This is going to be a very good year. I already have everything he did on LP as well as previous remasters, but this seems to be far more comprehensive. April cannot come soon enough! http://bertjansch.com/news/bert-jansch-remastered-and-re-released-for-50th-anniversary/ Vinyl, CD and digital editions of Bert Jansch’s timeless debut album released to celebrate its 50th Anniversary on 13 April 2015 BMG is pleased to announce a new, meticulously remastered edition of Bert Jansch’s truly classic and highly influential debut album, simply titled Bert Jansch, marking the 50th anniversary of the album’s original release by Transatlantic Records. It also heralds a series of remastered releases of Bert's entire Transatlantic catalogue. This new edition of Bert Jansch replicates the original artwork with its nonchalantly brooding cover photograph by Brian Shuel. Particular care and attention has been paid to re-mastering and making this as true to the original as possible. “We went back to the original 1/2 inch tapes and restored them,” explains reissue producer Stuart Batsford, “We are confident that this version, on vinyl, CD and digitally, is the best ever representation of Bert's original recording.” The CD booklet features a new essay by Will Hodgkinson, The Times’ chief rock critic and author of the book Guitar Man, plus a new interview with the album’s original producer, Bill Leader, who says: "Bert spoke through his music and his songs. His conversation was not particularly cogent, but his lyrics were. His mastery of the guitar was outstanding." Released the same week as he began a Saturday night residency at the recently opened Les Cousins, Bert Jansch elevated him to a new level as the poster boy for the era. Bert was already renowned for his stunning guitar playing, epitomised by his version of Davy Graham’s ‘Angi’. A number of personal, often romantic songs including 'Needle of Death', 'Running from Home' and the emblematic 'Strolling down the Highway' also set this album apart, establishing Bert as the first British singer-songwriter. CD and vinyl versions are available from 13 April 2015. The re-mastered download can be pre-ordered at http://geni.us/9SC
Bert pronounced it janch, with a hard J. And it's not a dumb question. It's been confounding and confusing folks for decades!
Sweet. His records (of ANY era) are nigh impossible to find, at least on these shores. A very welcome piece of news, indeed. I'll be picking them all up as they are released, but in particular I am stoked for Rosemary Lane.
From the OP and the Bert Jansch Website: "BMG is pleased to announce a new, meticulously remastered edition of Bert Jansch’s truly classic and highly influential debut album, simply titled Bert Jansch, marking the 50th anniversary of the album’s original release by Transatlantic Records. It also heralds a series of remastered releases of Bert's entire Transatlantic catalogue."
Ask at the Bert Jansch website. We are all in the same boat as you. It's been 50 years since the album was released so a little patience will work in your favour for this remaster.
This is good news indeed. While I have an original of the eponymous first lp I don't have all of his recordings so I'm sure there will be something for me.
I bought his first two records on one CD in Amsterdam around 1995. I was traveling around France, Belgium and the Netherlands with an Interrail ticket. You had to be under 27 and could buy a relatively cheap ticket to use with all trains in Europe, if I remember correctly. In Amsterdam I stayed at a christian youth hostel and the first thing i did was to search for - not Coffeeshops mind you, but: CD-Shops. Already the collector back then! I did not even have a credit card and not much travel money on me. I found one little shop where I bought a CD by the Mountain Goats (Nothing for Juice) and one by Rambling Jack Elliott (Me & Bobby McGhee). Then i found FAME, and there i bought "Bert Jansch / It Don't Bother Me". I still do sometimes dream at night about wandering through Amsterdam looking for that CD-Shop! (the first one, the smaller one). I was back in Amsterdam ten years later for a weekend, but had not have the time to look for that little shop. Unlikely that it is still there. Again years later i found a record shop at a shopping mall in Udine, Italy. I live in Austria, close to the italian border, so it's maybe a one hour drive to Udine, a beautiful city in the province of Friuli. We did that as a little weekend trip sometime, to eat and do a little shopping. Outside of town there is a shopping mall called Città Fiera and there is a CD-shop, where they had a lot of Bert Jansch CDs, also John Martyn, Fairport Convention and so on. They had a thing for folk music obviously. I liked that because here in Austria you won't find any such CD in a shopping mall. Of course i could get everything via Amazon back then already, but it was nice to buy one CD by Bert Jansch everytime we drove down to Udine. And they all seemed to wait there for me: Avocet, Rosemary Lane, Jack Orion, Bert and John, The Ornament Tree. Maybe i was the only one buying them. I bought the last of them around the time Bert Jansch died, and then ordered most of the rest via Amazon. That was my little autobiographical Bert Jansch story, not that interesting but thanks for letting me share it!
To everyone out there here's your chance to discover Bert Jansch's music for the first time. I latched at the last round of CD reissues 15 years ago and have never looked back. I suggest you start at the beginning and work your way thru. The recent albums have been good too, I liked Black Swan a lot. I was lucky enough to see Bert at Boston's Museum of Fine Art theater about ten years ago, he was in great form, a concert I will remember for the rest of my life. And while you are at it, I knew Bert's name from his Pentangle association, a band you may also like. Then of course there's the Bert & John album, sublime. Happy listening.
I e-mailed them about pre-ordering awhile back but have not gotten a response. Will this be released in the States?
It's on Amazon for a not-so-lovely price of $44.99 with an April 21, 2015 release date: http://www.amazon.com/Bert-Jansch/dp/B00TUPD3ZA/
I was there too! Great show. Also great opening act, P.G. Six. Sort of weird venue. Both performers kept saying things about how they couldn't see or hear the audience as I remember.
Only those who don't own a copy of Rosemary Lane should feel ashamed! Which pressing did you get? How does it sound?!!
It's also on importcds for a fraction of that price... $26.99 http://www.importcds.com/music/4171379/bert-jansch
