Description
Long acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential acoustic guitarists to emerge from the British folk scene, the late John Renbourn is best known to the wider world for his membership of Pentangle, the genre-busting band that he was instrumental in bringing together in 1967. But prior to this, Renbourn recorded extensively both before and during the band’s early genesis, releasing a trio of solo albums plus two vital collaborative albums with American-born folk singer Dorris Henderson, as well as Bert And John, his joint album with Bert Jansch in 1966.
The first 5 albums in this set showcase the pre-Pentangle Renbourn, while the 6th was made while Pentangle was well and truly underway, in 1968 – an anomaly, but nevertheless one of Renbourn’s best solo records, with one side of Elizabethan pastiche and one of jazzy blues.
Housed in a clamshell box that boasts replica album sleeves, some very rare photos and a new essay on the man, the 6-CD set Unpentangled anthologises that essential but often overlooked body of early work. The completely remastered set also contains a clutch of bonus tracks from the same period (including a marvellous psychedelic folk rendition of the Love song ‘Message To Pretty’) to shine the solo spotlight on a man that folk club organiser and future ZigZag founder Pete Frame once dubbed “the stoned Julian Bream of folk guitar”. A wonderful retrospective and essential slice of folk music history!
