Basket of Light
| Basket of Light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1969 | |||
| Recorded | IBC Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Folk jazz, folk rock[1] | |||
| Length | 40:07 | |||
| Label | Transatlantic | |||
| Producer | Shel Talmy | |||
| Pentangle chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone | (unfavorable) [2] |
Basket of Light is a 1969 album by the British folk rock group Pentangle. It reached no. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. The single "Light Flight", the theme from BBC1's first colour drama series Take Three Girls, reached no. 43 on the UK singles chart. Another single, "Once I Had a Sweetheart", reached no. 46.[3]
The liner notes state that "Springtime Promises" was written "after a ride on a number 74 bus from Gloucester Road to Greencroft Gardens on an early spring day".
Legacy
[edit]The album was included in the books 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die [4] and 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.[5]
Tracks
[edit]All tracks are written by Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox and Jacqui McShee, except as noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Light Flight" | McShee | 3:14 | |
| 2. | "Once I Had a Sweetheart" | Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee | McShee | 4:37 |
| 3. | "Springtime Promises" | Jansch | 4:04 | |
| 4. | "Lyke-Wake Dirge" | Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee | Renbourn, Cox and McShee | 3:32 |
| 5. | "Train Song" | Jansch and McShee | 4:43 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hunting Song" | McShee and Jansch | 6:41 | |
| 2. | "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" | Lona Stevens, Zell Sanders | Renbourn and McShee | 3:34 |
| 3. | "The Cuckoo" | Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee | McShee | 4:26 |
| 4. | "House Carpenter" | Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee | McShee and Jansch | 5:27 |
The album cover uses photographs of Pentangle's 1968 concert in the Royal Albert Hall. A note about the instrumentation states that "All the instruments played on this album are acoustic."
Personnel
[edit]- Pentangle
- Terry Cox – drums, glockenspiel, hand drum, vocals
- Bert Jansch – vocals, guitar; banjo on "House Carpenter"
- Jacqui McShee – vocals
- John Renbourn – vocals, guitar, sitar
- Danny Thompson – double bass
- Technical
- Shel Talmy – producer
- Damon Lyon-Shaw – engineer
- John Pantry – engineer
Released versions
[edit]Basket of Light was released as a UK LP in October 1969, as Transatlantic TRA2O5. The U.S. version, in the same year was Reprise R56372. The album was re-released as a digitally remastered CD in 2001, as Castle CMRCD207, which includes two alternate takes of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" and the non-album B-sides: "Cold Mountain" and "I Saw an Angel".
References
[edit]- ^ a b Basket of Light at AllMusic
- ^ Von Tersch, Gary (21 February 1970). "Records". Rolling Stone (52). San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.: 50.
- ^ Pentangle UK chart history, The Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
- ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
- ^ Moon, Tom (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. New York: Workman Publishing. p. 590. ISBN 9780761139638.
