The Best of Bert Jansch

Bert Jansch

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000000E9S
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,284 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Well-known and emulated by acoustic guitar devotees, Bert Jansch has never had the notoriety that British folk rocker Richard Thompson gained, though he's every bit as dynamic a guitarist, and has absorbed and transformed even more influences--notably the Delta blues. There's a geometric precision behind this Scot's fleet, rhythmic fingerstyle work, which never sounds quite like any guitarist you can name. He's also an underrated composer, as the opening track alone should tell anyone, especially Led Zeppelin fans: Jimmy Page and band recorded it, renamed as "Black Mountain Side." This single-disc collection overflows with Jansch's formidable, hypnotic talent. --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Introduction To Jansch's Early Work, December 2, 2000

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This album was originally released by Transatlantic (and distributed by Kicking Mule in the U.S.) in 1979 with the same album cover, but with only thirteen tracks--and only eight of those show up on this generous 25-track anthology of Bert Jansch's work from 1965-1971, covering such albums as It Don't Bother Me, Jack Orion (with future Pentangle co-founder John Renbourn), Nicola, Birthday Blues and Rosemary Lane.

The Best of Bert Jansch includes instrumentals like "Perigrinations," "Alman" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"--all clocking in at under two minutes each. Then there's the bluesy interpretaion of Davey Graham's instrumental "Angie." In addition to being a gifted guitar player, his songwriting and expressive vocals on songs like "It Don't Bother Me" and "Needle of Death" make Jansch one of the most important folk artists of the 20th Century.

While Jansch's albums from the past two decades have been few and often go out of print (I would recommend 1981's Heartbreak and 1990's Ornament Tree), his early Transatlantic recordings are still readily available (many of them as two-fers). So if this album leaves you wanting more (and it should), I would suggest Rosemary Lane, Birthday Blues and his self-titled debut. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To date, the best Jansch anthology, August 13, 2000

By	C. H Smith (Bowling Green, Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been a Bert Jansch fan for over thirty years, own just about all of his recorded material, and count him as my single favorite performer. This anthology is clearly the best one available as of this writing (the other reviewer's comments notwithstanding--some of the "tape stretch" he refers to was also present on the 33 rpm issues: a lot of Jansch's early material was recorded at home on a portable tape player, so high audio quality can hardly be expected). If you can't admire the man's significant creative genius from this sample of tracks, there's no hope for you--it would be difficult to come up with the name of another acoustic guitarist in the second half of the 20th century who produced a more original and influential style than did Jansch. And the good news is that this sample by no means exhausts his catalog of first-rate material.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunned..., May 21, 2000

By	Robert Lunte "Author of The Four Pillars of S... (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Im listening to this CD as Im writing this review and Im exceedingly stunned by the raw beauty of the playing and production.

Im new to this artist, but this is simply one of the best finger-style CDs I have ever bought.

bluesy/celtic/salty vocals...

This is a six star!