Bert Jansch

A journey through some of the finest moments of acoustic guitar performances from the BBC archives, from Jimmy Page's television debut in 1958 to Noel Gallagher and Biffy Clyro.

Interviews and rare archive footage weave together performances from a landmark multi-artist concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, celebrating the songs and artistry of the great folk-blues troubadour Bert Jansch.

The story of seminal guitarist and singer Bert Jansch, from his early days in Edinburgh, Scotland, to becoming the acoustic guitarist that everyone wanted to be. As a teenager, in the early 1960's Bert sat at the feet of Brownie McGhee at the Howff Folk Club in Edinburgh mesmerised by 'Key to the Highway'. Armed with that raw American Blues influence and a bewildering technique, he fashioned sublime interpretations of traditional and blues music on the acoustic guitar. The result was music that had a profound influence on a generation of musicians including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Neil Young, and it still inspires todays' generation of guitarists and singers.

Pentangle, the five points of light being Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson and Terry Cox. Formed in 1967, they took Trad folk and blended it with a mixture of jazz, blues and a sprinkling of rock. Hugely successful, they even had a hit single with the song "Light Flight" which was the theme to the BBC series "Take Three Girls". The band toured extensively, and made numerous TV appearances. This French TV special from 1972 captures the band in all its glory as they work their way through six songs from the albums "Solomon's Seal", and "Reflection." While others were combining folk with rock with varying degrees of success, these alchemists blended Trad folk with jazz and blues in an original recipe which has not been duplicated since