Customer Reviews

The Lady And The Unicorn

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am so happy to have found this album on CD through Amazon. Listening to it again is like finding a long lost friend. The selection of timeless, haunting, exquisite medieval and renaissance music on this album will truly transport you to another time and place, which I guarantee you won't want to leave...

Like the other reviewers here, I have loved this album since I bought a copy from a departing friend in 1974. I'm on my third copy, and have given away two CD versions of this great music to friends. John Renbourn stretches the boundaries of folk with "The Lady and the Unicorn," but his treatment of all these tunes is always full of joy and respect. That's what makes this music something that you come back to again and again. Buy this CD: you won't be sorry!

When Renbourn put this album out around 1970, it was quite an unusual release. He and his friend Bert Jansch were at that point heading the band Pentangle, and between their solo efforts and the band's had been exploring a synthesis of folk, blues, classical and jazz styles. This album brought to the mix yet another element: Medieval and Renaissance music. Renbourn's solo and small ensemble arrangements of the material are mostly gentle and respectful, yet incorporate a jazz flair that give them a truly contemporary sound. This was really good dinner and/or 'date' music for the period: quiet and intimate, and with plenty of personality. It's not very long, however--couldn't someone put it together with "Sir John Alot..." as a twofer?

I have worn out several vinyl records of this album over the years since 1970. Out of all the music I have ever heard, this music seems to open up my inner being in some strange way. I have found this music to be relaxing and enjoyable beyond any other music I know. For reasons unclear to me, it seems to slip me into a state of deep contemplation and wonderful creativity. It allows me to find parts of myself I barely know exist. It has consistantly encouraged me to write, emote, and just enjoy life. I have never grown weary of it and am glad to see it in CD format. The wonderful melodies and harmonies of the songs on this album seem to speak to one another in the deepest emotional terms. Thanks John.

This is the recording I always return to. I am now buying my third copy. It made me want to play guitar and has inspired a generation of guitarists. If you've ever wondered just how great medieval music can sound, listen to this recording. The versions of Scarborough Fair and My Johnny Was a Shoemaker combine elements of Jazz, Folk, and Pop in a way that was original when they were first recorded and which haven't been matched since. If you want to get to know Early Music, start here. It doesn't get much better.

This is a very nice cd, but I have to admit, I don't reach for it as much as "Sir Johnalot". This is really a rennaisance sound, completely acoustic, and very relaxing. Renbourn is a virtuoso guitarist.

Originally issued in late 1970, this jewel of English folk/jazz endures the test of time beautifully. With the sparkling percussion work of Terry Cox and subtle yet superb viola playing of Don Harper to complement Renbourn's impeccable fretwork, this album still sparkles. And, with a couple of bonus tracks - (one from Renbourn's folk collective 'Pentangle') - the CD has been "fleshed out" from less than 34 minutes to over 42! Thanks!

If you like the acoustic guitar, buy this, borrow it or steal it!

It was love at first sound, when i heard "The Lady and the Unicorn" back in the mid-1970's at a friend's party. It is such a joy to find it available on cd. I am not a musician, but the quality of this recording appears quite excellent, capturing all the subtlest intricacies, in each melody.

Even though the ballads & aires are not recorded on the original instuments of the time period, John Renbourn (on guitars & sitar), Terry Cox, (hand drums & glockenspiel), Don Harper (viola), Len Nicholson (concertina), Tony Roberts & Ray Warleigh (flutes), and Dave Swarbrick (violin), recreate each work with devotion and passion, that all that is needed is to close ones' eyes, and drift back to a misty horizon in 14th century England and Europe. Enjoy the journey with this timeless work of melodic art. :>)rainbowolf~bridge

John Rebourn was in Pentangle, whose Basket of Light was one of the most if not most the imporatant jazz folk albums of the 1960s, back when this band, Fairport Convention and Nick Drake were spilling over with imagination.

His solo Lady Unicorn is a little more spare than the Pentengle album, but no less beautiful and technically accomplished. Spare does not mean minimal, and Redbourn here uses light textures and instruments like flutes and cello to make wonderfully nimble pieces of midevil sounding music

Excellent.