Been listening to them for 52 years. Love them, and it’s not the sort of music I generally listen to. Cruel Sister is probably my favourite.
I first saw Pentangle back in the fall of 1970 at Carnegie Hall. I had heard some of their material prior and had Bert's Jack Orion and Birthday Blues. I picked up all their LPs by 1973 and started following John's solo career as well. I probably spent more time with transcriptions of John's solo piece than I did with any other single artist, save Hendrix or the Beatles. When Pentangle began touring in modified form in the 80s, I saw almost all the lineups that came through Boston and got most of their CDs. While I like a lot of those, it's still the original lineup that has the magic for me and I was quite thrilled when they reunited for the final tour. There were one or two tours with just Bert, John and Jacqui in the 90s and early 00s, too and I saw a few shows with just John and Jacqui and some solo shows by Bert. I have all the original lineups CDs in a few iterations. I also have the two box sets of them plus the BBC box set. I don't listen to them as much anymore, but I always enjoy hearing them. All that said, I don't know of any single comp that exists, but I'd say, while they are eclectic within a self-created sub-genre, Cruel Sister wold likely be their most commercial, and accessible LP/CD and a great place to start. Sweet Child is probably the closest they come to having the biggest cross section stylistically, and is a great choice as well. After this thread, I may break out the last box set and work my way through that again this coming week at work.
I only got the 2-cd compilation „Light Flight - the Anthology” and I really enjoy it. Lots of tracks from their early period, which I understand is the best. Really interesting and unconventional band - jazz-folk?
Mirrors my experience exactly; love them too, but they do represent a slight anomaly in my normal musical preferences. Not really a huge fan of Folk (electric Dylan>folkie Dylan), and never really warmed up to any of the other British Isles folk-rock-prog acts, but there is just something about Pentangle that I have always found oddly compelling (beyond the outstanding musicianship). I am a huge Jazz fan, so perhaps that explains the difference; the band definitely swings, even on the more “traditional” tracks, and the double-bass is some of the best to be heard outside a Charles Mingus or Ron Carter album! Jazz-Folk indeed! As Apple fans like to say, “it just works”! If you listen to the Renaissance-era English folk madrigals and dances which influenced the band (some of which the band “covered”), you realize that “swing” is nothing new and that these old melodies fit in perfectly within a modern Jazz framework. Really cool stuff! BTW “Jack Orion” from the “Cruel Sister” album is the best track they ever recorded, so definitely seek it out if it is not part of the compilation!
Wonderful band! It's a shame we've lost both Renbourn and Jansch. I have a few Renbourn solo albums and many Jansch albums.
I saw Pentangle in Boston as well in the late 80’s/early 90’s. A club near MIT, can’t remember the name.
I especially like the Reflection lp and the debut as well. Once you settle into the band sound the entire catalog has its charms. Love ‘em.
Reflection and Solomon’s Seal are both very good and worth picking up. Don’t know the reunion albums from the 80s.
The 2017 Cherry Red Albums '68-'72 box is a pretty cheap way to pick up their catalog in decent sound.
Saw them at Leeds University UK in '72 pretty good show. Have Basket Of Light and a couple of Renbourn albums: Lady & The Unicorn & Sir John a lot Of.. Another acoustic jazz/folk group I liked was Accolade with Gordon Giltrap and Don Partridge. Made 1 album but it's a good listen.
While on the 1992 fairport convention cropredy trip we saw renbourn at a tiny London club. The way her referred to the audience I felt the show was arranged as part of trip but i can't be sure.
I have always enjoyed British Folk and later became a huge jazz fan so it was a natural fit. I enjoy all of their albums. I think I have the first five on vinyl but I also have a two disc set taken from the BBC and a live reunion album from the early 00’s that is really good. The BBC material is a little lower in sound quality but still very easy to enjoy. The live reunion with all original members is very good all the way around imho. The first album is still my favorite.
Cruel Sister is a great album. Love ye olde English folk music. Pentangle are right up there with Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, and, to a lesser degree, Tull and the Strawbs.
Same here ! I love Jacqui McShee's haunting voice. Bert Jansch and John Renbourn were both pioneering fingerstyle guitar giants. Bert Jansch influenced so many players in his time, a guitarist's guitarist. A bubbling cauldron of talent.
16 at time and was looking for my music pathway. A group of older mates had started doing concerts and l started to piggyback them. First was Pentangle. As a live experience thought yep I’m into this but thought they needed a massive upgrade in energy. Then realised after my second concert, Wishbone Ash, it wasn’t Pentangles fault, it was rock want l actually wanted.
One of the few bands of the rock era that can actually claim to have created beauty; could not have happened outside the late psychedelic, early progressive era.
In no sense can "Finale" be considered a compilation as it is a live album of the group's final reunion (even if not all recorded at one show).
US band Lamb with Barbara Mauritz(?)from roughly the same time touches some similar ground but not as ethereal, very different feel. Then of course, Tim Buckley, and I guess later John Martyn, but you’re right not many.
