If you like this and want more, listen to his debut album titled \"Bert Jansch\" released in 1964. You won't have to look too far other than #BOMBEATS for this as I have made a playlist of that entire album about a year ago.
