 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
JACQUI MCSHEE & PENTANGLE INTERVIEW This article was written a year ago, but somehow managed to evade publication till now: however, providence has allowed it to coincide with Jacqui McShee and John Renbourn's ongoing acoustic tour, and its content, like that of their timeless music, remains as relevant as before. DARIUS DREWE asks the questions…
|
 |
|
Except that I'm not quite sure if we are yet. It's 3 o'clock, and I'm doing my usual thang of loitering around the backstage area, waiting to see if some kindly official person from the band's entourage has my guest list places sorted, as the wondrous Stevie Horton (Jacqui McShee's solo agent) has told me via email that I have a couple of tickets to pick up. But it's not just for that reason that I lurk here so early in the afternoon- it's also in the hope of meeting up with, and possibly grabbing a few brief words with, the lovely Jacqui herself- who I haven't seen since I actually promoted her 'solo' Pentangle gig in London in 2004, and who I came to regard during that brief business liason as almost some kind of adoptive auntie. Yes, she really is that sweet. And sure enough, thanks to Lauren (Bert Jansch's wife, who appears to be handling everything at the organisational end) I am soon escorted into the backstage area, and there, looking decidedly un-folky and almost frighteningly hip in her combat shorts and matching vest, is the lady herself. One brief reunion hug and an offer of a cup of tea later, I've been granted an informal interview. It ran, more or less, like this. Shindig!: Jacqui, the first thing I must ask you is this. How exactly and for what reasons did this reunion come about? Jacqui: Well, it was simply a matter of everybody being ready, I suppose. Plus, we'd just received this BBC2 Lifetime Folk Achievement Award thing- I don't know if you heard about this, but it was on all the websites, and presented to us by Sir Richard Attenborough of all people. Yes, Dickie!! And then the Royal Festival Hall in London got in touch and said "did we realise it was the 40th anniversary of the recording of Sweet Child", which of course was half recorded there. Well, we probably did all know that that date was coming up, but in all honesty we probably hadn't considered doing anything to commemorate it. But once they asked "would we", we thought that yeah, why not? It was almost as if everything came together for the five of us and all our circumstances were right at that precise time- plus none of us had ever fallen out. And once we'd decided to do this show, we thought it would be a bit daft to just do the one gig- so we set about organising a tour. SD: How do you think things are different for you now compared to back in '68? JM: Well, we're all older, a lot wiser of course, and have a lot more aches and pains than we did back then. Or at least different ones. SD: Now, some bands who have reformed recently (and I'm naming no names) have received criticisms that they don't sound like they used to. Yet reports I've had of the tour dates so far have said that you sound just as good as you did then, without being an exact replication. How do you think you have avoided falling into either trap? JM: Well, it's the instrumentation, isn't it. I mean, when you're using acoustic guitars and upright bass, there's very little that can go wrong. Those instruments are timeless. And Bert and John are just so unmistakeable. Both as individuals and also in the way they play off each other. Instantly, the minute you hear either of them, you know it's them. Back in the 60s they were considered very distinctive, and it's the same now- that recognisbale individuality hasn't changed. Actually though- and we've all confessed to this openly in the past- we never listen to our own records at home. I'm not sure why, we just never did. But in order to rehearse for this tour, we had to, in order to relearn. And now that we have, it's been very refreshing, listening to it all again. Like a whole new experience. SD: Now that you're back together, have you any plans in the near furture for a new studio album- which would be the first featuring all five members since Solomon's Seal? JM: No immediate plans at the moment, no. There might possibly be a live album out of this- we'll see how that goes, I suppose. There's been talk of one anyway, but we haven't really discussed studio plans yet. SD: And I take it you're not going to be cashing in like some reformed bands have (again, mentioning no names..er..GANGOFFOUR!!) by releasing live DVDS filmed there and then on the premises 'available in the foyer'? JM: No, definitely not. Do bands really do that? What a strange idea!! We haven't filmed anything anyway, so there's definitely not going to be a live DVD, even at a later date. No, no silly antics from us. SD: Now, one thing I wanted to ask- what sort of age groups have you been finding in the audiences so far? I gather it's a pretty all-encompassing thing. JM: It is. People who haven't seen us since 1969 or 1970 bring their kids, who are in their teens or twenties and are now fans themselves. There's also the people who have heard Bert from other sources- like his recent appearance on a Babyshambles record, or various things he's done over the years- his solo projects have always been fairly high profile- and investigated where he came from. Plus, people keep namechecking him and John as influences, so people want to check those influences out. SD: Yes, indeed- and some of those people who have namechecked Bert (Super Furry Animals and Spiritualized ) are going to be sharing a stage with you in a few weeks when you play The Green Man Festival. Now, a lot of the audiences that you find at these gatherings tend to be younger than, say, your Cropredy crowd, and are people who tend to collect recordings by other (for want of a better term) 'psychedelic' or 'progressive' folk groups of the time that languished in obscurity for years but have now been reissued on CD. Were you aware at the time just how many bands there were ploughing similar furrows? JM: Oh yes, I've been told, and I do remember seeing some of the names on various bills, but I haven't heard hardly any of them, I have to say. We often played the same bills, the same festivals...but we never had a support act, you see, at normal indoor gigs. Even then we used to insist on it. So we would have had very little direct contact with other bands. And yes, I'm sure that the Green Man is far more like those used to be than the festivals we've become used to nowadays. We'll enter into the spirit in our own way... SD: You wouldn't dress the same way anymore though. JM: Oh, I don't know. Not the same, but quite close. You'll have to see for yourself. SD: I do remember when I promoted you in London back in 2004 you wore this turquoise number, and lo and behold, when you appeared on Jools Holland last week, there it was again!! JM: Yes, I've got it with me now, actually (laughs) But it's being washed. SD: Now, I also remember that I made you a small present the last time of a DVDR of Tam Lin, the Roddy Macdowall-directed horror film from 1970 you provided the music for. Did you get round to watching it, and did it bring back any memories? JM: Ah, yes. That's right. I was wondering when you'd mention this. Sadly, would you believe, I still haven't seen the damn thing!! My keyboard player at the time (Spencer Cozens) took it I think, and as far as I know he's still got it!! I've definitely never had it back. Sorry! SD: Well, what I was going to say was that other films have come to light recently, again partially thanks to DVD reissues but largely due to word of mouth, that featured the work of many of your musical contemporaries and often combined elements of folk and psychedleic culture with cinema. People these days who find that era fascinating, of my age in particular, tend to see it as part of a huge counterculture thing, with everyone in the different creative streams- film, music, photography, literature, art etc- all combining together and bouncing ideas off each other. Was it really like that, do you think? JM: Not that we saw. I mean, you tend to do your own thing, or at least we did, and we didn't take much notice of things like films and other outside influences. You do hear things, though. People mention things to you from time to time and you go "oh, that's interesting". SD: Now, with regard to this concert tonight, and the tour so far, how do you find that the approach to staging live shows differs from the last time round? JM: Well, for one thing, it's not so rough and ready. It used to be very spliced together back then, with a lot of hoping and praying involved! Now, backstage and onstage technology has come into place, and we have a crew that tour from show to show, which we never had back then. They'll even come to the Green Man with us. SD: What time are you on at the festival, by the way? They haven't squeezed you into some afternoon slot, have they? JM: No, we're headlining the Sunday night. Although, I must say, we would actually prefer to be the act on prior to the headliner- we find it's better to go on at 8 o clock than half past ten or something. I mean, why do you have to go on so late? For years, we've never understood it. I mean, it's so cold!! And dark. SD: I suppose it's because people want their festivities to continue as late as possible. I've never been to the Green Man, but I imagine they have to correspond to the same licensing laws as the rest of Britain- and headline acts are normally offstage by about 11.30 at the latest. In Europe, though, so I've been told, they go on all bloody night long- it's all very liberal. Talking of which, do you have any plans to go abroad? Is there a European or American agent lining up dates as we speak? JM: We're not going abroad this time round, no. We don't really know what else is in store or what's out there for us. I mean, on the other hand, if the money and the circumstances are condusive, then yes, we'd love to- but we have no firm plans as yet. It all has to be worked out properly. SD: Well, I can't imagine things not working out for you- you seem to be receiving a rapturous response wherever you go so far. How has that been for you, finding such a welcome? JM: Very encouraging and heartwarming. It's nice to know people still want you. SD: And finally, as I know you have to nip off and sort stuff out- Jacqui, you (and the rest of Pentangle) are the same age as The Rolling Stones.. JM: Are we really? SD:Well, you're the same as Mick Jagger. Both 65. JM:Oh, right, I guess I am then!! SD:Yet, there seems to be an awful lot more dignity in the way you, as folk artists, approach music and live performance. For a start, you never jumped around the stage in a leopardskin shirt and tight leather trousers, and I think you wore less makeup than he does even now.... JM:Well no, it wouldn't have really suited the music, would it? (laughs) I mean, we don't know really about what other people do, we just carry on being ourselves. SD:Exactly. Which brings me to the point I'm making- each time I watch one of those artists today, it seems like the clock is ticking and they're running out of time. But do you think that as folk artists, you are truly timeless and have the ability to carry on forever? JM:Oh, I don't know about forever. But hopefully for a long time yet!! At this point I concluded the interview, as I had to go and meet my fellow gig attendees and Jacqui had to prepare for the night's performance. But a few days later I remembered a few things I had forgotten to ask her at the time, something which I warned her in advance that I would probably do. So, post-tour, I emailed her and asked if she wouldn't mind answering those last few questions, and she kindly agreed. Here is a transcript: SD:I mentioned at the interview the sheer preponderance of collectable folk and folk-rock from the 60s, 70s and early 80s that has found its way onto the market. What I didn't mention was that these bands are now often grouped together for want of a collective term under the heading 'acid folk'. Was that a term you ever heard at the time, and if so were you aware of it as a concept? Or do you think it's a new term that only exists in hindsight? JM:No, I was not aware of the term acid folk at the time. I heard the term later, it didn't really mean anything to me, I'm not good with labels, but I suppose it's a way for some people to describe a certain type of music. Like all things, it depends on your point of view and from which angle you are listening/looking at it. SD:A question from a friend of mine. She'd like to know, how is it, considering that you are a smoker, that you have managed to maintain your almost perfect singing voice to this day, whereas some of your contemporaries- such as Joni Mitchell- now have voices that have been sadly reduced to a croak? JM:As you correctly pointed out, everyone was getting on with their own careers and a reunion in 1983 didn't pan out so well (although the 80s and 90s saw several more studio albums with differing lineups- Self Ed). I have said before, that it's never the same going back to something like a favourite childhood place and somehow the time was never quite right. SD:Finally, this year marks not only the 40th anniversary of the release of "Sweet Child", but the 30th anniversary of the death of Sandy Denny. Although time (and CD reissues) have thrown up many more great female folk vocalists of that era, I guess you two were considered the prime movers- at least in the UK. The question is, did you actually meet that often or even know each other that well, and assuming that you did, have you any memories or anecdotes? Was there any actual rivalry between you or was it something conceived by the press? |
||
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9gCN9-Jnfg |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||