John Renbourn Group – A Maid In Bremen (Live At Roemer, Bremen Feb. 14th 1978)
Mig Music – 26 February 2021
Back in the early 1990s when I was starting to uncover the exciting hidden (for me) world of British folk music, I stumbled upon A Maid in Bedlam, the 1977 album by The John Renbourn Group. It was in a record shop on cassette tape. I recognised the name of the bandleader and the female singer (Jacqui McShee) from Pentangle, so I had to have it.
It’s a beguiling and beautiful album, featuring a band that blends medieval folk with chamber music and the exotic rhythms of the Indian subcontinent. Before the days of the internet and endless best-of album lists told me otherwise, the album sat comfortably in my estimation alongside Liege and Lief, Morris On, Bryter Layer, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter and Rise Up Like The Sun. That’s until I lost it when I lent my cassette player to a friend (who took the tape out and it was never seen again).
I never got round to replacing it (far too much more music to explore). So I was intrigued to re-visit the band and find out if that spark was just early enthusiasm or if they really are up there with the best.
This live album, A Maid in Bremen, punningly captures the John Renbourn Group in full flight in the titular German city a year after A Maid in Bedlam’s release. As well as the two Pentangle escapees are Tony Roberts on flute, oboe and vocals and Keshav Sathe on tablas from the studio recording, and the addition of Sandy Spencer on cello (the only recording of her with the group). And it is not a disappointment, this really is a snapshot of a band at the peak of their powers.
The bulk of the material is traditional. Of the 16 tracks, five are from Bedlam, and two more from their next album, The Enchanted Garden (1980). For tracks familiar from Pentangle are included – Turn Your Money Green, A Maid That’s Deep in Love, Cruel Sister and Will O Winsbury – but with much-altered arrangements. It’s great to hear these songs in fresh settings – offering a dreamy and exotic contrast to the originals.
While John Renbourn’s vocals have an earthy charm, it’s his vision, arrangements and guitar that really shine as the leader of the group. Meanwhile, Jacqui McShee’s vocals are cut-glass clear and peerless, with enough space for her to soar alongside the instruments. But the revelation is how well the tabla mixes with not just the group’s repertoire but also Renbourn’s solo material and the Pentangle songs.
The band wig-out on a new tune – four days old in fact and titleless at the time of this recording – which they would go on to call Sidi Brahim. It’s named after a 19th century battle in Algeria or possibly a range of wines produced in the Atlas mountains. Either way, it’s vintage stuff with the instrumental members of the band building an evocative tune where cello, guitar, flute and tabla intertwine magnificently. Fans of Yorkston/Thorne/Khan and other heady mixes of folk western and eastern will find particular delight in this track, the whole album in fact.
Recorded on St Valentine’s day 1978, there is much to love here. Still beguiling and beautiful after all these years.
A Maid In Bremen Tracklist
- I Am A Maid That’s Deep In Love
- Death And The Lady
- Westron Wynde
- Sweet Potato
- John Barleycorn
- Turn Your Money Green
- My Johnny Was A Shoemaker
- To Glastonbury
- Gypsy Dance / Jews Dance Neusiedler Melody
- The Maid On The Shore
- A Maid In Bedlam
- Sidi Brahim
- Cruel Sister
- Kokomo Blues
- Will Of Winsbury