Jack Orion
Jansch turns to traditional song, with a ten-minute ballad, a banjo tune and the solo Blackwaterside.
Bert Jansch, 1966
- Released
- September 1966
- Recorded
- Early summer 1966
- Studio
- 5 North Villas, Camden, London
- Label
- Transatlantic
- Producer
- Bill Leader
Recorded in the same Camden house with Bill Leader, it is built almost entirely from traditional songs arranged by Jansch, plus an instrumental reading of Ewan MacColl's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Jansch said the move to traditional material felt like a natural next step. The title track runs nearly ten minutes and comes from the Child ballad Glasgerion, and he plays banjo on The Waggoner's Lad. John Renbourn adds a second guitar to four tracks, while Blackwaterside is Jansch alone.
Paul Sexton of Louder heard Jansch reshaping history to his own style through risky remakes of old texts, and Classic Rock gave the 2015 reissue eight out of ten. Vanguard issued it in the United States with a different running order.
Track listing
- The Waggoner's Lad
- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face1:45
- Jack Orion9:50
- The Gardener1:40
- Nottamun Town4:30
- Henry Martin3:17
- Blackwaterside3:49
- Pretty Polly4:07
Personnel
- Bert Jansch vocals, guitar, banjo
- John Renbourn second guitar on The Waggoner's Lad, Jack Orion, Henry Martin and Pretty Polly
- Bill Leader producer
- Brian Shuel cover photograph and design
More from Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch (1965)
Sources
- Jack Orion, Wikipedia
- Bert Jansch records, Mainly Norfolk
- Jack Orion, bertjansch.com
- Bert Jansch: It Don't Bother Me, Bert and John, Jack Orion, Louder (2015)
- Bert Jansch reissues, Classic Rock (2015)