Wondrous love

While I was driving home yesterday I heard the news that guitarist Bert Jansch has died of cancer. He was 67.

Jansch was a founding member of Pentangle, a folk group whose distinctive style informed my youth. Jansch, John Renbourn and Jacqui McShee formed the heart of the sound to my mind—a distinctive mix of McShee’s extraordinarily pure voice, Jansch’s gravelly continuo and then the guitar and percussion work.

My favorite album was Sweet Child. The songs cover a terrific range from Turn Your Money Green, which has a bluesy, Claptonesque style to it (I love the "If the river were whiskey, baby, & I were a duck" verse), to Let No Man Steal Your Thyme. Jansch himself is featured on A Woman Like You, which he wrote.

The instrumental pieces aren’t bad, either.

Listen to The Trees They Do Grow High, possibly my absolute fave. Or, No More, My Lord. I have driven across the country singing those two. More than once.

They tell me Jansch was a powerful influence on other guitarists, including Neil Young, Jimmy Paige and Paul Simon. And that’s great. But what I loved was the direct connection to his music, his playing and his singing.

Bert—what a gift you’ve given us over the years. Truly Wondrous Love.