• 3CD collection featuring legendary Pentangle guitarist John Renbourn.
• Following chronologically from the 6CD Cherry Tree box 'Unpentangled - The Sixties Albums', featuring a more selective and themed approach to the 1970–1979 period.
• Compiled by Pentangle expert Colin Harper, it focuses on Renbourn’s lead guitar playing (as opposed to pure fingerstyle) and also leans heavily towards original material.
The Pentangle instrumental 'Jack Orion' that begins this set establishes the thrilling uniqueness of John’s electric lead guitar style and is probably his best recording with the group in this area. A rare fuzz guitar alternate take of his self-written ‘John’s Song’ from 1971 and a previously unreleased live version of Charles Mingus' 'The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers' from 1972 are the only other Pentangle tracks.
The Renbourn solo albums 'Faro Annie' (1972) and 'Just Like Me' aka 'Lost Sessions' (recorded 1972) continue this electric adventure, after which the electric guitar became a more occasional aspect of Renbourn’s recordings, generally absent from his work after the 1970s. This set also includes the rare and beautiful KPM Music Library instrumental album 'The Guitar Of John Renbourn' (1977), three tracks from the John James album 'Head In The Clouds' (1975) that feature Renbourn and another 18 previously unreleased live tracks.
Highlights of these include six tracks with Pentangle vocalist Jacqui McShee live at Stalybridge in 1975, and another four recorded live in France with McShee and American fiddler Sue Draheim that year. The instrumental 'The Pelican', from Renbourn's 1979 album 'The Black Balloon', is included as a showcase for the way Renbourn blends masterful acoustic technique with subtle electric guitar overdubs. The set ends with seven tracks from a fantastic concert by Renbourn at The Cellar Door in Washington, DC in 1979.
TRACK LISTING
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