''Solomon's Seal'' is an album recorded in 1972 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the last album recorded by the original line-up, before the band split in 1973. Jacqui McShee has stated that it is her favourite Pentangle album. The album title refers to the

Seal of Solomon The Seal of Solomon or Ring of Solomon ( he, חותם שלמה, '; ar, خاتم سليمان, ') is the legendary signet ring attributed to the Israelite king Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within ...

— a mythical signet ring with magical powers, sometimes associated with the

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...

symbol adopted by Pentangle. ''Solomon's Seal'' was recorded at

Sound Techniques Sound Techniques was a recording studio in Chelsea, London that was operational between 1965 and 1976. Housed in a former dairy, it was founded by recording engineers Geoff Frost and John Wood. The studio became well known as the place where man ...

studio, London, between February and March 1972. Pentangle's contract with Transatlantic had expired and, amid a dispute with Transatlantic over royalties, the band had switched allegiance to Warner/Reprise, who had been their U.S. distributor. The album was released in September 1972, to coincide with the start of Pentangle's new tour. However, by the start of 1973, the band had split and sales of the album were disappointing, leaving the band members still paying off their debts, against the album's advance royalties, into the early 1980s. The album opens with their version of

Cyril Tawney Cyril Tawney (12 October 1930 – 21 April 2005) was an English singer-songwriter and a proponent of the traditional songs of the West of England, as well as traditional and modern maritime songs. Biography and notable works Tawney was born in ...

's song of a sailor's lost love: "Sally Free and Easy". Unlike its usual rendition as a sea shanty, Pentangle treat this to a slow bluesy rhythm.

Reception

Retrospective reviews generally described ''Solomon's Seal'' as a low point for Pentangle.

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 ...

commented that "Ultimately, there's nothing seriously wrong with the record, other than a certain complacency and lack of the fiery inspiration and risk-taking that had fueled their greatest previous heights." They added that "none of the individual tracks would rate among their best." Colin Harper wrote "''Solomon's Seal'' is a record of people's weariness, but also the product of a unit whose members were still among the best players, writers and musical interpreters of their day."

Track listing

All songs written by

Terry Cox Terence William Harvey 'Terry' Cox (born 13 March 1937, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) played drums in the British folk rock bands The Pentangle, Duffy's Nucleus and Humblebums. He also drummed with several other artists, most notably D ...

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 ...

Jacqui McShee Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee (born 25 December 1943) is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz-influenced folk rock band. Biography McShee was born in Catford, South London. Her musical career began as a soloist in ...

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 ...

and

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

, except where noted. #"Sally Free and Easy" (

) – 3:55 #"

The Cherry Tree Carol "The Cherry-Tree Carol" ( Roud 453) is a ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads (no. 54). The song itself is very old, reportedly sung in some form at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early ...

" (Traditional; arranged by Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee) – 2:57 #" The Snows" – 3:43 #"

High Germany High Germany is a geographical term referring to the mountainous southern part of Germany. The term is first found in medieval Latin as , for example in chapter 23 of the ''Imago mundi'' of Honorius Augustodunensis (12th century, Regensburg): , "F ...

" (Traditional; arranged by Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee) – 3:15 #"People On the Highway" – 4:46 #" Willy O' Winsbury" (Traditional; arranged by Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee) – 6:50 #"No Love Is Sorrow" – 2:41 #"Jump Baby Jump" – 3:10 #"Lady of Carlisle" (Traditional; arranged by Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McShee) – 4:41 "The Snows" is listed as a Pentangle composition but is actually a Traditional song, previously recorded by both

Archie Fisher Archie Macdonald Fisher (born 23 October 1939) is a Scottish folk singer and songwriter. He has released several solo albums since his first, eponymous album, in 1968. Fisher composed the song "The Final Trawl", recorded on the album ''Windwa ...

and

Anne Briggs Anne Patricia Briggs (born 29 September 1944) is an English folk singer. Although she travelled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in England and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achiev ...

Personnel

;Pentangle *

– drums, percussion, finger cymbals, vocals *

– acoustic guitar, dulcimer, harmonica, banjo, vocals *

– vocals *

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sitar, banjo, recorder, vocals *

– double bass

Release history

''Solomon's Seal'' was released in 1972 in the UK as Reprise K44197 and in the USA as Reprise 2100. A digitally remastered version was released on CD in 2003, as Castle CMQCD555. This was produced from a tape owned by John Renbourn as the original masters were believed to be lost. However, the original master tapes have since been found in the U.S.A.Harper p.375

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon's Seal (Album) 1972 albums Pentangle (band) albums Albums produced by John Wood (record producer) Reprise Records albums