"A Man I'd Rather Be (Part 1)" by BERT JANSCH (January 2018 Earth 4CD Book Set with 2015 Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Stepping Stones..."

I'm probably going to disappoint a few BJ fans with this review (I'm let down myself) - but I'm absolutely dumbfounded by the lacklustre presentation of this Book Set from 'Earth' and the fact that it contains nothing I couldn't get elsewhere - and frankly cheaper. It does have great points - namely the amazing Audio - but again that's available elsewhere too and in better presentation also. But let's get into the nitty gritty of this 4-Disc reissue first...

UK released Friday, 26 January 2018 (2 February 2018 in the USA) - "A Man I'd Rather Be (Part 1)" by BERT JANSCH on Earth EARTHCD023 (Barcode 809236102324) is a Limited Edition 4CD 'Book Set' that contains his first four albums on Transatlantic Records from 1965 and 1966 (two in each year). Volume 2 is released 26 February 2018 and contains the following four. There are also 4LP VINYL variants of these releases. It plays out as follows...

Disc 1 - "Bert Jansch" - 39:32 minutes

1. Strolling Down The Highway [Side 1]

2. Smokey River

3. Oh How Your Love Is Strong

4. I Have No Time

5. Finches

6. Rambling's Going To Be The Death Of Me

7. Veronica

8. Needle Of Death

9. Do You Hear Me Now? [Side 2]

10. Alice's Wonderland

11. Running From Home

12. Courting Blues

13. Casbah

14. Dreams Of Love

15. Angie

Tracks 1 to 15 are his debut album "Bert Jansch" - released April 1965 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 125 in Stereo (No US Issue). Produced by BILL LEADER - all songs written by Jansch except "Angie" which is a Davy Graham cover. Jansch plays Acoustic Guitar only.

Disc 2 - "It Don't Bother Me" - 44:07 minutes

1. Oh My Babe [Side 1]

2. Ring-A-Ding Bird

3. Tinker's Blues

4. Anti Apartheid

5. The Wheel

6. A Man I'd Rather Be

7. My Lover

8. It Don't Bother Me [Side 2]

9. Harvest Your Thoughts Of Love

10. Lucky Thirteen

11. As The Days Grow Longer Now

12. So Long (Been On The Road So Long)

13. Want My Daddy Now

14. 900 Miles

Tracks 1 to 14 are his 2nd album "It Doesn't Bother Me" - released December 1965 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 132 in Stereo (No US Issue). Produced by NATHAN JOSEPH - all songs written by Jansch except "Lucky Thirteen" by John Renbourn, "So Long (Been On The Road So Long)" by Alex Campbell and "900 Miles" - a Traditional. John Renbourn plays guitar on "My Lover" and "Lucky Thirteen".

Disc 3 - "Jack Orion" - 32:38 minutes

1.  The Waggoner's Lad [Side 1]

2. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

3. Jack Orion

4. The Gardener [Side 2]

5. Nottamun Town

6. Henry Martin

7. Black Water Side

8. Pretty Polly

Tracks 1 to 8 are his 3rd album "Jack Orion" - released September 1966 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 143 in Stereo (No US Issue). Produced by BILL LEADER - all tracks are Traditional Songs arranged by Bert Jansch except "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" which is a Ewan MacColl song. Jansch plays Acoustic Guitar on all songs as well as Banjo on "The Waggoner's Lad" with Guitar accompaniment from John Renbourn on four songs - "The Waggoner's Lad", "Jack Orion", "Henry Martin" and "Pretty Polly".

Disc 4 - "Bert And John" - 26:32 minutes

1. East Wind [Side 1]

2. Piano Tune

3. Goodbye Pork Hat

4. Soho

5. Tic-Tocative

6. Orlando

7. Red's Favourite [Side 2]

8. No Exit

9. Along The Way

10. The Time Has Come

11. Stepping Stones

12. After The Dance

Tracks 1 to 12 are his 4th album credited to BERT JANSCH and JOHN RENBOURN - released September 1966 in the UK on Transatlantic Records TRA 144 in Stereo (No US Issue). Produced by BILL LEADER - all songs are Jansch and Renbourn originals except "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" and "The Time Has Come" which are Charles Mingus and Anne Briggs covers respectively.

Although there's no mastering credits anywhere (amazingly lax) - it's clear to me that these are the 2015 '50th Anniversary' Remasters done by BARRY GRINT in Alchemy for BMG and issued in digipaks with 12-page booklets (Earth have licensed that material). "Bert Jansch" was issued April 2015 on TRACD 125 (Barcode 5414939917516) – with the other three in September 2015 - "It Doesn't Bother Me" on TRACD 132 (Barcode 5414939921483) - "Jack Orion" on TRACD 143 (Barcode 5414939921513) and "Bert and John" on TRACD 144 (Barcode 5414939921544). These four reissues are still available on Amazon for approximately six quid each (same tracks no extras) and I mention this because here you don't get any artwork or notes really. The blurb on the sticker tells you that you get Keith de Groot's original back-cover liner notes for 1965's "Bert Jansch" as well as Jansch's own notes for the other three LPs which were also on the rear sleeve. Well - the first LP is here but the other three aren't. You don't even get the LPs front or rear artwork repro'd anywhere! I suppose my biggest gripe is that the book's minimalist approach ends up looking like a cop-out instead of a visual hurrah.

The supposed new notes from BILL LEADER (Producer of three of the albums) runs to about 4 short pages and he spends much of his time apologising for the poor sound on the 1st LP and doesn't discuss the recording of the following three at all. In fact most of the page-leaves are taken up listing the tracks. There are some new outtake photos for the first record and the "Bert and John" collaboration - but other than that - bugger all else – no memorabilia – no concert tickets – hell the blurb in the Amazon description runs to longer (the essay you do get doesn’t contain any comments from any famous musical admirers). The incredibly rare and desirable September 1966 5-Track EP called "Needle Of Death" had two exclusives - "Running From Home" and "Green Are Your Eyes (Courting Blue)" - but despite the ludicrously short playing times on Disc 3 and 4 - they're AWOL. There's no extras or unreleased either - the 1993 Transatlantic/Demon reissues had those - not here!

The AUDIO is however spectacular - with even the notorious lo-fi debut coming out smelling of clean roses (it was recorded with a Guitar, a Voice, a Microphone and in a less-than-studio like Camden Flat). Both "Jack Orion" and especially "Bert And John" are fabulous to hear - the duelling instrumental guitars of "Bert And John" pinging in both speakers with lovely warmth and clarity. You have to say that the music is beautifully rendered - much like what was done by Island Records for the Nick Drake catalogue in 2000. And speaking of influential "Stepping Stones" to the ninth-degree - you can 'so' hear why singer-songwriters like Tom Paxton and Paul Simon loved Jansch for taking Folk past the realms of merely strummed instruments and into something new (almost early Folk Rock) and why mega-guitarists like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page obsessed on the man and his techniques ("Black Water Side" famously turned up on "Zeppelin 1"). Other gems include his "Lucky Thirteen" duet with John Renbourn - just sublime - and that version of Anne Briggs' "The Time Has Come" still has the power to move too (I’d go on record in saying that I love his voice – expressive and emotive in a way that English Folk needs). The last two Acoustic instrumentals on the "Bert And John" album - "Stepping Stones" and "After The Dance" have some hair-raising duetting – the notes slapping and strings squeaking like their dancing a dervish. In fact some 50+ years after the event – it’s still shocking as to how good these albums are and how they’ve stood up. Wow...

If you have the four 2015 '50th Anniversary' CD reissues with their tasty digipaks, 12-page booklets and gorgeous remasters from original tapes - then disappointingly this near 30-pound Earth Records Book Set from January 2018 is a waste of your time and money (it really isn't that pretty to look at either). I'm afraid I'm seriously thinking of cancelling my pre-order for Volume 2.

But if you don't own them - well then you may want to consider ordering this especially with the stupendous Audio on offer. I just wish "A Man I'd Rather Be (Part 1)" actually had been a must-buy celebration of Bert Jansch the man and his huge musical legacy instead of a visual ho-hum...

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"Avocet" by BERT JANSCH and MARTIN JENKINS (2016 Earth Records CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Bittern...Stellarus..."

Quite who was listening to Bert Jansch and his two pals Martin Jenkins and Danny Thompson in February 1979 on the 'budget' label Class (part of the Charisma Records group in the UK) is anybody's guess. I doubt anyone was - and that would most definitely have been 'their' loss.

The entirely instrumental "Avocet" album has an 18-minute title track on Side 1 and the other 5 bird-themed flick-and-strums on Side 2 give it a bit of a New Age meets early Americana vibe (high guitars vs. high production values). Budget label or not - in the huge 51-year arsenal (1965 to 2016) of the mighty ex Pentangle Guitar player Bert Jansch - time and a tasteful remaster have been kind to the forgotten but strangely hypnotic "Avocet" album. 

This is a gorgeous record - ambling guitar themes that float over you like a more-mellow Gordon Giltrap or Sufjan Stevens or even the soundscapes of Boards Of Canada. It isn’t all pointless noodling either – there is warmth to this Acoustic music - and at times the whole album’s swirl and sway feel like it was ahead of its Progressive time - pre-dating Nineties sounds by at least twelve years. Time for a tasty reissue - here are the flighty details...

UK released February 2016 - "Avocet" by BERT JANSCH on Earth Records EARTHCD010L (Barcode 809236171092) is a straightforward CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1979 LP and plays out as follows (37:09 minutes):

1. Avocet (17:59 minutes)

2. Lapwing (1:31 minutes) [Side 2]

3. Bittern (7:49 minutes)

4. Kingfisher (3:44 minutes)

5. Osprey (3:16 minutes)

6. Kittiwake (2:48 minutes)

Tracks 1 to 6 are the album "Avocet" - first released 1978 in Denmark on Exlibris Records EXL 30.005 (credited to Bert Jansch and Martin Jenkins). It was then released February 1979 in the UK (credited to only Bert Jansch) on Charisma CLASS 6 and November 1980 in the USA on Kicking Mule KM 310. Recorded in February 1978 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark - Engineered and Produced by Freddy Hansson and Fleming Rasmussen - all songs are by Bert Jansch except "Osprey" which is by Martin Jenkins.

Players:

BERT JANSCH - Guitar and Piano

MARTIN JENKINS - Mandocello, Violin and Flute

DANNY THOMPSON - Double Bass

The artwork for the LP has had three incarnations - the Denmark original 1978 LP with only the Avocet bird in pencil - the British reissue with five birds drawn in colour aside an inset picture of Bert with Guitar - and now this Earth Records 2016 reissue which opts for a simple but very elegant cover. The textured gatefold card sleeve is gorgeous to look at and feel with an 8-page booklet in the left flap and an 'Earth Records' inner sleeve in the right. The booklet has the six birds drawn in beautiful colour by artist HANNAH ALICE - one to each page with their correct anatomical name beneath each - Avocet (Recurvirostra Avosetta), Lapwing (Vanellus Vanellus) and so on. The downside is no liner notes of any kind. You're getting more info from me on the album than you are from the reissue that is a ridiculous situation and something 'Earth Records' needs to rectify in the future. The Remaster has been done by BRIAN PYLE (doesn't say where) and is truly beautiful - as was the original recording anyway.

Side 1 is taken up with the extraordinary "Avocet" - eighteen instrumental minutes of Acoustic Guitar pickings, Violin strokes and heavy Double-Bass meanderings. There's a central musical theme that keeps recurring - but then in goes off in tangents - Jansch on guitar alone - then Jenkins comes in on either Violin or Flute - while Danny Thompson gives it some Nick Drake/John Martyn plucks on his Double Bass. "Lapwing" is only Jenkins on Piano and feels like a Mozart ditty someone plays in a BBC production of "Pride And Prejudice".

You get a real John Martyn feel to "Bittern" circa "Solid Air" where Danny's DB dominates the track. Initially Jansch solos away on Electric and Acoustic Guitars but it slows into an unexpected Thompson solo - huge sliding notes and plucks rattling your speakers (probably my favourite track). "Kingfisher" has a beauty too - Martin Jenkins' Violin playing set against DT's Bass plucking giving the whole thing a 'where have I heard that ancient melody before' feeling - gorgeous stuff. "Osprey" is dominated by Jenkins on Violin as Jansch accompanies on Acoustic Guitar and Danny plucks that Double Bass as only he can. The playing on this song is fabulous as is the Remaster. It ends on the pretty Acoustic assault of "Kittiwake".

"Avocet" is the very definition of 'overlooked gem that shouldn't be' - an album that cries out for rediscovery. Call it Folk - call it England's 1978 answer to 1990s Americana - call it Progressive even - "Avocet" is kind of magical and well done to Earth Records for making it available again...

"Morning Way" by TRADER HORNE (2015 Earth Records 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Here Comes The Rain..."

This obscure and rare Vinyl LP from 1970 "Morning Way" by TRADER HORN (booked at £150 with its insert but can sell for twice that and more) has seen its share of CD reissues - Sanctuary's Castle Music in 2000 and Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings in 2008.

Now its the turn of new kids on the Acid-Folk block - 'Earth Records' of the UK who focus on seriously rare Folk and its musical environs – British ex Pentangle guitar virtuoso Bert Jansch, America's folky Jackson C. Frank (produced by Paul Simon and featuring a non-album S&G song "Blues Run The Game"), Australian multi-instrumentalist and cult artist Steve Warner and Tasmanian hippy Howard Eynon who recorded one album in 1974 delightfully called "So What If I'm Standing in Apricot Jam" (know what you're saying mate).

This 2015 Earth Records CD Reissue of Trader Horne's lone outing on Dawn Records apes the track run of the Esoteric Recordings version in that it includes two Bonus Tracks - their one-off non-album UK 7" single "Here Comes The Rain" b/w "Goodbye Mercy Kelly" from February 1970.

TRADER HORNE was essentially a man and woman duo - Northern Ireland's multi-instrumentalist JACKIE McAULEY (born in Coleraine) who was ex Belfast Gypsies and Them while JUDY DYBLE had of course fronted Fairport Convention on their 1968 debut Polydor Records LP prior to Sandy Denny joining for 1969's "What We Did On Holidays" (she also spent a brief stint with the offshoot King Crimson trio - GILES, GILES and FRIPP). McAuley and Dyble supplemented their sound with three sessionmen of re-known (see Players below). Here are the Children of Oare and Elven Kings (if you know what I'm saying)...

UK and USA released 16 October 2015 – "Morning Way" by TRADER HORNE on Earth Records EARTHCD006 (Barcode 809236170675) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster in a 5” Single Sleeve Card Repro with a Gatefold Insert and Two Bonus Tracks. It plays out as follows (52:51 minutes):

1. Jenny May

2. Children Of Oare

3. Three Rings For Elven Kings

4. Growing Man

5. Down And Out Blues

6. The Mixed Up Kind 

7. Better Than Today [Side 2]

8. In My Loneliness

9. Sheena

10. The Mutant

11. Morning Way

12. Velvet To Atone

13. Luke That Never Was

Tracks 1 to 13 are their debut and only album "Morning Way" - released early March 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNLS 3004 and in the USA on Janus JNS 3012. Produced by BARRY MURRAY - it failed to chart in either country.

All songs are Jackie McAuley originals except three - a cover version of the Traditional "Down And Out Blues" while "Morning Way" is by Judy Dyble and "Luke That Never Was" is a co-write between Judy Dyble and guitarist Martin Quittenton who played on all of the Rod Stewart albums between 1969 and 1973 on Mercury Records (including "Maggie May"). 

BONUS TRACKS:

14. Here Comes The Rain

15. Goodbye Mercy Kelly

Tracks 14 and 15 are the A&B-sides of a non-album 7" single released February 1970 in the UK on Dawn Records DNS 1003. 

The Players:

JACKIE McAULEY - Lead Vocals Guitar, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Flute, Congas and Celeste

JUDY DYBLE - Lead Vocals, Electric Auto-Harp and Piano

RAY ELLIOTT - Alto Flute and Bass Clarinet

JOHN GODFREY - Bass Guitar and Arranger

ANDY WHITE - Drums

It's as well that Earth Records put a large info sticker on the shrinkwrap of the single card sleeve – because apart from the repro of the fabled and rare gatefold insert that came with original LPs – there's no booklet and therefore bugger all info by way of anything. There's an 'Earth Records' inner card sleeve (the same generic label inner came with my copy of Bert Jansch’s beautiful "Avocet" - equally bare) that has a logo but no other info. Frankly to be charging full whack for this CD (which is what I paid for it) – it’s a bit tread-bare to say the least and is docked a star for lack of effort and imagination. And although their adverts promise and suggest a 'Remaster' – there are no mastering credits or reissue details anywhere on the packaging or disc. So neither you nor I know where 'Earth Records' got this CD remaster. The sound is good if not a little hissy in places – at times its even beautiful (much like the music). I don't have the former CD reissues so I can't compare but let's just say that it sounds good rather than great...

The sticker declares the album to be a 'shining example of British Psychedelia’ that is utter tosh. This is a Folk LP with more Madrigal arrangements that hard-hitting fuzz guitar workouts. You could put better songs like the Mellow Candle melodic "The Mixed Up Kind" and the Jethro Tull influenced Flute Acoustic and Piano "The Mutant" firmly into the Acid-Folk category ("Mutant" turned up on the "Dust In The Nettles" 3CD Box Set - see review). But twee stuff like the Instrumental "Three Rings For Elven Kings" and the dated madrigal "Growing Man" is hard to take. Judy Dyble alone handles the excellent "Down And Out Blues" and the Piano/Vocals of "Velvet To Atone" is stark Kate Bush (but a hissy transfer I'm afraid). The co-write with Rod Stewart's guitarist Martin Quittenton on "Luke That Never Was" gives us a pretty strummer - but best of all is the A-side to the single "Here Comes The Rain" - a genius melody that's better than much of what's on the album. Sanctuary Records chose it as good representative track on their "Garden Of Delights" CD compilation in 2006 compiled by Pete Lawrence and AJ of 'The Big Chill' Radio Program.

Judy Dyble would be replaced by Saffron Summerfield (sometimes known as just 'Saffron') but the band split before recordings were made. Summerfield would have her own Folk career in the 70ts, played with Lol Coxhill and made music into the 00's.

Like so many albums from the period - it's part knob - part brilliance. But thankfully the album has more good than bad...those magic moments being so worth it...

PS: Earth Records also pressed a limited edition COLOURED VINYL Edition of the Reissue (1000 Copies)