Birthday Blues (2015 Remaster) Bert Jansch

• 1 Come Sing Me a Happy Song to Prove We Can All Get Along the Lumpy Bumpy Long and Dusty Road (2015 Remaster) 02:05
• 2 The Bright New Year (2015 Remaster) 01:35
• 3 Tree Song (2015 Remaster) 02:37
• 4 Poison (2015 Remaster) 03:16
• 5 Miss Heather Rosemary Sewell (2015 Remaster) 02:12
• 6 I've Got a Woman (2015 Remaster) 05:20
• 7 A Woman Like You (2015 Remaster) 04:26
• 8 I Am Lonely (2015 Remaster) 02:31
• 9 Promised Land (2015 Remaster) 02:52
• 10 Birthday Blues (2015 Remaster) 01:13
• 11 Wishing Well (2015 Remaster) 02:17
• 12 Blues (2015 Remaster) 02:40
• Total Runtime 33:04

Info for Birthday Blues (2015 Remaster)

Bert Jansch's freewheeling fifth album, Birthday Blues, occupies a unique place in his solo discography. Released in 1969, the same year Basket of Light propelled Pentangle into the UK pop charts, Birthday Blues almost sounds like a Pentangle LP missing John Renbourn and Jacqui McShee. Backed-up by bandmates Danny Thompson and Terry Cox, Jansch neither holds back his characteristic moodiness nor takes himself too seriously.

What's more, Jansch is in love. Heather Rosemary Sewell isn't just the inspiration for one of the song titles; she also designed the cover, whose Hans Feurer front photo shows Bert holding the couple's puppy. With just enough of a Donovan-esque pop sense, Pentangle producer Shel Talmy keeps the overall feel of these recordings fresh, warm and immediate.

As its playfully ambivalent title suggests, Birthday Blues reveals an artist fully comfortable in his own skin. Blues and folk influences are woven together into songs at once directly personal, yet generously light and free. The most "pop" of Jansch's '60s solo recordings and perhaps one of his most underrated, Birthday Blues is a deep and rewarding family affair at the height of his musical powers.

This release has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes and features liner notes by Richie Unterberger.

"It's no accident that Jansch's 1969 album sounds like a modified version of the Pentangle. He was a member of the great British folk-rock group at the time of this album's release, which was produced by Shel Talmy (who also worked with the Pentangle). And he's backed by the group's sterling rhythm section of Danny Thompson (bass) and Terry Cox (drums), with occasional touches of harmonica (played by British blues singer Duffy Power), alto sax, and flute. The effect is akin to hearing an unbalanced Pentangle, with no John Renbourn on dueling guitar or Jacqui McShee on vocals. That's not at all a bad thing -- Jansch was one of the group's main motors, and can still be a compelling writer and performer on his own. All of the cuts on this album are originals, showing the artist leaning a little more toward bluesy styles than usual, though the mood is predominantly British folk. It's a pleasant effort, but not his best work, either as a solo performer or within a group context."

Bert Jansch, guitar

Digitally remastered

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.