Bert Jansch - Sounds of the 70s, 15/7/71

On 15 July, Bert Jansch recorded a BBC radio session for Bob Harris' 'Sounds of the 70s'. It has long been the holy grail of Bert's BBC career - songs almost all from the 'Rosemary Lane' LP that in several cases he would never perform again. Six songs were recorded, split over two broadcasts: Twa Corbies, Nobody's Bar and Bird Song plus some chat with Bert on 2 August 1971; and Omie Wise, Tell Me What is True Love and A Dream, A Dream, A Dream (plus a repeat of Bird Song) on 23 August 1971.

Christopher Gardiner, who made the priceless recording of Bert's concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 30 June 1971 (elsewhere on YouTube), taped all the songs from both of these broadcasts. Unfortunately, Twa Corbies is lost but everything else was on his reel in remarkable fidelity (albeit the 23/8/71 tracks being in mono and needing more restoration work). Cormac O'Kane has digitised, restored and mastered the recording - which, of course, came to light only a few months too late for Earth's 'Bert Jansch at the BBC' 8CD set.

It appears here in MP3 form (for convenience) as a gift to Bert Jansch fans from Christopher and myself. Should there be demand for an official release on, say, a Record Store Day vinyl 10-inch, the 48k WAVs will be provided for the cost of the restoration.

Songs & date of broadcast:
1. Nobody's Bar (2/8/71)
2. Bird Song (2/8/71)
3. Omie Wise (23/8/71)
4. Tell Me What is True Love (23/8/71)
5. A Dream, A Dream, A Dream (23/8/71)
6. Bird Song (repeat from 23/8/71, with comments from Bob at the start and end)