Amos Zimmernan remembers Bert Jansch 💫

 

“Wow, that’s brave!” a friend told me when he heard that my new album includes only guitar and vocals, with no additional instruments, no backing vocals, no additions whatsoever. And honestly, I hadn’t really thought about the “bravery” aspect. I was just fulfilling a dream. So I wanted to tell you where that dream began.

Quite a few years ago, a different friend recommended that I listen to the 1965 debut album by Bert Jansch. I’ll admit it took me a little while to get around to it, but the moment I pressed play for the first time, I couldn’t stop. I fell deeply in love with that album. I played it every night as I went to sleep, listened to it on headphones on the bus, played it on my living room system… it’s probably the album I’ve listened to more times than any other in my life.

What captivated me about it, beyond the perfect songs and Jansch’s unique voice, was that the album consists of nothing but guitar and vocals. So I wrote a Facebook post asking if people could recommend other studio albums like that, that are completely bare.

The responses started trickling in (and then pouring in), with dozens upon dozens of people, each suggesting a different album and saying, “Here you go!” Believe me, I went and listened to everything people sent. But with every album, I ran into something that spoiled it - a song with a harmony vocal, or a track with a violin, or another guitar, or a flute… in short, I couldn’t find another album quite like it. So I promised myself that one day, I would make one.

Since then, quite a few years have gone by. Every time I wrote a song, I thought about this future album and considered whether the song would fit it. Slowly, enough songs and pieces accumulated to finally record it. I also realized that the album would include as many songs as possible with alternative guitar tunings, and that I would play the entire album using only my fingers, with no guitar pick at all.

When I actually began seriously working on it as an album, it was clear to me that I wanted it, somehow, to be in dialogue with Jansch’s album... but I didn’t yet know how. Then one night, about three years ago, I had a realization and formed the concept you see below: the albums would mirror each other. Wherever Jansch has a song with lyrics, I would too. Whenever he has an instrumental piece, I would as well. And I’d give those pieces titles that echo the titles of his. The cover would be similar. The number of tracks would be identical. The albums would be like stepbrothers meeting each other unexpectedly after 61 years.

Bert Jansch passed in 2011, around the time I first started listening to him. If he were alive, I swear I would fly to London, knock on his door, sit him down, make him some tea, and play him the album. So Bert may no longer be with us, but there’s you, this community, who can listen to it and maybe connect with that same spirit and conversation between the two records.

Hope you enjoy the album (link's in the comments below), it has a lot of Bert in it and it's dedicated to the loving memory of my mom. Thank you for reading. 💚

Thanks for your efforts, Amos.