Thanks for the tipoff, FF... Pentangle started getting noticed on this side of the pond back when I was in high school and college. I liked the not-so-purist British folk, & so-called folk-rock scene -- Fairport, et.al. -- and being a fledgling guitarist with eclectic tastes, I was naturally drawn to Pentangle. I still perform some of the more Bert-influenced numbers. I count Bert as a mentor, so I'm particularly saddened to learn of his passing. He had a hard time of it later in life, I understand -- he had to sell off his guitars at one point, though I do not think that Bert was as emotionally attached to his instruments as some of us can get. His health was apparently a bit shakey for some time.
I especially liked the edgier stuff -- 'Poison'... Bert's vocal part on 'House Carpenter'... Yes, he's a favorite of mine as a vocalist, too (so you won't be surprised to learn that I take to good Dylan and Richard Thompson vocals, as well). It was nice that he enjoyed a surge of recognition, and gathered tributes from so many fine artists later in life. I might hope that Yamaha do a little something in memorium to recognize how well Bert's music represented what their best lutherie could contribute to an artist's vision and performance.
On a very personal note, it took me the better part of 40 years to get Bert's straightforeward, but achingly sad performance of the traditional 'Lord Franklin' pushed far enough to the back recesses of my mind that I was finally able to deal with that tune as a performer in an unambiguously original way -- at least, as original as you can hope for in popular music. It's a melody which has been a foundation behind many a more contemporary folkish composition, including one or two of Dylan's more popular songs. I'd wanted to write something taking off from that with which younger American audiences might more easily identify than the narrative of Franklin's expedition. A quarter century hiatus from playing did slow me up some... But a night did finally come when that magic, for no discernable reason, just starts to happen. And something quite different emerged from a couplet or two I'd had in mind for awhile in connection with that long simmering pot of inspiration -- something particularly meaningful and defining for me in these times of all our lives... and one of the best (perhaps, the best) of my songworks. Others, I guess, must judge that. I will simply dedicate that one to Bert from here on in. It's the truest compliment I can give the man.
