The Isle of Wight Festival, created in 1968, reached its peak in 1970, when nearly 600,000 spectators gathered on this piece of land in the south of the United Kingdom. Fifty years later, Europe 1 looks back on the various concerts given for what was, one year after Woodstock, one of the last great hippie meetings. This Tuesday, Europe 1 is looking at a group unlike any other: Pentangle.
A fundamentally "British" group
An extraordinary "Club des 5", fiercely and fundamentally "British", which detonates among the rock stars ... Here, no screaming singer, no saturated electric guitar, no endless drum solo, no posing virile or sexual. We are only there for the music. Music played with passion and virtuosity which draws its influences from the depths of English folklore, its medieval legends but also from jazz, blues and contemporary music. Take two prodigy and above all very complementary guitarists, a singer escaped from another time with a crystal voice, an already legendary bassist and the most subtle drummer in history ... you get Pentangle, a magic formula that will charm the Isle of Wight Festival on this Sunday afternoon, August 30, 1970. And even if their repertoire is not necessarily the most suited to an audience of 600,000 people, their performance remains legendary.
Light Flight , the most famous song
The whole of Great Britain hums the song Light Flight at the time. This magnificent melody was composed for the BBC. It is actually the credits of Take Three Girls , which is the first color series in the history of British television. The daily life of three young girls who share an apartment in Swinging London at the end of the 1960s. It's charming!
What will be much less charming, is the vibe that day on the Isle of Wight. Pentangle's music hardly lends itself to the agitation of the public, to cries of all kinds. A zigoto even climbs on stage in the middle of a concert and crashes in front of Jacqui McShee, the singer, who politely asks him to leave. The group did not keep a great memory of this great mass ... despite an irreproachable performance.
Five outstanding musicians with a very strong personality
Pentangle is above all the association of five outstanding musicians with a very strong personality. The group was formed in 1967, around a prodigy guitarist: John Renbourn, one of the leaders of the revival of English folk. He has already recorded several records when he meets the Scottish Bert Jansch, as innovative in his approach to the guitar as Renbourn is orthodox, very attached to the roots of British popular music. The duo burned an album, Bert and John , which quickly became a classic of the genre.
Thereupon appears the blonde Jacqui McShee. She runs a folk club in south London, sings one evening alongside the two guitarists she regularly hosts. The alchemy is immediate. But it still sounds too "classic" so the trio calls on two jazz musicians, Terry Cox, the drummer, and Danny Thomson, the bass player, who already have an impressive calling card. Pentangle was born.
An original sponsor to launch The Pentangle
Part of the English youth then turned to traditional music. It is in particular the time of the consecration of the guitarist Davy Graham, the singer Shirley Collins, or the beginnings of Fairport Convention. The luck of Pentangle is that John Peel, who will become the most influential radio host in the kingdom, falls under the spell of their hybrid of folk, jazz and blues. He programs the group's songs on the BBC and even writes the cover notes for the first album, released in 1968. With such a godfather, things will quickly speed up.
The Traveling Song became one of the band's most iconic songs when they debuted. It is sung as a duet by Bert Jansch and Jacqui McShee.
An unclassifiable group
Proof of the unclassifiable side of the group, even the English music press, yet fond of categorization by genre, can not classify Pentangle. The first album will be reviewed both in the "folk" pages and the "jazz" pages. He got an excellent 21st place in the charts. Excellent, when you take into account the demands of this music, all the same very far from the pop standards of the time.
For two years, everything smiles at Pentangle. Jacqui McShee may be terrified on stage, to the point of having to remain seated from start to finish so her legs are shaking, the concerts are of exceptional quality. An American manager takes matters into his own hands: "If we manage to sell a band that makes bad music, why wouldn't we succeed with a group that makes good music?" He leaves the artists free to compose what they wish but organizes long tours, in particular in the United States. The reception is excellent, carried by records touched by grace, the double album Sweet Child, the remarkable Basket Of Light. But who says extended tours says "no time to compose". And especially whole weeks on top of each other. But we are dealing with very strong personalities, little inclined to compromise. The atmosphere is deteriorating rapidly. Especially since John Renbourn and Bert Jansch drink more and more, sometimes to the point of not remembering what they did the day before. Renbourn, for example, has no memory of his own concert on the Isle of Wight.
The Isle of Wight, a turning point
Has the group become too commercial? Should we continue on this path? Or change everything? For these musicians with artisanal ethics, success is not an end in itself. So in November 1970, they published a manifesto and a new album: Cruel Sister. An album composed only of traditional folk songs that they rearrange, in particular Jack The Orion , which occupies an entire side with its 18 minutes. Taking risks is not rewarded. The disc sells badly, the public and the critics no longer follow. The decline is near.
Before separating from his historic record company, Transatlantic, the folk label in England, and despite an increasingly heavy atmosphere, Pentangle engraved his latest masterpiece: Reflection . There is notably the magnificent When I Get Home.
A piece that will perhaps inspire a certain Lou Reed for his famous Walk On the Wild Side . The end of Pentangle's career will be American. It's the ultimate irony of history for such an English group. He will record his latest album, Solomon's Seal , at Warner, the American multinational.
The two guitarists, Renbourn and Jansch, will pursue great solo careers before passing away in the 2000s. They are now considered legends. Danny Thompson is one of the most famous bassists in the world, still very active, including with the younger generation. The same goes for drummer Terry Cox. As for Jacqui McShee, she maintains the memory of The Pentangle during regular concerts. She was even on the bill of "All Wight Now", a festival organized on the Isle of Wight to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this extraordinary gathering. It has been postponed to September 2021.
Find all the other episodes of our series "The Isle of Wight Festival, 50 years later":
> Episode 1: the last notes of Morrison's Doors
> Episode 2: Mighty Baby, talent without glory
> Episode 3: the unexpected concert of Brazilian exiles
> Episode 4: the Rory Gallagher revelation
> Episode 5: Tony Joe White's springboard
> Episode 6: Joni Mitchell's legendary concert
> Episode 7: the second Woodstock of Ten Years After
> Episode 8: The Who reign supreme at home
> Episode 9: the awakening of Sly and the Family Stone
> Episode 10: Free, a group touched by grace and then by misfortune
> Episode 11: Donovan, the "flower power" musician par excellence