John was one of the warmest, friendliest men I have met. You would not know he was a superstar, a founding member of the highly influential contemporary sixties Folk Scene (that so influenced both Bob Dylan and Paul Simon) , a brilliant guitarist, innovator and songwriter, a member of the successful Folk-Rock group Pentangle and a man who popularised Old English Music and gave them a unique modern twist as he did with American Folk-Blues. He was a genius.
Despite all this he remained an unassuming man.
A number of year’s back in 2001 I chatted and laughed with him as we both waited to get albums signed by the great Ramblin’ Jack Elliott in a rare Leeds gig. He was as excited and thrilled to see and meet Jack as if he was a young kid, and was in awe of the man. It was a delight to witness.
Only a week later I was at the Royal Festival Hall I saw him again. He was doing a song with Roy. Did his bit (guitar on Highway Blues) and unobtrusively went off. I saw him sidling off after the show and had a quick work with him. He signed my brochure and was cheerful and friendly.
I first saw John play in the fabled Les Cousins on Greek Street in 1967. He did a set of folk-blues and instrumentals reminiscent of his first two albums. Bert Jansch did the second set and Roy Harper was sandwiched in between. It was quite a night!
I later caught him a couple of times performing with Bert and loved the way their two styles, very different, complemented each other. It’s hard to think that they are now both gone and that era is shunting off down the line into history.
I was also fortunate enough to see the wonderful Pentangle a number of times. The times that stand out for me were in the basement of the Three Horseshoes Pub in Tottenham Court Road. Bert and John, augmented by Danny Thompson on bass and the beautiful voice of Jacqui McShee (as well as the rest of her beautiful self) performed a loose jam/practice/gig for what felt like a group o friends. It was free and performed for friendship, love of music and enjoyment. It was great to see something so far removed from the avarice and greed of music today.
This was music for music’s sake – sharing for friendship and love and the sheer enjoyment of performing.
Bert and John, along with Davey Graham, were the core that that British Contemporary Folk Scene of the mid-sixties and their energy and innovation propelled it to another level.
I had just noticed that he was touring with Whizz Jones and made a note to go and see him and then a read a tiny obituary. It should have been front page. He was a figure worthy of a headline.
John achieved so much and yet he remained a modest man and one who should have received so much more recognition and respect.
We all owe him a lot. He will be missed.
