Remebering Pentangle

For a household that loved music, the mid to late 60s was a special time. It seemed every week a new revelation became revealed. The first Traffic album, Electric Ladyland, the first Doors album, Pearls Before Swine, the first Black Sabbath album, ELP's debut, the first Mothers Of Invention album, Blind Faith, "Stand Up" by Jethro Tull, Spirit, Mountain, the White Album, "Led Zeppelin II", Switched On Bach, Jeff Beck's first album, Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy" album (the session where John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page met), Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew", Pink Floyd's debut, WHEW! One standout ensemble for us were Pentangle. Featuring John Renbourn on vocals, acoustic & electirc guitar and sitar, Bert Jansch on vocals and guitar, Jacqui McShee on vocals, Danny Thompson on stand-up bass and Terry Cox on percussion these guys were a sleeper super group. The influences of Renbourn, Thompson and Cox brought jazz and ethnic sensibilities into the healthy mix of blues, popular folk, traditional folk and medieval court songs which they were comfortable navigating through within a single song. Their rendition of "House Carpenter", with John Renbourn's scorching sitar was in constant rotation. What starts as a traditional folk tale gradually morphs into a percussion driven dervish with Jacqui McShee being the constant, her pure soulful voice the emotional connection to the past. What a voice. My dad was a huge Danny Thompson fan and always requested Danny's reading of Charles Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" from their "Sweet Child" album. Dad heard Pentangle were coming to the amphitheater at Castle Hill in Ipswich MA and bought tickets. They were scheduled to be the opening act and due to some snags the schedule was reversed and the headliner, Arlo Guthrie opened. He was awesome. Telling stories between songs and making everyone feel at home. After a short break Pentangle came on. The set-up was, from the audience view; John Renbourn stage left, Jacqui McShee center, Bert Jansch stage right, Danny Thompson back line center stage left and Terry Cox back line center stage right. Jacqui sat on a stool as if in a trance, her beautiful long blond hair covering her face while the band worked out intensely around her. They were intoxicating. Trading lead vocals, executing vocal harmonies that at times brought me back in time to the days of Stonehenge. The mix of music ranged from Italian Renaissance dances to "Pork Pie Hat". The sheer magnitude of their collected vocabularies still awes me today. I can feel the tinge of evening breezes blowing through the theater, the smell of flowers from the garden, how brilliant Jacqui's white dress shimmered in the lights, how the lights would dance off the varnished guitars as Renbourn and Jansch would shift positions, Danny Thompson's tall presence in the background. After the show we were walking to our car when all of a sudden dad starts walking quickly towards Danny Thompson! "You, Sir, are an incredible bassist!" Well, that started a conversation! While we were talking Jacqui McShee ambled up in a tight t-shirt, jeans, her hair up in braids, and I could see her wonderful, wide lunar face that lit up the evening when she smiled. Danny was saying how this was the last stop before heading back to the UK and, "All that lovey-dovey stuff!" Thanks for setting up a great memory Dad.