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John Renbourn (born 8 August 1944, Marylebone
Marylebone

Marylebone is an affluent, inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It can be pronounced as Marribun or Mar-lee-bone Marylebone is in an area of London that can be roughly defined as the area bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone Road to the north, Edgware Road to the west and Portland Place to...
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
) is an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 guitarist
Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may perform solo pieces or play with ensembles and bands of a wide variety of genres....
 and songwriter
Songwriter

File:Beethoven.jpgA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer....
. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch

Herbert Jansch , known as Bert Jansch, is a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle . He was born in Glasgow and, in the 1960s, he was heavily influenced by the guitarist Davey Graham and folk singers such as Anne Briggs....
 as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle
Pentangle (band)

Pentangle are a United Kingdom folk rock band. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version have been active since the early 1980s....
, although he maintained a solo career both before, during and after that band's existence (1967-1973).

While most commonly labelled a folk musician, Renbourn's musical tastes and interests take in early music, classical music, blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 and world music.






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John Renbourn (born 8 August 1944, Marylebone
Marylebone

Marylebone is an affluent, inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It can be pronounced as Marribun or Mar-lee-bone Marylebone is in an area of London that can be roughly defined as the area bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone Road to the north, Edgware Road to the west and Portland Place to...
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
) is an English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 guitarist
Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may perform solo pieces or play with ensembles and bands of a wide variety of genres....
 and songwriter
Songwriter

File:Beethoven.jpgA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer....
. He is possibly best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch

Herbert Jansch , known as Bert Jansch, is a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle . He was born in Glasgow and, in the 1960s, he was heavily influenced by the guitarist Davey Graham and folk singers such as Anne Briggs....
 as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle
Pentangle (band)

Pentangle are a United Kingdom folk rock band. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version have been active since the early 1980s....
, although he maintained a solo career both before, during and after that band's existence (1967-1973).

While most commonly labelled a folk musician, Renbourn's musical tastes and interests take in early music, classical music, blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 and world music. His most influential album, Sir John Alot (1968), featured his take on songs from the Medieval era
Medieval music

The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends in approximately the middle of the fifteenth century....
.

Career

John Renbourn studied classical guitar at school and it was during this period that he was introduced to Early Music. In the 1950s, along with many others, he was greatly influenced by the musical craze of "Skiffle
Skiffle

Skiffle is a type of folk music with jazz, blues and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments such as the washboard, tea chest bass, kazoo, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw, comb and paper, and so forth, as well as more conventional instruments such as Steel-string guitar and banjo....
" and this eventually led him to explore the work of artists such as Leadbelly
Leadbelly

Huddie William Ledbetter was an United States folk blues musician, notable for his clear and forceful singing, his virtuosity on the twelve string guitar, and the rich songbook of folk standards he introduced....
, Josh White
Josh White

Joshua Daniel White , best known as Josh White, was a legendary United States of America singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist....
 and Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy

Big Bill Broonzy was a prolific United States blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played Country blues to mostly black audiences....
.

In the 1960s the new craze in popular music was Rhythm and Blues, also the impact of Davey Graham
Davey Graham

David Michael Gordon Graham, known as Davey Graham , , was a British nationality guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s folk music revolution in England....
 was being felt. In 1961 Renbourn toured the South West with Mac MacLeod
Mac MacLeod

Mac MacLeod is an English people musician who was a part of the Hertfordshire Folk music and blues scene from 1959 onwards. He played in St Albans alongside Mick Softley, Maddy Prior and toured with John Renbourn....
 and repeated the tour in 1963. Renbourn briefly played in an R'n'B band while studying at the Kingston College of Art in London. Although the British 'Folk Revival' was underway at this time, most folk clubs were biased towards traditional, unaccompanied folk songs and guitar players were not always welcome. However the Roundhouse
The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is a former Motive power depot now used as an arts and concert venue in Chalk Farm, London. Built in 1846, it ceased to be used as an engine shed by 1867, and underwent various uses before being abandoned just before the Second World War....
 in London had a more tolerant attitude and here, John Renbourn joined Blues and Gospel singer Dorris Henderson, playing backing guitar and recording two albums with her.

Possibly the best known London venue for contemporary folk music in the early 1960s was "Les Cousins
Les Cousins (music club)

Les Cousins was a folk and blues club in the basement of a restaurant in Greek Street, in the Soho district of London. It had its heyday during the British folk music revival of the mid-1960s and was notable as a venue in which musicians of that period met and learnt from each other....
" in Greek Street, Soho
Soho

Soho is an area in the centre of the West End of London of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry....
, which became the main meeting place for guitar players and contemporary singer-songwriters from Britain and America. Around 1963, Renbourn teamed up with guitarist Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch

Herbert Jansch , known as Bert Jansch, is a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle . He was born in Glasgow and, in the 1960s, he was heavily influenced by the guitarist Davey Graham and folk singers such as Anne Briggs....
 who was visiting London from Edinburgh and together they developed an intricate duet style that became known as "folk baroque
Folk baroque

Folk baroque or baroque guitar is the name given to a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British traditional music to produce a new and elaborate form of accompaniment....
". Their album "Bert and John
Bert And John

Bert And John is the fourth album by Scotland Folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1966. A number of songs are performed with friend and fellow guitarist John Renbourn, who would later join him in the group Pentangle ....
" is a fine example of their playing.

Renbourn released several albums on the Transatlantic
Transatlantic Records

Transatlantic Records was a United Kingdom independent record label. It was established in 1961 in music and developed a reputation as a pioneer in various musical genres....
 label during the 1960s. Two of them, "Sir John Alot" and "Lady And The Unicorn" sum up Renbourn's playing style and material from this period. "Sir John Alot" has a mixture of jazz/blues/folk playing alongside a more classical/early music style. "Lady And The Unicorn" is heavily influenced by Renbourn's interest in early music.

At around this time, Renbourn also started playing with Jacqui McShee
Jacqui McShee

Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle , a jazz influenced folk rock band.McShee's musical career began as a soloist in British folk clubs in the mid-1960s....
 who sang traditional English folk songs. Together with Bert Jansch
Bert Jansch

Herbert Jansch , known as Bert Jansch, is a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle . He was born in Glasgow and, in the 1960s, he was heavily influenced by the guitarist Davey Graham and folk singers such as Anne Briggs....
, bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox, they went on to form Pentangle
Pentangle (band)

Pentangle are a United Kingdom folk rock band. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a later version have been active since the early 1980s....
. The group became very successful, touring America in 1968, playing at the Carnegie Hall and at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival

The Newport Folk Festival is an Music of the United States annual folk music-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959....
.

Renbourn went on to record more solo albums in the Seventies and Eighties. Much of the music is based on traditional material with a Celtic influence, interwoven with other styles. He also collaborated with American guitarist Stefan Grossman
Stefan Grossman

Stefan Grossman is an American guitarist, teacher and businessman.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he began playing guitar at the age of nine, when his father bought him a Harmony f-hole acoustic guitar....
 in the late 1970s recording two albums with him, which at times hark back to the folk baroque days with Bert Jansch.

In the mid-1980s Renbourn went back to university to earn a degree in composition, since which time he has focused mainly on writing classical music, while still performing in folk settings. He also added acoustic guitars for the movie soundtrack Scream for Help
Scream for Help (album)

Scream for Help is a soundtrack album by John Paul Jones , released by Atlantic Records on 22 March, 1985 to accompany the film Scream for Help....
, a studio project with his neighbour John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)

John Paul Jones is an England musician, composer, orchestration, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist musician.Best known as the bass guitarist, keyboardist and, less often, mandolin player for Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a successful Solo career, and is widely respected as both a musician and a producer....
.

In 1988, Renbourn briefly formed a group called Ship of Fools with Tony Roberts
Tony Roberts

Tony Roberts could mean:*Tony Roberts , American actor in Woody Allen films*Tony Roberts , large-scale works in fused glass and metals*Tony Roberts , British author of the Casca series from 2006 onwards...
 (flute), Maggie Boyle
Maggie Boyle

Maggie Boyle is a London-born Irish singer-songwriter.As a youngster she joined the Fulham branch of Comhaltas Ceolt?ir? ?ireann . Later she became an events organiser....
 (lyrics, misc. instruments), and Steve Tilston
Steve Tilston

Steve Tilston is an English singer-songwriter....
 (guitar). They recorded one eponymous album together. After practicing by mailing tapes to each other in England, they held their first concert, comprising two sold-out shows, at Harvard's Hasty Pudding Club
Hasty Pudding Club

The Hasty Pudding Club was founded by Nymphus Hatch, a junior at Harvard University, in 1790. The club is named for the traditional American dish that the founding members ate at their first meeting....
 Theater. Regrettably, the soundboard bootleg tape was not saved due to a dispute between the concert promoter and the audio engineer.

Renbourn continues to record and tour. He toured the USA with Archie Fisher
Archie Fisher

Archie Fisher MBE is a Scotland folk singer....
. In 2005 he toured Japan (his fifth tour of that country) with Tokio Uchida
Tokio Uchida

Tokio Uchida is an influential acoustic guitar player who combines elements of American country blues with musical influences from his native Japan....
 and Woody Mann
Woody Mann

Woody Mann is an United States acoustic guitarist. First studying with blues legend Reverend Gary Davis, Mann also received formal training at the Juilliard School in New York City....
. In 2006 he played at number of venues in England, including appearances with Robin Williamson
Robin Williamson

Robin Williamson is a Scotland multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band....
 and with Jacqui McShee. In the same year, he was working on a new solo album and collaborated with Clive Carroll on the score for the film Driving Lessons
Driving Lessons

Driving Lessons is a 2006 in film Cinema of the United Kingdom dramedy written and directed by Jeremy Brock. The plot focuses on the relationship between a shy teenaged boy and an aging eccentric actress....
 directed by Jeremy Brock
Jeremy Brock

Jeremy Brock is a British actor, producer, writer, and director whose works include the screenplays Mrs. Brown, Driving Lessons, Last King of Scotland, and Charlotte Gray ....
.

Guitars


In Renbourn's early recordings, he was using a Scarth guitar. Scarths were English-made guitars, mainly used by dance band players, having maple back and sides, arched top, and tailpiece (like most jazz guitars), but featuring a round soundhole. The guitar is clearly visible on the cover of the 1965 John Renbourn album.

In the mid 1960s, he acquired a Gibson J-50
Gibson Guitar Corporation

The Gibson Guitar Corporation, of Nashville, Tennessee, USA, is a manufacturer of Steel-string guitar and electric guitars. Gibson also owns and makes guitars under such brands as Epiphone, Kramer Guitars, Valley Arts Guitar, Tobias , Steinberger, and Gibson Kalamazoo Electric Guitar....
. This was the main acoustic guitar that he used through the late 1960s and early 1970s: for example, he is seen playing it in the cover picture of the 1971 Faro Annie album. Through that period, he also used a Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335

The Gibson ES-335 was the world's first commercial Semi-acoustic Guitar electric guitar, released by Gibson Guitar Corporation 1958 in music. It is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body, but the sides are hollow, sporting violin-style f-holes....
 "dot", semi-acoustic guitar, playing it fingerstyle as well as for lead lines.

In the mid 1970s, Renbourn acquired a Guild D-55
Guild Guitar Company

The Guild Guitar Company is a USA-based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge.The first Guild workshop was located on Newark St....
 which he used on several albums, including his collaborations with Stefan Grossman. Later in the 1970s, having seen the Franklin guitar owned by Grossman, he started using a Franklin OM guitar, based on the style of Martin OM guitars, made by Nick Kukich who founded the Franklin guitar company. Renbourn continues to use this guitar and another OM-style instrument, made by Ralph Bown of York, UK in 1985.

Discography


Solo albums

  • John Renbourn
    John Renbourn (album)

    John Renbourn is the debut album by John Renbourn....
     (1965)
  • Another Monday (1967)
  • Sir John Alot of Merry Englandes Musyk Thynge and ye Grene Knyghte (1968)
  • The Lady and the Unicorn (1970)
  • Faro Annie (1972)
  • So Clear (1973)
  • Heads and Tails (1973)
  • The Guitar of John Renbourn (1976, released 2005, aka The Guitar Artistry of John Renbourn)
  • The Hermit (1976)
  • The Black Balloon (1979)
  • One Morning Very Early (1979)
  • Enchanted Garden (1980)
  • The Nine Maidens
    The Nine Maidens

    The Nine Maidens is a 1985 album by John Renbourn....
     (1986)
  • Shines Bright (1987)
  • Folk Blues of John Renbourn (1988)
  • Medieval Almanac (1989)
  • Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1995)
  • Lost Sessions (1996)
  • Traveller's Prayer
    Traveller's Prayer (album)

    Traveller's Prayer is a 1998 album by John Renbourn....
     (1998)


Group albums

With The John Renbourn Group
  • A Maid in Bedlam
    A Maid in Bedlam

    A Maid in Bedlam is a 1977 album by John Renbourn....
     (1977)
  • The Enchanted Garden (1980)


With Ship of Fools
  • Ship of Fools (1988)


Collaborations

With Dorris Henderson
  • There You Go (1965)
  • Watch the Stars (1967)


With Stefan Grossman
  • Live In (1978)
  • John Renbourn and Stefan Grossman (1978) (*)
  • Under the Volcano (1979)
  • The Three Kingdoms (1986)
  • (* Selected tracks from John Renbourn and Stefan Grossman and from Under the Volcano were re-released under the title Keeper of the Vine (1982), and a different selection re-released under the title Snap a Little Owl (1997))


With Bert Jansch
  • Bert and John (1966)
  • After The Dance (1992)


With Bert Jansch and Conundrum
  • Thirteen Down (1979)


Compilations

  • The Essential Collection Vol 1: The Soho Years (1986)
  • The Essential Collection Vol 2: The Moon Shines Bright (1987)
  • Essential John Renbourn (1992)
  • Collection (1995)
  • Definitive Transatlantic Collection (1998)
  • Nobody's Fault But Mine: An Anthology


Live albums

  • Live in America (1981) - The John Renbourn Group
  • Live ... In Concert (1984) - John Renbourn and Stefan Grossman
    Stefan Grossman

    Stefan Grossman is an American guitarist, teacher and businessman.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he began playing guitar at the age of nine, when his father bought him a Harmony f-hole acoustic guitar....
  • Wheel of Fortune (1993) - John Renbourn and Robin Williamson
    Robin Williamson

    Robin Williamson is a Scotland multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, songwriter and storyteller, who first made his name as a founder member of The Incredible String Band....
  • Live In Italy (2006)


DVDs

  • Rare Performances 1965 - 1995 (2004)
  • In Concert (2004)


External links

  • at the website