Review Summary: Fresh as a sweet Sunday morning
Bert Jansch's gift as a musician wasn’t so much in his sheer talent as a guitarist, as it was for fellow Pentangle alumnus John Renbourn, nor in the revitalization of the Ye Old English prog-folk of that group, but rather in his ability to distill the whole feeling of a given moment and mood into a single guitar lick, a single drawled line of languid poetry. His 1974 album,
L.A. Turnaround serves as a touching snapshot of the British folk scene during a transformative period, a time when the likes of John Martyn were searching further afield than the fertile ground of England’s folk past and were beginning to draw from more cosmopolitan sources, sources as far-flung as jazz, raga and American country music. In the context of the early 1970s, when traditional folk music was experiencing something of a transformation,
L.A. Turnaround not only reflects the spirit of its time but also maintains a timeless intimacy that speaks to an English experience of American folk traditions.
At the heart of
L.A. Turnaround lies Bert Jansch's unassuming mastery of his craft, and a deft touch at taking just the right amount of influence from further afield. Jansch, a longtime luminary of the British scene at this point, embraces the evolving landscape with open arms, building upon the trad-folk scaffold with the dusty sunset visions of Western highways and Big Sur sunsets. Opening track “Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning”, probably one of the greatest tracks Jansch ever penned, opens the album with a sense of musical exploration, a languid, easygoing melancholy built on the back of a dreamy pedal-steel arpeggio. Jansch's intricate fingerstyle guitar, a hallmark of his style, draws on both traditional folk techniques and the broader palette of American acoustic music.
What draws the most throughout the album, is Jansch’s knack for keeping the mood both intimate and relatable throughout, while fusing it seamlessly with the expansive sounds of the American scene. The warmth permeating each track is palpable, expressed through Jansch's intricate fingerpicking and soulful vocals, giving the sense of an invitation, an early morning jam session in some mist-shrouded cabin while the coffee begins to boil. Pensive, moody instrumentals "Chambertin" and “Lady Nothing” showcase Jansch's mastery of the guitar and his ability to convey emotion without words. “Stone Monkey”, perhaps the song that draws most explicitly from country sounds still keeps, at its core, the warmth and old-soul spirit of U.K. Folk.
As
L.A. Turnaround progresses, tracks like "One For Jo” and “Needle of Death” demonstrate the folk scene's inclination towards introspection and a return to traditional storytelling. Jansch's lyrical depth and acoustic arrangements resonate with the era's interest in reviving and reinterpreting the narrative traditions of folk music. The country influence, which shows itself in the undercoat of Bert’s musical landscape rather than taking on a more central role, is what gives the album so much of its atmosphere, a mood that’s timeless and worldly while somehow being simultaneously and totally of its time and era. The dip into headlong down-home folksiness with “Cluck Old Hen” never belies this fact, but rather compliments the varied depths this album reaches when drawing from the more traditional folk well.
L.A. Turnaround stands today as more than just a testament to the rich tapestry of the evolving English folk scene of the 70s. The album encapsulates the spirit of experimentation and introspection that defined the time while keeping those experimental touches so light as to be translucent, making it not just a timeless piece of music, but an album that is unique in its ability to be both unique and original while breaking precious little of what could be called new ground. Jansch's ability to seamlessly blend traditional folk with American influences, coupled with his instrumental virtuosity and lyrical depth, cements
L.A. Turnaround as a pinnacle of British folk resilience and a shining jewel in the crown of folk music.
