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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Travelling Solo | |||
| 2. Oxford City | |||
| 3. Endless Sky | |||
| 4. The Lily Of the West | |||
| 5. One More Day | |||
| 6. High Germany | |||
| 7. Hey, Hey Solider | |||
| 8. Willy Of Winsbury | |||
| 9. Somali | |||
| 10. Manuel | |||
See all 11 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Bramble Briar | |||
| 2. Sally Free And Easy | |||
| 3. Kingfisher | |||
| 4. Come Back Baby | |||
| 5. When I Was In My Prime | |||
| 6. Meat On the Bone | |||
| 7. Chasing Love | |||
| 8. The Bonny Boy | |||
| 9. Chasing Love | |||
| 10. Cruel Sister | |||
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See all 12 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
Recipients of a Lifetime Achievement gong at the 2007 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Pentangle were one of Britain's first 'supergroups' and remain copper-bottomed bastions of UK folk. It wasn't always thus. Regarded as quixotic mavericks in their late '60s/early '70s heyday, the combination of finger-picking guitar maestros Burt Jansch and John Renbourn, airy-piped balladeer Jacqui McShee and the nimble rhythm section of Danny Thompson and Terry Cox, birthed a unique and remarkable jazz/folk/pop hybrid which few could emulate. Despite this, Pentangle drew rock and folk fans in droves and even troubled the singles chart before the original line-up hit the buffers in 1973. Versions of the band have regularly regrouped since 1981 and a little over a decade after first re-emerging, founders McShee and Jansch teamed up with lead guitarist Peter Kirtley, bassist Nigel Portman-Smith and drummer Gerry Conway to form what many regard as the most effective, post-'70s Pentangle incarnation.
The first fruit of the collaboration, the One More Road album, appeared in 1994, garnering healthy reviews. On it, McShee's crystalline voice showed no sign of wear, lending a luminous soprano yearning to the traditional 'Will Of Winsbury' and an uncharacteristic contralto ache to the band composition 'Travelling Solo'. Jansch was also on fine form - his distinctive picking style both decorous and propulsive on 'Oxford City', his lugubrious vocals leading the picaresque American pioneering yarn, 'Lily Of The West'. Though Kirtley's sinuous solos occasionally hit the spot, the three new recruits are generally rather anonymous - less integral band members, more supporting players. The album suffers too from its overly clinical, squeaky clean, early '90s production - too much reverb, too much gloss, not enough flesh and blood.
Live 1994 is more spirited affair and technically jaw-dropping at times. 'Bramble Briar' floats on a lovely tangle of interleaved guitars, instrumental 'Kingfisher' is MOR blues-jazz injected with adrenaline urgency and 'Sally Free And Easy' is elegantly languid folk rock, with Jansch and McShee's contrasting voices entwining before Kirtley takes things home with a coruscating solo apparently on loan from Robert Cray. Much of the rest exudes an esprit de corps missing from the studio album and, being the band's ostensible swansong, provides a more fitting testament to what was, even in 1994, an enduring British musical institution. --David Sheppard
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
One More Road is definitely great 'late' Pentangle and good to have in nice remastered form along with the
not as good live '94 one. "Live '94" is significant for having rare live material by the band, & I like the raw edge. One More Road has very fine overlooked songs like "Travellin' Solo," "Lily of the West," nice rerecordings of "Willy of Winsbury" and "High Germany," and even some thoughtful, bluesy contributions by Peter Kirtley, particularly on "Endless Sky." The instrumentals are less interesting to me but do somewhat anticipate some of Jacqui MacShee's work later on. The live one has a beautiful version of "When I Was in My Prime," good ones of "Reynardine" & "Yarrow" too. Here Pentangle is maybe as close to Fairport as they get, and interesting for that. The albums are not as good as any of their first six: Renbourn's absence is really felt in ALL the later ones I think. But on their own terms still show them to be a vital group. A bonus here too are the photos and excellent liner notes, including comments/interviews with all the band members, which adds much perspective to how the albums were done and the state of the players in those years (which is why I give this 5 stars for fans-- maybe 4 stars for more casual fans).
not as good live '94 one. "Live '94" is significant for having rare live material by the band, & I like the raw edge. One More Road has very fine overlooked songs like "Travellin' Solo," "Lily of the West," nice rerecordings of "Willy of Winsbury" and "High Germany," and even some thoughtful, bluesy contributions by Peter Kirtley, particularly on "Endless Sky." The instrumentals are less interesting to me but do somewhat anticipate some of Jacqui MacShee's work later on. The live one has a beautiful version of "When I Was in My Prime," good ones of "Reynardine" & "Yarrow" too. Here Pentangle is maybe as close to Fairport as they get, and interesting for that. The albums are not as good as any of their first six: Renbourn's absence is really felt in ALL the later ones I think. But on their own terms still show them to be a vital group. A bonus here too are the photos and excellent liner notes, including comments/interviews with all the band members, which adds much perspective to how the albums were done and the state of the players in those years (which is why I give this 5 stars for fans-- maybe 4 stars for more casual fans).
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
One More Road & Live 1994 the recent album by Pentangle is superb in the very extreme. As ever the beautiful singing by Jacqui McShee is simply wonderful, sonorous, sublime, and breathtaking - Jacqui McShee is in my opinion the greatest female English Folk Singer of all-time. Taking nothing away from Bert Jansch or the other musicians - they like the singer make the music breathe. Collectively the musicians make this album simply wonderful - taking the listener on a folk journey through many excellent interpretations of these songs. Folk Music to me is quite possibly the most important of English Music, and an expression of our culture. Pentangle through this album enhance the sheer beauty of English Folk Music, and actually take the music to unbriddled heights. I throughly recommend this music to anyone who is serious about music, and any listener will only derive sheer joy from listening. Buy it and enjoy sheer beauty.One More Road & Live 1994
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Fantastic mixture of unique and standard works
4 May 2011
Format:Audio CD
I must have bought these two as separate CDs at some point...
Live 1994 is very electric / jazzy - I've always felt that Bert Jansch and Jacqui McShee complement each other very well with unique and haunting voices. Folk roots with a huge leaning towards jazz. A quite unique combination. In particular "Kingfisher" and "When I was in my Prime" are worth getting this for .
On One More Road, particular goodies are "Oxford City" and "High Germany" and "Willy of Winsbury"
The finishing electric treatment of "Scarborough Fair" is perfect
If you like these CDs, move on to Passe Avant
Live 1994 is very electric / jazzy - I've always felt that Bert Jansch and Jacqui McShee complement each other very well with unique and haunting voices. Folk roots with a huge leaning towards jazz. A quite unique combination. In particular "Kingfisher" and "When I was in my Prime" are worth getting this for .
On One More Road, particular goodies are "Oxford City" and "High Germany" and "Willy of Winsbury"
The finishing electric treatment of "Scarborough Fair" is perfect
If you like these CDs, move on to Passe Avant
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