''L.A. Turnaround'' is the ninth album by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musician

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) 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 ...

, released in 1974.

Background

After the demise of Pentangle, Jansch recorded the album in

Tony Stratton Smith Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and ...

's home in

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and in a studio in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was produced by

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

with the exception of two of the tracks ("Chambertin" and former bandmate

John Renbourn John Renbourn (8 August 1944 – 26 March 2015) was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo care ...

’s "Lady Nothing") which were recorded in Paris a year earlier. A short film was produced during the sessions in Sussex. Other guest musicians include

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including "You're So V ...

(bass guitar),

Red Rhodes Orville J. Rhodes, better known as Red Rhodes or O. J. Rhodes (December 30, 1930 – August 20, 1995), was an American pedal steel guitarist. His mother taught him to play the Dobro at the age of five, but at the age of fifteen he switched to ...

(pedal steel guitar),

Byron Berline Byron Douglas Berline (July 6, 1944 – July 10, 2021) was an American fiddle player who played many American music styles, including old time, ragtime, bluegrass, Cajun, country, and rock. Life and career Berline was born in Caldwell, Kansas ...

(fiddle, mandolin) and

Jesse Ed Davis Jesse Edwin Davis III (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Eric Clapton, J ...

(guitar).

Reception

In his review for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album, "The album was hailed at the time as an exemplary work, and its reputation certainly holds in the 21st century... the set walks through a lush garden that stands between the traditional English folk that Jansch had mastered and a sort of easy-breathing country-rock. Simply put, this is one of Jansch’s masterpieces, and a singular type of album in his long and storied career."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Bert Jansch; except where indicated #"Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning" – 3:57 #"Chambertin" – 4:04 #"One for Jo" – 2:28 #"Travelling Man" – 2:47 #"Open Up the Watergate (Let the Sunshine In)" – 2:40 #"Stone Monkey" – 3:10 #"Of Love and Lullaby" – 2:28 #"Needle of Death" – 3:24 #"Lady Nothing" (

) – 2:32 #"There Comes a Time" – 2:38 #"

Cluck Old Hen "Cluck Old Hen" is a popular Appalachian fiddle and banjo tune in the mixolydian or dorian mode (as in the score below which is in A dorian). It is played either as an instrumental or with lyrics, which vary from one version to another. One of t ...

" (Traditional; arranged by Bert Jansch) – 3:10 #"The Blacksmith" (lyrics: Jansch; music:

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

) – 3:30

2009 Remaster

Same as the original LP release, with the following bonus tracks: #"Open Up the Watergate" (Alternate Version) – 3:38 #"One for Jo" (Alternate Version) – 3:10 #"The Blacksmith" (Alternate Version) – 3:39 #"

In the Bleak Midwinter "In the Bleak Midwinter" is a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti, commonly performed as a Christmas carol. The poem was published, under the title "A Christmas Carol", in the January 1872 issue of ''Scribner's Monthly,'' and was first c ...

" (

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

; arranged by Bert Jansch) – 2:25

Personnel

*Bert Jansch - guitar, piano, vocals *

- guitar *

- steel guitar *

- fiddle, mandolin on "Cluck Old Hen" *

- bass *Danny Lane - drums *

- guitar on "Open Up the Watergate" *Jay Lacy - guitar on "Of Love and Lullaby" * Michael Cohen - electric piano on "The Blacksmith"

Production

*Producer:

, Danny Thompson *Recording engineer: Jean-Louis,

Ron Nevison Ron Nevison is an American record producer and audio engineer. He started his career in the early 1970s as an engineer on ''Quadrophenia'' by the Who and Bad Company's debut album. He eventually became a producer, working with artists including M ...

, Bill Drescher *Art Direction: Frank Sansom *Photography: Mike Van Der Vord

References

{{Authority control Bert Jansch albums 1974 albums Charisma Records albums Albums produced by Michael Nesmith