Remember not to take it too seriously note for note! Look out for follow-ups on Bert's later arrangements and Wizz's versions 😀 - all simpler (in different ways) and illustrating the balance between the essential motifs that identify the song, and the various ways one can improvise around it. Check what Steve Tilston does with it!
Jansch's gloriously slovenly playing was the stuff of nightmare for the formally trained but sweet dreams for the attuned. With unerring instinct he might add or deduct a half-bar or so from a twelve-bar blues, the dictionary definition of 'mistake' becoming a personal statement; he took risks with all the split-second timing and casual aplomb of a high-wire act. See Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music.
Thanks Tom - I hadn't seen that, but it's a perfect summary of Bert's style, at least for the way he approached the blues, and the way he played in general in the early days. But "gloriously slovenly" is not the phrase we'd use to describe his own compositions or folk song arrangements, right? They were really the opposite of that. 😉
@@tomFairhurst Right. He seemed to treat the blues as a chance to just stretch out and relax. He knew enough blues licks and tropes (and invented some of his own), and tended to improvise lyrics. But it was home territory for him - he could put his feet up (as it were) and be as slovenly as he felt like.😃
the cool thing about Bert's sense of time is that he dropped (or added) beats frequently, but always precisely in the same places - i imagine it wasn't a conscious decision but it wasn't an accident either if that makes sense.
@@Ehzah8In the early days I think he must have spent a lot of time accompanying other folk singers. My recollection of folk singers of that era is that they were often used to singing unaccompanied and didn't like it if you tried to impose a 4/4 structure on them. That may have had a formative influence on his playing.
Thank you so much for doing this song, Jon!!
Can't thank you enough for your wonderful lessons. 👋👋👋
Thank you so much for this Jon . Thats me happily struggling for the next few months then
Remember not to take it too seriously note for note! Look out for follow-ups on Bert's later arrangements and Wizz's versions 😀 - all simpler (in different ways) and illustrating the balance between the essential motifs that identify the song, and the various ways one can improvise around it. Check what Steve Tilston does with it!
Nice job!
Jansch's gloriously slovenly playing was the stuff of nightmare for the formally trained but sweet dreams for the attuned. With unerring instinct he might add or deduct a half-bar or so from a twelve-bar blues, the dictionary definition of 'mistake' becoming a personal statement; he took risks with all the split-second timing and casual aplomb of a high-wire act. See Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music.
Thanks Tom - I hadn't seen that, but it's a perfect summary of Bert's style, at least for the way he approached the blues, and the way he played in general in the early days. But "gloriously slovenly" is not the phrase we'd use to describe his own compositions or folk song arrangements, right? They were really the opposite of that. 😉
@@Jonpriley Exactly....it's mood and context dependent slovenliness! Contrast with the precision of his playing on Rosemary Lane.
@@tomFairhurst Right. He seemed to treat the blues as a chance to just stretch out and relax. He knew enough blues licks and tropes (and invented some of his own), and tended to improvise lyrics. But it was home territory for him - he could put his feet up (as it were) and be as slovenly as he felt like.😃
the cool thing about Bert's sense of time is that he dropped (or added) beats frequently, but always precisely in the same places - i imagine it wasn't a conscious decision but it wasn't an accident either if that makes sense.
@@Ehzah8In the early days I think he must have spent a lot of time accompanying other folk singers. My recollection of folk singers of that era is that they were often used to singing unaccompanied and didn't like it if you tried to impose a 4/4 structure on them. That may have had a formative influence on his playing.