Black Balloon

John Renbourn | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shanachie
• ASIN: B000000E93
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,177 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High up on my desert island list, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Balloon (Audio CD)

I've been a Renbourn fan ever since his Pentangle days, and this is my favorite solo recording of his (although "The Nine Maidens" and "Sir John Alot of" are close runners-up). It's mostly solo guitar, with discreet flute and percussion accompaniment, and Renbourn is nothing short of spectacular the whole way through. The tunes range from the lively to the meditative, and from the straight-ahead to the discursive (his improvised dialog with the flute in "The Mist-Covered Mountains" is wonderful). And this to me is the sign of a true professional: in the virtuoso "English Dance," he muffs a note, laughs, and picks it right up again; very few musicians would have the guts to put THAT on a CD! I practically wore this album out when I had it on vinyl, and was delighted when it was reissued as a CD. (The recording quality, by the way, is excellent -- nothing was lost in the translation.) This one always lands high up on my ever-changing list of 10 Albums I'd Take to a Desert Island.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Collection of Instrumentals, December 2, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Balloon (Audio CD)

On this collection of mostly solo instrumentals (Renbourn is occasionally joined by flute and tabors), the listener is treated to a series of folk pieces--the last three all in excess of seven minutes.

The liner notes get a bit technical for this listener. For example, of the opening track we are told: "After establishing the theme in sedate quarter-notes, it launches into a fascinating set of variations in typical Elizabethan manner, moving into progressively more animated figurations in slightly altered harmony. At the fifth variation, the theme migrates beneath lively motifs in the upper voice in eighth--and sixteenth notes, before introducing fresh but related material leading to a closing restatement of the original theme intact." I think what that really means is that Renbourn plays some of the most amazing fingerstyle guitar you're ever likely to hear.

In addition to his solo albums, Renbourn has recorded a series of duo albums with former Pentangle bandmate Bert Jansch as well as with American Stefan Grossman, all of which are worth seeking out. If you enjoyed the folk music of Pentangle or the John Renbourn group, but are more interested in simply hearing Renbourn's unadorned guitar playing, this album is an excellent introduction. RECOMMENDED

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thing of beauty, December 27, 2005

By 

Penguin Egg (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Balloon (Audio CD)

Although The Hermit is a close contender, I would claim this to be Renbourne's finest album, and this from a man who has a respectable body of work behind him. This is an instrumental album displaying the virtuosity of Renbourne's guitar playing. The dazzling display of fingerwork shown on all these tracks would impress a Segovia or a Bream, with whom, to these ears at least, I would not hesitate to place him. The first three tracks are stately baroque pieces played without accompaniment. The final two tracks are composed by Renbourne and have a lovely accompaniment by a flutist and, through the use of double tracking, Renbourne on electric guitar. In case you think the use of an electric guitar clashes with the acoustic purity displayed elsewhere, the playing is so masterly that he manages to make it sound like the most natural thing on earth.

The Black Balloon is a thing of beauty from the opening note to the last. For fans of the acoustic guitar, I recommend it whole-heartedly.