The Pentangle

I haven't read all of the liner notes. The book has for each album the recording details etc. Then a three page (CD sized pages) essay on each album. Also several pages of interview excerpts ("Pentangle in their own words"); lots of photos and press clippings; and a band chronology - listing all gigs, recording sessions etc

Open The Door is SUCH a great album. seriously. and i feel like its an album that even a lot of people who like Pentangle might not own. I don't know if its because its a post-reformation album or because its from the 80s or what. but it deserves more love. it wasn't even an option on the Pentangle albums poll someone did on ILM! i love it from beginning to end.

never heard it (renbourn's not on it, right?). but i'll definitely check it out ... i feel like i need to dig into more 80s britfolk leftovers albums, I was just listening to a pretty great 80s June Tabor record.

"child of the winter" has spidery guitar / flute duet magick

wanted to revive this to big up open the door and "child of the winter" specifically. i found a sealed cutout copy of the album years ago in the dollar bin. thought i was crazy after getting it to the turntable and being absolutely floored by how good it is.

just because-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLhMqiGwiDU

xpost to music from your dreams:
had a series of recurring dreams some years ago that i was in a closed off community (like the old tv program the prisoner, except not menacing at all). jacqui mcshee and john renbourn made regular appearances in the village square, often singing "child of the winter" or "wedding dress."

I went through a weird phase few years back where I would see Jacqui and Bert in my dreams and other strange things.

― Austin, Monday, July 1, 2013 5:27 PM

ahh. i see i've already mentioned this. i remember it being john, but either way, yeah: weird but pleasant dreams.

I would love to have such a dream.

new to me & sound definitely ain't great, but pentangle playing the grande ballroom on their 69 us tour...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvu1zFUqOVQ

amazing band.

i have liked bert jansch and john renbourn, separately and together, for many years without really taking the time to hear the pentangle records.

so, really enjoying those, and also this live footage which was suggested to me recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3DFCXaqLrg

Thanks! I really enjoy Terry Cox x Danny Thompson too---D still awes on Richard Thompson Trio's Live From Honolulu, posted on R's Bandcamp.

Also good live footage on YouTube is the Set of Six performances to promote Solomon's Seal. Seeing the “Willy O’Winsbury” from that for the first time – I knew nothing of Pentangle before – is one of those few musical memories that will be forever etched in my mind.

Funny that Pentangle and Richard Thompson are so closely linked now, since RT collabored with Danny Thompson for decades, but in his autobiography RT claims that he never warmed to Pentangle’s work.

Thanks for posting that. I think I've seen parts of it but not the whole thing together. They look like such weirdo scuzzoids. I want to just smoke a j and sit on the floor of the studio and let it wash over me.

Absolutely incredible band - I put them up there with my all-time favorites.

That rhythm section can just do anything. The jazzy swing in Reflection is something a lot of other folk bands didn't have in their repertoire.

I recently (finally) found my way into this band when I heard the Cox/Thompson interplay on "Reflection"

Yah! You can still get their records for sort of cheap, at least you could in 2018-2020.

Also good live footage on YouTube is the Set of Six performances to promote Solomon's Seal. Seeing the “Willy O’Winsbury” from that for the first time – I knew nothing of Pentangle before – is one of those few musical memories that will be forever etched in my mind.

― Melomane, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 7:22 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

YES that "Willy O'Winsbury" is so gorgeous.

I recently watched The Ballad of Tam Lin, very odd verging-on-folk horror movie that they did the soundtrack for, worth a watch imo!

I'm going to have to check that out.

Yes, their records are still pretty cheap — sometimes very cheap if you look hard enough. You should be able to get at the very least Cruel Sister for $5 or less. The other ones for $10-20 generally.