Basket of Light is a 1969 album by the folk rock group Pentangle. It reached no. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. A single from the album, "Light Flight", the theme from BBC1's first colour drama series Take Three Girls, reached no. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. Another single from the album, "Once I Had a Sweetheart", reached no. 46 in the charts.[3]
| 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] |
The album's 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
editThe album was included in the books 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die [4] and 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.
Tracks
editAll 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, lead and backing vocals
- Bert Jansch – lead and backing vocals, guitar, banjo on "House Carpenter"
- Jacqui McShee – lead and backing vocals
- John Renbourn – lead and backing vocals, guitar, sitar
- Danny Thompson – double bass
- Technical
- Shel Talmy – producer
- Damon Lyon-Shaw – engineer
- John Pantry – engineer
Released versions
editBasket 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.