L.A. Turnaround
Recorded after Pentangle, produced by Michael Nesmith, with country-rock players and a remake of Needle of Death.
Bert Jansch, 1974
- Released
- September 1974
- Studio
- Tony Stratton Smith's home, Crowborough, Sussex, and a studio in California
- Label
- Charisma
- Producer
- Michael Nesmith
After Pentangle broke up, Jansch recorded the ninth album at Tony Stratton Smith's home in Crowborough, Sussex, and in a California studio. Michael Nesmith produced it, except for Chambertin and John Renbourn's Lady Nothing, which had been recorded in Paris a year earlier. A short film was made during the Sussex sessions.
Guests included Klaus Voormann on bass, Red Rhodes on pedal steel, Byron Berline on fiddle and mandolin, and Jesse Ed Davis on guitar. Thom Jurek of Allmusic called it one of Jansch's masterpieces, a record between traditional English folk and easy country-rock. It includes a new recording of Needle of Death and ends with The Blacksmith, with Jansch's words set to music by Doc Watson. A Guardian obituary notes that by its release he had separated from his wife Heather and moved back to London, and that heavy drinking was affecting his reliability.
Track listing
- Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning3:57
- Chambertin4:04
- One for Jo2:28
- Travelling Man2:47
- Open Up the Watergate (Let the Sunshine In)2:40
- Stone Monkey3:10
- Of Love and Lullaby2:28
- Needle of Death3:24
- Lady Nothing2:32
- There Comes a Time2:38
- Cluck Old Hen3:10
- The Blacksmith3:30
Personnel
- Bert Jansch guitar, piano, vocals
- Michael Nesmith guitar, producer
- Red Rhodes steel guitar
- Byron Berline fiddle, mandolin
- Klaus Voormann bass
- Danny Lane drums
- Jesse Ed Davis guitar on Open Up the Watergate
- Jay Lacy guitar on Of Love and Lullaby
- Michael Cohen electric piano on The Blacksmith
More from Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch (1965), It Don't Bother Me (1965), Jack Orion (1966), Bert and John (1966), Nicola (1967), Birthday Blues (1969), Rosemary Lane (1971), Live at the 12 Bar (1996), The Black Swan (2006)
Sources
- L.A. Turnaround, Wikipedia
- Bert Jansch obituary, The Guardian (2011-10-05)