Saturday, March 28, 2015

Farewell, sweet child

Oh, man—the world lost a beautiful melody this week. Songwriter-guitarist and all-around musical magician John Renbourn has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 70.

I knew him as a principal in Pentangle, a group that wove traditional folk songs through modern world rhythms and produced a unique, haunting sound. I’ll admit that his voice was not his strong suit, but lordy, could that man play the guitar.

Renbourn had a puckish sense of humor, which emerged in interviews over the years. He claimed that he came to music as a means of avoiding obligatory boxing and cross-country running at his school. If so, hurrah for us, because we won. I can’t think of anything by him that’s not a delight.

Renbourn never stopped—his body was discovered on Thursday, because he failed to show up for a gig. There’s a man who lived his passion.

And here’s an example for you to remember him by:




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