60 years ago today: Bert Jansch released his classic debut album

Originally published in Hot Press in 2004:

Interview: Jackie Hayden

Since establishing himself as a weighty force on the British folk scene in the sixties, Glasgow-born Bert Jansch’s pioneering guitar work, penetrating songs and emotive vocal style have enthralled music fans the world over.

His fan club includes Jimmy Page and Neil Young, while stars of more recent vintage, including Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr, have also knelt before the Jansch altar in homage to this modest maestro.

But it’s former Suede head guitarist Bernard Butler with whom the 60-year-old Jansch has forged the closest links, joining forces across the generations on Bert’s latest album and for live gigs. Jansch first got into Butler’s solo work after the split from Suede.

“Despite the generation gap, the collaboration between us works. He’s a great guy to swap ideas with,” he maintains.

Despite his broad-minded approach which has brought collaborations with ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith, Johnny Marr, Hope Sandoval and his illustrious colleagues in Pentangle, Jansch still regards himself as a folk-singer.

“But other people don’t,” he notes. “Maybe there isn’t a separate folk-scene today. Artists like myself just play whatever venues, and you might have a folk gig one night and something else the next. My wife Lauren doesn’t like me being tagged as a folk singer, maybe because it can be a bit limiting.”

Although he may not try too hard to keep in touch with the current music scene, his eclectic instincts allow some to filter through.

“I’m listening to Candidate a lot at the minute, and also to Mazzy Star because I’ve been working with them,” he explains.

His songs have been recorded by a plethora of artists, including our own Eleanor McEvoy (his ‘Where Did My Life Go’ is on her new album) and Bert’s own music-making son Adam. Of course he doesn’t like every version of every song,

“But I really liked the way Maggie Boyle sang ‘Bird Song’ and I was knocked when Adam did ‘Morning Brings Peace Of Mind’ on a double-album of my songs by various artists called People On The Highway,” he says.

Jansch has little time for those who feel that the latter day Bob Dylans should be writing about political issues as they did in the heydays of folk-protest.

“Songwriters should write what they want. It’s not up to others to decide what Dylan should write. But I still write what you might call angry political songs, although I’m not really sure if people today want to listen to songs with messages in them.”

Whatever, there’s ample proof that fans of gritty and graphic songs from the heart are still attracted to the enduring power of Bert Jansch...

Irish artists on Bert Jansch:

John Blek:
“You listen to a record, and you come away with like 15 ideas. You’re like, 'Oh my God, that weird little guitar move that he did there, that's incredible! I wonder if I could work that into something...' Just incredible technique, and disregard for musical metre completely – which is brilliant, in that he's able to pull it off.”
(2021)

Ye Vagabonds' Brían Mac Gloinn:
"The two of us were hugely into Led Zeppelin when we were kids. It was the song 'Black Mountain Side' that led to both of us taking an interest in folk music. It was intended to be a tip of the hat to Bert Jansch, but Jimmy Page more or less ripped him off on the song. We ended up hearing Bert Jansch's original arrangement, with this crazy guitar part, and we got massively into everything he did. We just went to visit his grave in London last week, and we dedicated 'For Bert' on our first album to him. He was a huge source of ideas for us."
(2019)

Revisit Bert Jansch (1965) below: