A Sweeping Curve of Sound

Legendary British folk-rock pioneers Pentangle are reforming to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their Royal Hall performance where they recorded the live portion of the seminal double-album “Sweet Child”.

Pentangle

“On 29 June 2008, exactly 40 years to the day that unique British folk/jazz ’supergroup’ Pentangle recorded the live disc of their seminal double album, Sweet Child, at London’s Royal Festival Hall, the original band: Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox, will reunite and return to the Royal Festival Hall to celebrate their legacy. From their formation in swinging ‘60s London, Pentangle were one of the most exciting and innovative groups in the world, genuinely pushing boundaries and exploring new musical avenues. Simultaneously stars of the underground and darlings of the mainstream, they enjoyed an unprecedented degree of success worldwide for an acoustic band and their influence and musical impact is still revered and relevant today, as evidenced by the critical and commercial acclaim for The Time Has Come, and their BBC Radio 2 Lifetime Achievement Award presented in February 2007 at the BBC Folk Awards by Sir David Attenborough. This concert is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for long-time fans to revisit and new fans to experience for the first time the magic that is Pentangle.”

It is hard to overestimate just how influential Pentangle and other British folk-rockers were on the new crop of Psych Folk artists, the British Wyrd-folksters, and the Pagan music scene. Though the original lineup hasn’t worked regularly together since 1972 (though vocalist Jacqui McShee still tours with a band dubbed “Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle”), their shadow looms large on the current underground folk scene. A recent example being the 30th annual Brosella Folk Festival in Brussels, where several members of prominent Flemish folk bands joined with Jacqueline ‘Jacqui’ McShee and Danny Thompson to form “The Wicker Band” and proceeded to perform songs from “The Wicker Man” movie before a midnight showing of the film (an event I would have given my eye-teeth to attend).

The highlight was the special project, The Wicker Band. Their performance was dedicated to Antoine Courtmans, honorary president of the Friends of Brosella, who died in April. First, the group performed some songs which contained themes in relation to The Wicker Man film. Including music written by XTC, Malicorne, The Velvet Underground and some traditional numbers. There was also a beautiful duet between Neeka and Jacqui McShee, the classic folk song “My Husband’s Got No Courage In Him”.

No doubt fans are going crazy at the thought of seeing the original lineup live. In any event, its a good an excuse as any to explore this extremely talented and influential group. For a quick education on the band, why not start with their recently released box-set? You’ll be glad you did.

Downloads: Pentangle - “Cruel Sister”
(from the album “Cruel Sister”)

Links: Pentangle on MySpace, Bert Jansch on MySpace