Herbert Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter.
He recorded more than 28 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.
real name: Herbert Jansch
labels: Transatlantic Records, Charisma, Drag City
genres: traditional folk music, folk rock
awards: BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, MOJO Awards, honorary doctor of the Edinburgh Napier University
plays: Appalachian dulcimer, guitar, voice
member of: Pentangle, Pentangle
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Herbert Jansch was born at Stobhill Hospital in the Springburn district of Glasgow, on 3 November 1943, the descendant of a family originally from Hamburg, Germany, who settled in Scotland during the Victorian era. The family name is pronounced yansh in German, although Jansch himself, like several other members of his family, pronounced it jansh.
Jansch's music, and particularly his acoustic guitar playing, have influenced a range of well-known musicians. His first album (Bert Jansch, 1965) was much admired, with Jimmy Page saying, "At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch. When I first heard that LP, I couldn't believe it. It was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing. No one in America could touch that." The same debut album included Jansch's version of the Davy Graham instrumental "Angie". This was a favourite of Mike Oldfield, who practised acoustic guitar alone as a child, and was then heavily influenced by Jansch's style. The title of the instrumental inspired Oldfield to call his first band (with sister Sally) the Sallyangie.