Pentangle Basket Of Light (1968)

From progarchives.com

Review by Easy Livin

Having released two albums in 1968 which were critically acclaimed but commercially less successful, the Pentangle returned in 1969 with what would prove to be their best selling album. While it would be great to say that this success was down to the wonderful music throughout the album, the popularity of the album can be attributed to just one song.

“Light flight” was used as the theme song for a BBC drama series called “Take three girls”. The series was the first of that type the BBC had broadcast in colour, although most people saw it at the time in black and white of course. The band also contributed incidental music for that series, raising their profile further. “Light flight” became a big selling single, leading to raised interest in the band. Fortunately, this attention coincided with the Pentangle finding their true calling, and recording a succession of great songs for the album.

In reality, while “Light flight” is an alluringly melodic piece, it is not that representative of Pentangle’s style. The vocalising and the jaunty rhythm make for the sort of pop a late 60’s teenager would have approved of. The song though is quite different to the rest of the album.

With “Light flight” in pole position, the real Pentangle come to the fore on the charming “Once I had a sweet heart”. This version of the traditional British song “A maid sat a-weeping” reclaims it by giving the American adaptation a very British feel. Jackie McShee gives what for me is her finest vocal performance ever, the song is a pure delight.

Elsewhere the intriguingly named “Lyke-wake dirge”, a traditional Yorkshire piece based on a poem, contains some fine multi-part harmonised singing, the life (of the soul) after death sentiments being delivered in an admirably practical (as opposed to emotive) way. A “lyke”, by the way, is a dead body. “Hunting song” also features some fine harmony singing set against the pleasant sound of the glockenspiel played by Terry Cox. In an interesting but highly effective twist, Phil Spector’s “Sally go round the roses” is given a fine folk treatment, McShee having a sung conversation with John Renbourn.

The closing “House carpenter”, which is a variation on the traditional “The Daemon Lover”, is very much in the mould of Pentangle’s peers Steeleye Span. The song features a backing duet of banjo and sitar (it does actually work!) while telling a warming tale of a young maiden being lured by the devil.

There is no doubt that, even without the fine “Light flight”, “Basket of light” would have been Pentangle’s finest hour. It is fortunate though that it did also spurn a hit single, as the album it gained the popularity which might otherwise have passed it by. The sleeve bears the proud boast that the album is entirely acoustic, but the clever use of vocals and guitars results in something every bit as captivating as the most electric of albums.

The Castle CD release has four additional tracks. Two of these are largely superfluous alternative versions of “Sally go round the roses”. The two other songs are single B-sides which did not appear on Pentangle albums at the time. Of these, “Cold mountain” has an American folk (Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins) feel, while “I saw an angel” heads south to gather a more rootsy, blues mood.

Review by Negoba

I have a long history with folk music dating back to having hippy parents and listening to their LPs from my childhood. As a guitarist, perhaps my greatest and most favourite influence is the acoustic work of Jimmy Page, with his medieval flavourings and alternate tunings. Research led me to learn that Page’s major influence in that regard was a guitarist (famous in England, less in the US) by the name of Bert Jansch. Later research revealed that Page actually lifted “Black Mountain Side” directly from the accompaniment that Jansch had composed for a traditional tune called “Black Waterside.” (Not exactly sneaky, Mr. Page)

It was through exploring Jansch that I discovered Pentangle, and my oh my what a discovery. To me this band is the best of 60’s psychedelic folk, eclipsing any of the bands I grew up with. The band is a supergroup in the truest sense, with Jansch and fellow Davey Graham acolyte Bruce Renbourn playing interlocking guitar lines (they had already been doing this as a duo prior to the formation of the group, and each were solo artists before and after the group). Danny Thompson was and continues to be a legendary session bassist (including work on Porcupine Tree keyboardist Richard Barbieri’s 2008 solo album). Percussionist Terry Cox also went on to a lengthy session career, playing on Bowie’s Space Oddity, Elton John’s self-titled album, among others.

Understandably, the instrumental portion of this folk-jazz fusion is of higher quality than any other band of its kind. The English folk scene in general was more nuanced instrumentally than the American groups (who focused instead on vocal interplay and poetic lyrics), and this is the apex. And in fact, this album is the peak of the peak band. Singer Jacqui McShee combines the tonality of typical 60’s folk with Celtic flavors, and percussionist Terry Cox follows melody rather than laying a foundation for the other musicians. The guitarists each have good voices, and the three singers combine for the choral “Lyke-Wake Dirge” in perfect alignment. The band uses complex time signatures, with their biggest single “Light Flight” being based on a 5+5+2 groove that does in fact invoke a feeling of dance and movement (how often does that happen?) Most of all, the guitars are lush, modal, and complex pieces (think of having two Nick Drakes playing composed duos) rather than American campfire strumming.

Every song on this album is high quality, and for the most part, some new element is presented in each song. Its length (without the relatively throwaway bonus tracks added later) is just right, and leaves the listener wanting more. The one weakness compared to American folk is that the lyrics mainly follow traditional medieval themes, and lack the contemporary poetry and social bite of Dylan or Paul Simon.

Many of the artists in this site’s prog-folk genre are rock bands with flavours of prog and folk (Tull) or Symphonic Prog bands that followed the medievalism’s of Genesis further along (Gryphon). In my opinion, if you are looking for true prog-folk, Pentangle is the best. And this is their best album. Essential for folkies, prog-heads, hippies, lovers of complex acoustic guitar, lovers of solo female voice, lovers of active jazz bass; in a word, masterpiece.