Basket of Light

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Basket of Light
Basket-of-light.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 1969
Recorded IBC Studios, London
Genre Folk jazz, folk rock [1]
Length40:07
Label Transatlantic
Producer Shel Talmy
Pentangle chronology
Sweet Child
(1968)
Basket of Light
(1969)
Cruel Sister
(1970)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
Rolling Stone (unfavorable) [2]

Basket of Light is a 1969 album by the folk rock group Pentangle. It reached no. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. A single from the album, "Light Flight", the theme from BBC1's first colour drama series Take Three Girls , reached no. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. Another single from the album, "Once I Had a Sweetheart", reached no. 46 in the charts. [3]

Contents

The album's liner notes state that "Springtime Promises" was written "after a ride on a number 74 bus from Gloucester Road to Greencroft Gardens on an early spring day".

Legacy

The album was included in the books 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die [4] and 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die .

Tracks

All tracks are written by Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox and Jacqui McShee, except as noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Light Flight" McShee3:14
2."Once I Had a Sweetheart"Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McSheeMcShee4:37
3."Springtime Promises" Jansch4:04
4."Lyke-Wake Dirge"Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McSheeRenbourn, Cox and McShee3:32
5."Train Song" Jansch and McShee4:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Hunting Song" McShee and Jansch6:41
2."Sally Go 'Round the Roses"Lona Stevens, Zell SandersRenbourn and McShee3:34
3."The Cuckoo"Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McSheeMcShee4:26
4."House Carpenter"Traditional, arranged Jansch, Renbourn, Thompson, Cox, McSheeMcShee and Jansch5:27

The album cover uses photographs of Pentangle's 1968 concert in the Royal Albert Hall. A note about the instrumentation states that "All the instruments played on this album are acoustic."

Personnel

Pentangle
Technical

Released versions

Basket of Light was released as a UK LP in October 1969, as Transatlantic TRA2O5. The U.S. version, in the same year was Reprise R56372. The album was re-released as a digitally remastered CD in 2001, as Castle CMRCD207, which includes two alternate takes of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" and the non-album B-sides: "Cold Mountain" and "I Saw an Angel".

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References

  1. 1 2 Basket of Light at AllMusic
  2. Von Tersch, Gary (21 February 1970). "Records". Rolling Stone (52). San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.: 50.
  3. Pentangle UK chart history, The Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  4. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN   0-7893-1371-5.