Bert Jansch "Blackwaterside" 11/17/06

[smikestack]

God bless Bert. Damn the talkers. I watched him in 1965 in Brum, and I don't think anyone said a word. But, genres being genres -- a term we didn't know --- when a blues playing genius, a friend, took the stage for a couple of numbers at the folk club, a lot of people turned their backs and began talking.

Manners.

[MrAshToast]

Glad to see old Bertie's still playing as excellently as he did on the album back in the day! :-)

[tomohiko315]

Good job man!!

[cjwaywell]

Oh what a joy it is to listen to this again.

I could listen to Bert 24/7 he just sends me off into another dimention with his totally unique playing and singing. An Awesome Video of an outstanding performer.

[2hondas4fun]

Brilliant idea sharing this style thanx to Jansch for creating it and Jimmy for stealing it and letting everybody enjoy it!

[vettezeppelin]

Sounds like a bunch of guitarists stole this song from somewhere...I think even Jansch acknowledges that it is a traditional song meaning who knows where it really came from but as time progressed many people took the song and played it as their own..that being said, no doubt Jimmy Page heard the Jansch version, learned it and adapted it to be his White Summer/Black Mountainside..nice work for sure but not his original composition but I dont know that he claims it as so.

[viking1au]

Trad. and given to Bert by ex girlfriend Anne Briggs. Bert developed it & wrote guitar for it, and yes, a certain person ripped it off & even modified the name. There is a youtube post of Anne Briggs doing this solo; +a more recent one now in #1 of "Bert Jansch, -Acoustic Routes". Anne sings parts of "Go Your Way" and Blackwaterside, both a treat. She was known also to sometimes sing with The Watersons. Martin Carthy's wifeNorma, and daughter Eliza, are currently last of the Waterson dynasty.

[vettezeppelin]

Thanks for the info...I will check out the stuff you suggest. Yes there is no doubt that Page and Zeppelin were a bit on or past the line on "borrowing"...still think their body of work is unsurpassed!!! By the way check out a band called Hardline Drive. Just found them and love them.

[viking1au]

Page was not the only one. In the '60's people like Paul Simon & Dylan were prolific poachers in the UK. Paul Simon pinched Anji, by Bert, written by the late Davy Graham, and Scarborough Fair, pinched off Martin Carthy. Martin & Bert perform this in the Acoustic Routes series #4. It is said Girl from the North Country became Boots of Spanish Leather. I recommend watching the whole 8 of the series. -- I downloaded the lot. It is hosted by Billy Connelly, who plays with Bert in 1 episode.

[mamacornettesmoney]

The words and melody are traditional. the guitar arrangement is Jansch's original.

So yes, the tune comes from an old traditional song, but the guitar pice that Page took is all Jansch's.

Also, Page registered it as an original compostion on his part, depite being Jansch's original guitar accomaniment for the traditional words and melody.

[nickw66]

He is still a legend, and a great fucking guitar player.Top 50-100 who ever played an acoustic guitar, And that my friend is a very very long list indeed.

Neil Young,Jimmy Page,Eric Clapton are just a few who will agree with me.they have all said it themselves in interviews.

[edgluhrs]

Yup.

[beethovenbix]

HE WOULDN'T BE A LEGEND IF IT WERE

NOT FOR "THE REAL BRITISH GUITAR LEGEND - DAVEY GRAHAM" - Who Herbert Jansch, John Renbourne, and a host of other famous acoustic guitar players in Britain - 'MIMICKED'.

Davey Graham composed his famous instrumental Angie - whilst Herbert Jansch was still in school ! Herbert became so obsessed with Daveys unique

acoustic style that he borrowed a tape recording off Davey Grahams sister that had Angie on it - so that He could learn it.

Davey Graham. RIP.

[cysthead30]

I hope the people in attendance realized that they were sitting in front of a living legend.

[Nearonamous]

I know its roots, and its glory it is served here without question.

[Rigbyband]

Allright!!

[vmazzetta82]

This man is a living Legend....

[agameofdarts]

i'm a cutter. i need help.

[douchie22]

blackwaterside is not as good as white summer/ black mountain side in my opinion... page took something and made it better

[TomRAFC]

page stole something and tried to make it his own, its very hard to view it in a comlimentary light, perhaps if he'd been open about its origins it could be appraised as a piece of work instead of someone taking a the history of gret british folk music and trying to display it as his own

[bolson567]

white summer is ripped almost exactly from a davey graham song called She Moved Thru the Bazaar, or she moved through the fair. its basicly two songs that page ripped from  two guitartists. no offense to page at all but they could both blow him out of the water when it comes to acoustic gutiar playing. zeppelin's acousitc stuff got me started on bert jansch and the like, but honestly, how is it better when he didn't write any of it.

[nonthere]

As much as I liked Zep (who introduced me to Jansch) Black Mountainside does not have Jansch's feel or energy. I also felt that the "solo" seemed shoehorned in out of nowhere and didn't really make a musical point. It might have worked, though if done differently. And that tabla player made no sense to my ear. Yeah, I get that it was the fashion back then but it just didn't work this time. Luckily Page's real rep doesn't rely on what he stole, but on the astounding original rock he pioneered.

[nickw66]

Yes legend indeed. Wish he would come here,I would pay top $ to see him play.Love Mr Jansh. A true living legend of the guitar. If you have the chance to see him,Do you will not be disappointed !!

[donkeydude1993]

nobodys left a comment in a year this is ridiculous !!!!!

ledgend

ledgend

ledgend

ledgend

ledgend

[MrHaram]

Listen to Led Zeppelin's (Jimmy Page) Black mountain side.

[quercus1959]

Bert played this song (traditional)on his the third album, "Jack Orion" from 1966. On that time Jimmy played with the Yardbirds.

Resume: If you hear Jimmy, think on Bert (i like both)

[pcsbyte]

Nice tune. Good Job.

[LuxxxNoir]

being a huge fan from the 70's , Page/Plant openly admitted that they'd take riffs,lyrics,etc.from other music they even named artists,mostly Robert Johnson.This the spirit of any art. Look back in old interviews.What a better way to influence the generations than to teach them of generations in the past.

many Kudos to this great performer and this great song.Most people wouldnt give a hoot about music like this if it weren't for other musicians bringing it to their attention.

[LuxxxNoir]

Do you think all the kiddies will freak if we tell them that rob zombies lyric "more human than human" is actually a line from blade runner??And thats what inspired that song?? same dif.

[americandevil]

@LuxxxNoir There's some truth to what you say, but the problem with your defense of Page, is that he did NOT credit Jansch.

Where Jansch's recording of "Blackwaterside" is credited as "Traditional, arranged Jansch", Jimmy Page gave songwriting credits for "Black Mountain Side" to himself.

Jansch's arrangement of Blackwaterside was totally unique compared with the traditional arrangements of the song. . . Jimmy Page is a talented guitarist, and a bold, unashamed plagiarizer.

[morphinlounge101]

After hearing this I felt ashamed for being a Jimmy Page fan. But then again Jimmy Page introduced me to Bert's music. So Jimmy pay the royalties to Bert and I'll give you kudos for introducing me to Bert's music.

[VladDImpala]

On evening, I put Bert's 'Jack Orion' LP on for a few friends who were visiting, one was a young guitarist. He immediately said, "Oh, I know that...it's Jimmy Page's old song..." Needless to say, I had to educate some people about Bert and the origins of "Black Water Side" AKA "Black Mountain Side" lol

[devilsclickingcanes]

This composition is so haunting, so moving, it carries the day all by itself as long as the performer gets it right. I am most impressed by the composition itself here although Jansch has soul, no doubt about it.

[onlytheblues]

Seine Stimme ist nicht mit ihm gealtert, man hört ihn aus 1000en heraus.

[classicROCKguy123]

Ok to settle it all PAGE DOES CREDIT BERT FOR BLACK MOUNTAINSIDE

[gab99]

Jansch I'm glad to say sued Page/Zep's ass and won - they settled out of court. Page has done it time and again (even though I love Zep I cant help but acknowledge that fact)

[supromanz]

I remember buying his LP (long playing record) in the 60's. It was one of the finest records I ever listened to. Each song a musical gem. He has provided inspiration to thousands of finger pickers.

[bogwoppit66]

It's all about manners. In Britain the audience shutup and listen to quality like Bert. It's called having 'good order'. Still a gorgeous song tho. There must have been a bar at the back, always difficult for performers to compete with.

[thejunkyardbear]

i agree with previous comments about not knowing how to shut up and crowds

[weejoeecosse]

if i wrote a song that page wanted to cover i'd be well chuffed,loads of ppl wouldnt know who bert was otherwise,if page done "on the western plain" by rory gallagher,gallagher would have been more appreciated for his guitar work.

[VladDImpala]

HUH? Page has had ALL these years to acknowledge Jansch for this song, has he? Older fans did actually know who Bert Jansch & his band Pentangle were, they didn't need Page stealing this to inform them. I have to wonder if the new generation of Zep & Page fans are aware of the blatant plagarism, of Bert's music let alone black American bluesmen. Zep simply presented it in a more visually exciting package at the time, making it more platable & sexier for a younger audience.

[hamwinkie]

Most kids, hippies I knew ignored the trak off that album. They wanted Dazed and Confused etc, more ripped off stuff. This is not really a Jansch song either but Zep had a lot of what we called filler back in 69. Page is one of the worst at what he did. Sad really. His ego is amazing. I imagine he thinks his dick is 15 inches long? Peace

[TomRAFC]

page was notorious for it, rock n roll, whole lotta love, black mountain side, stairway, all have aspects of plagarism in them, there is a huge difference between being influenced by a song and ripping a song off and page did the latter frequently. i love led zepp however alot of their tunes are plagarised.

[BonDonnell]

@VladDImpala: I'm 26, listened exclusively to Zep from grade 7 to 12, was awestruck by the vast majority of page's guitarwork (especially his acoustic stuff, ie III), and have just within the past few years gotten into the 60's acoustic folk revival in the UK...can't remember the last time I popped a Zep CD in the player...graham, jansch, renbourn, drake, wizz jones, martyn are so much more authentic...also check out paul curreri (contemporary american folk artisit)

[bonniewrongford]

yeah the audience are really annoying...it really gets my goat that people don't know how to listen properly anymore, I grew up in folk clubs where the 'pindrop' etiquette was followed, I miss that, it's hard to find these days, when I play live and comperee open mics it does annotyme that people don't know how to shut up..it's realy disheartening for the artists, I'm surprised a legend like Jansch has to endure this too!

Jules Landau (musician)

[ShiftyKilo]

the crowd won't shut up.

[thew75]

it's ALWAYS a chatfest at the bottle.... the music can turn into wallpaper easily, since there's a bar in the back.

[Legacy76]

I wish the older video was available. God I hate crap like that. Archival footage that we can't see. Thanks for this version.

[Poomp75]

Shame on you Jimmy.

[Legacy76]

Naw, thank you Jimmy and Bert.

[madforgorky]

jimmy was apparently discriminating in whose work he was going to nick check out footage of davey graham.

[ISB]

Bert!

[penguinharry]

YES, keep them video's coming, very nice to see him live!

[BillNeilan]

It's good to know he's still has his chops. Thanks for the upload. I've heard his name for many years but it has only been recently that I've heard and learned to appreciate his place in mucis history.

[Erix20]

That was just awesome, Jansch is on fire!

[tapenoise]

Wow!!! Thanks for posting this!!

[lennon10940]

I saw Bert in Brooklyn, I don't think my jaw left the floor the entire time.

[VladDImpala]

WHERE did Bert play in Brooklyn, at St. Ann's while they were still presenting concerts at the old church venue? I would have loved to have been there. I've seen Richard Thompson several times at the church before they moved the concerts to a new building.